Warming Up On A Volcano

After many months of sloathfulness on the beaches of Baja & the mainland, we thought we'd better stretch our legs & get some miles under our belts in preparation for our volunteering in Guatemala. So we visited one of the newest volcanos in the world which started to pop out of the ground in a farmers field in 1940. Coming into town we got chased by dudes on horses wanting to take us the easy way, but we really needed a proper workout and a lovely guy at our camping area got one of his mates to take us on foot instead.

We started high, at just over 2,000 metres above sea level, and it was clear of overnight but soon warmed up. It was an incredibly tough hike - first an hour & a half over rough smoking lava fields & then an hour up a scree slope. Our guide Petro bounded up the slope as if it was flat, but he was used to the attitude, and more importantly was only 17. It was incredible to get to the top around 2,800 metres and look down into the deep crater. Coming down the steep ash field scree slope on the other side was much more fun & took about a quarter of the time!

On the way back to the campsite we visited what remains of one of the villages consumed by the lava flow, and it was amazing to see a church spire sticking up out of a lava - nature is awesome...Read more