Volcan Pacaya

After an amazing breakfast, we walked around Antigua and prepared for our afternoon trip to Volcan Pacaya – an active volcano that last erupted only a year ago and covered much of the surrounding area with ash.  We took the shuttle bus from Antigua just as a storm system moved in.  Thunder and lightening and an insane amount of rain!  It was like the monsoon rains in India.  At one point it seemed like we wouldn’t be able to climb the volcano but fortunately the rains eased up as we began our ascend.  We got to experience some breathtaking views although there were no signs of molten lava, fire or sparks yet (well, apart from Paco the tour guide hitting on “Photo Freak” – I saved Paco’s number for you in case you want to call him up!).

As we hiked closer to the crater, the ground looked like a massive burnt brownie – remnants of last year’s eruption.  There were still some hot rocks too!  We finally arrived at a crevice in the ground.  We could see the molten lava underneath and it was a great spot to toast some marshmallows.  Nothing beats lava-toasted marshmallows!  We hiked back in the dark – fortunately, we bought flashlights earlier in the day and were able to make it back down safe and sound.