We had to get up SOOO early; we were walking to Parramos by 4:45 and it was insanely cold out. People were bundled up in winter hats and gloves, and Tracey and I are running around in shorts freezing our asses off because we knew we'd be hot on the volcano. We definitely garnered a lot of attention.
We got to Antigua and went onto a Pacaya bus with about 20 other tourists. Everyone on the bus was in peak physical shape, one girl was wearing a triathlon shirt and everything. We started to get a little nervous, but I had asked our travel agent if the group would go slow for us before I booked the trip, and he had assured me they would. With that the guide gets on the bus, takes one look at us and declares that everyone needs to keep up the same pace to get up to the top on time. He then looked right at me, asked if I understood that (to which I replied yes) and then he asked someone to translate it into English for me. Oh boy. Trace and I were definitely being pegged as the weak links. Thankfully, when we got off the bus I noticed another chubby girl. I figured we could form a pact and walk up the mountain at a nice easy pace together, but when I turned around again she had rented a horse. Traitor!
We were surrounded by guys trying to convince us to take horses, and I patiently told all of them to leave us alone, we were walking it. After a few minutes of consideration, Trace decided to grab a horse as well ($15 for a horse ride up a volcano is a pretty sweet deal, and it added to the experience).
Tracey with her horse at a nice overlook
I dug my heels in though. Not only do I like hiking, I'm also uneasy with horses. There was no way I was about to get on one. Besides, after all the pressure put on the heavy people on the bus, I felt like I needed to represent. I was actually pretty proud of myself. The first time I did the hike I remember being winded a lot and having to take a bunch of breaks. I was able to easily keep pace with the group this time. Not sure if it was the weight loss or just being adjusted to the altitude, but it was nice :) And to make my victory even sweeter, the triathlon girl gave up halfway and got a horse. Sucka!
Nice overlook. You can see three other volcanoes here. From left to right: Fuego (the one that erupted a few months ago, hence all the ash on its cone), Acatenango, and finally Agua, the one that overlooks Antigua.
Tracey travels on towards the smoking Pacaya
Our little group marching through the ash
We got to the top and had a killer view.
And then we got to do something that I didn't do last time. We roasted marshmallows! The steam that comes out of the crevices on the side of the volcano are so hot that they can cause sticks to spontaneously combust. Our guide stuck some marshmallows in there and after five seconds they were perfectly roasted (and covered with all sorts of lava germs, no doubt). They were delightful!
Tracey and I hiked back down (but not before I stole a few choice rocks for my mom), and then headed back to Antigua for a nice chill afternoon. Trace said that Pacaya was her favorite of all the things we did this week, hooray!
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