Volcan Pacaya

Since living in Guatemala is like living in Volcano Land, I'm trying my best to climb a few of them while I'm down here. It had been quite awhile since we hiked the monstrous Volcan Acatanango, and a few other volunteers and I were itching to climb another one. Thus, this month we organized a day trip to hike Volcan Pacaya, one of the three active volcanoes in Guatemala. It worked out really nicely because we had just received a new wave of volunteers so it was a great group bonding activity for us.

We all rolled out of bed bright and early one Saturday morning and left NPH at 5 AM. An hour or two crammed in a shuttle later, we had arrived at the nearby Volcan Pacaya. We were assigned a guide who dubbed us "Team Tigers" (hahaha) and got started with our day. Surprise, surprise, but we were greeted with some pretty extraordinarily views. SOOOOO unlike Guatemala, being beautiful and whatnot, right?! ;)

so breathtaking!

lava slide WOAAAH sick, dude.

All the great views aside, my favorite part was when we were actually right at the base of the volcano walking on the hardened lava. I felt like I was in the Elephant Graveyard from the Lion King or something. It was eery and beautiful at the same time. It was also pretty sweet to look up and see the smoke and steam billowing off the volcano. You know, all that fire and brimstone stuff cause it's ACTIVE WHAAAAT??!!

"Look, Simba. Everything the light touches is our kingdom." WORD.

It's ALIIIIIVEEE.

Towards the end of hike, we got to check out the "Lava Store", complete with the Titanic theme song playing in the background (because obviously when I think of volcanoes I think of Titanic). Then, our guide dug a little hole in the hillside. We could see the ground was literally steaming under the top layer and was warm to the touch. It was pretty cool and definitely a new experience for me.

checking out the random Lava Store

Steaming hot ground!

I'll admit that the experience was a little too touristy for me. Lots of people were trying to sell stuff and the hike was hardly challenging. Especially in comparison to the 10-hour ordeal of Volcan Acatanango, Volcan Pacaya felt like a stroll in the park. I was also just a teensy bit bummed that I didn't get to get within five feet of RED HOT LAVA or something like that. (Gotta live on the edge a bit, you know.) Nonetheless, it was still a really enjoyable (tame) adventure filled with gorgeous views and beautiful weather! How could I not hike Pacaya one time when I'm so close to it? Sometimes even us volunteers have to play tourists :) And, how cool is it that I can now say I've been on an active volcano?! WAY COOL, that's how cool it is. :)