We woke up at 5am and got ready to go and ate some cereal for breakfast. Because we don't have an address at Cindy's, we had told the shuttle to pick us up at Paul's house when we signed up and paid for the trip. He only lives like 10 minutes away so we walked there and then waited. When the shuttle picked us up, there was already an older couple inside. We thought we were then leaving Antigua, but we stopped again and picked up a family of four people! We were sitting pretty tightly in the bus. We found out that the family of four was from Costa Rica and were just visiting Guatemala for vacation! The mom was from Canada and her husband was from Costa Rica, and their 2 kids were a mix, I guess. They were all fluent in English and Spanish, except for the husband who didn't know English.
The drive to where we started climbing Pacaya was about an hour long. The roads were so twisty-turny and the driver drove SO fast, we all felt really sick. We were happy to get out when we arrived. When we exited the van, we were surrounded by kids offering us walking sticks and horse rides for the hike. The family and older couple bought some sticks, but we didn't really want to use any, and we hadn't really brought a lot of money because we didn't want to carry it around. However, upon arriving, we discovered that the money we paid when we signed up for the trip earlier did not in fact cover the hike like we were told, and so we had to scrounge up 50Q (about 8$) each. Some of the girls had brought more money and we were able to pay for 6/7 people in the group. I was the one who didn't have money, but Karen, the mom of the family, was nice enough to pay for me.
We started the hike and the first part was just walking up a steep incline on cement rocks. It was really funny because I thought the boys/men with horses would stay at the bottom, but they all grabbed their horses and followed right behind us! We hiked up and eventually the path turned to dirt, but it was still pretty steep. However, I was happy to find that my legs were not sore at all, like I worried they might be. I felt great! About 15 minutes into the walk, one of our girls decided to get a horse but we didn't have any money. Thankfully, the mom was kind enough to give us 100Q (13$) for a horse! She was so generous!
I can't believe the horses climb all the way up; the trails are so small and so steep, I felt bad that they all clomped along behind us! It kind of felt like they rode so closely behind us to keep us moving forward at a decent speed. I talked to one guy about how many times he brought a horse up for people to use (in Spanish!) and he said usually 2 times a day, 3-4 times a week. It's incredible!
The higher we got, the steeper it got. Again, I am so thankful that God gave me strength that day, because I really haven't worked out at all this semester (oops) but my body felt completely fine! 2 days ago we went to a Zumba class that was more like a Crossfit class and super tough, and so I was pretty sore today, but the only thing that was uncomfortable was my lungs because of the crazy change in altitude. But that, I could push out of my mind and carry on. Eventually one of our other girls needed a horse, and the mom paid for us again. She really was super kind.
Half of the horse-boys turned back at a certain point, but the two carrying the girls and a few others stuck with us the whole time. We finally reached the top, and it was so cool. It was completely foggy. We couldn't see anything beyond the black rock we stood on. It was super eerie to look out and literally only see white fog, considering how high we were. We knew that something was out there, but it was honestly just a thick blanket of fog that obscured our view completely. We were a bit disappointed that we couldn't see what we knew must be an awesome view from the top. We hung out on the black 'flat' of rock for a bit. The horse people left then, because 100Q only covered the way up, and then we had to maneuver our way down a SUPER steep path a ways to get to our next point. We were falling left and right, but luckily it was mostly sand so it didn't hurt, except the first girl that got the horse scraped her leg really bad and had blood pouring down her leg. We didn't have band-aids so she had to leave it like that. However, she was laughing with us and seemed to be fine.
When we got to the bottom at our next point, we were at the very foot of the actual 'top' of the volcano, (the part that erupts) but we couldn't really see it because of the fog. It was really cold and windy where we were. We hiked over more black 'lava stones' to this little shack called the Lava Store. Everything in it was made from lava stone. It was incredible that there was actually a store at the foot of the volcano! They said after the volcano erupted last (when those people died) they had to rebuild in a different but still close place because it had been destroyed.
After looking around the little shack, we hiked over more black rock to this area where there were these little pockets in the rock with hot, hot air coming out. This is where we roasted our marshmallows! It was super fun, and my mallow actually got cooked, like it turned brown! It was really crazy, but fun to say that I have now cooked a marshmallow over 'lava', or at least the heat from it.
As we were down there, the fog started to go away and we could see the top of the volcano! It was crazy how close we were to the top.
We hung out there for a bit and then had to climb back up that super steep path. This was the only part that made my legs hurt, but I knew it wasn't a long path and I was able to just move quickly. When I reached the top, back to that flat rock area, we saw that the fog had disappeared and we could finally see the view. It was incredible, and so worth the journey! We stayed there for a while, taking pictures and just admiring. It was an awesome experience.
My mom had a really awesome thought about this experience.
"This is a pretty cool analogy for the situations we can find ourselves in, where we can't see outside of our own little spheres. We can feel lonely and disappointed and hopeless. And then the fog clears and we see what was there all along. God is amazing!!"
We then made the trek back down the volcano. This was interesting because it was hard to keep from going too quickly and then falling down the steep slope. We were all kind of sliding and shrieking as we almost fell. I did a lot of those 'foot slide, arms shoot up in surprise' moves when I slipped, so I told everyone they were my dance moves that I had to practice for an upcoming play I was in, ha. I ALMOST made it the whole way without actually falling, but once we hit that cement my foot slipped and I landed on my butt. I scraped my arm but it wasn't bad at all.
When we got to the bottom, we had to wait for our bus driver, so I sat with the older couple we had traveled with and talked to them. Turns out they are from Switzerland, and in Latin America for a 30 day vacation experience! The husband understood better english than the wife but they still struggled to communicate. It was really cool to talk to them though, just because they said they really wanted to get better at their English and I always forget that I shouldn't just assume everyone knows English.
The bus ride back was not enjoyable because of all the twists and turns, but we made it back around 1pm and after washing our very dirty feet, we all collapsed into bed. However, lunch was ready soon, so we ate and then had to get our ballots to the people who were taking them back to the U.S. for us before they closed so we had to walk back into town. We felt so adult-ish having to figure out this whole absentee ballot situation, especially considering the fact that there is currently no postal service in Antigua! We also had to pay back the family after turning in the ballots, but it was nice to be able to see them one more time, thank them for their generosity, and say goodbye!
In the park, there was a big market so we got fro-yo and sat to watch the activity for a bit. It was really nice until a bird pooped on my head! The girls got a kick out of that.
After we got back, I showered and then got in bed and didn't move until dinner.
The day was an amazing experience. It challenged our bodies and our minds and was another incredible moment of experiencing just a bit more of the beauty God has created for us!
-Kara
Such an amazing contrast between green plants and then black volcano rock!
The lava store!
Eerie!
I really like this attempted picture
haha next time don't tell me!! :) (Well, except that I prayed for ya ALOT)
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