Volcan Pacaya

One of the most popular activities around Antigua is to hike up the Volcano, Pacaya. It's different from the other volcanoes nearby because the lava flows out of the mountainside day after day. Once in a while it'll be more active and start spewing smoke and lava, but for the most part it's a slow steady stream.

Tuesday evening we caught a shuttle to the base of the mountain, rented a horse for Harold to ride on and followed our guide to the top. By the end the horse owner was riding with Harold instead of C.O. and I. He was a great guy who spoke slowly so we'd understand him and had the ability to make Harold giggle like crazy. It was like we rented a horse, an entertainer and a babysitter . . . perfect.

Near the top, the ground was nothing but volcanic ash and rock.

Our first view of the lava.
The white spots just below the red lava are
people hiking up to the lava.

It was crazy. We were able to stand as close to the lava as we could stand
(it was pretty hot and you had to watch out for loose rocks
that would tumble out now and then).
Harold was pretty freaked out about the whole thing to be honest.
The rest of us really should have been more scared but were
having too much fun. We decided that Harold was
actually the only sensible one up there.






Is it cruel that we find Harold's scared faces so amusing? lol




Views from the top:

--AnnMarie