Monday

View along the trail up

So exciting! Today, we go up Volcan Pacaya. It erupted the week before we came and flights were cancelled. Thank God, everything settled down and we had no problem flying in. I start wheezing as we begin the 1 1/2 hour ascent, so I get a horse for Q100 ($12.50). A group member calls me, “Princess” as I’m the only one riding. I tell Two-Hats Tom to leave me alone, I’m still on meds for an upper respiratory infection!

My horse, Valente, brings up the rear of the tour. His handler stops often along the trail to break off a leaf here, a bloom there, and explains how locals gather resources from the forest. His English is better than the park assigned guide’s.

This leaf’s underside is velvety soft. It can be used in cheese quesadillas or as emergency toilet tissue!

I think I was told that these berries, when mature, are used in clothing dyes.

A safe distance from the main cone of Volcan Pacaya.

There’s a constant vapor cloud. We’re not allowed to climb up to the rim, though I’ve seen pictures of people near its lava flows.

Jadwiga and Two-Hats Tom have a great view!

Recent eruptions give locals concern as Pacaya sits on a magma chamber, making it very unstable. It produces hundreds of explosions each day, causing more lava to flow down.

The views are wonderful. We can even see Guatemala City!

A 1961 eruption was unexpected and lasted almost a month! In 1962, a collapse near the volcan’s summit, possibly caused by a volcanic vent, resulted in a pit crater.

Heaven seems closer up here

Pacaya’s 2010 eruption was so powerful that it caused the main cone to collapse. The volcan is listed at 8,373 ft., but I don’t know if it was re-calculated after that event.

More Pacaya information can be seen at: www.volcanodiscovery.com/pacaya.html‎, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pacaya‎ and volcano.oregonstate.edu/pacaya‎.

More shots of our hike: http://www.qwiki.com/v/j3JT6pga

In the afternoon, we take a slow tour at a local cafe finca (coffee farm).