Volcanos in Guatemala

There are 35 officially recognized volcanos in Guatemala, three of which are still active. I’ll write a little bit about the three active volcanos and about my hike up the side of Pacaya.

Pacaya

This volcano is a bit unique in Guatemala in that it erupts about every five years. Its last eruption was in 2010 when it blew its top raining rocks down on nearby villages destroying them. At the current time there is steam coming off the crater at the top and some steam vents around the cone area, but no actual visible lava. I joined the other tourists for a hike up to near the top.

Cost

I’m living in nearby Antigua, so it cost me $10 for a roundtrip mini-bus ride with 10 others from Antigua up the the bottom of the trail. At the gate there was an additional park entry fee of about $8. The entire time from leaving my doorstep to returning home was about 6.5 hours. It took 1.5 hours for transportation to and from the park. The climb was 1.5 hours, we spent about 45 minutes at the top, and it took about one hour to descend back to the mini-bus.

 The climb

Once we exited the mini-bus we were pestered by niños wanted to rent us walking sticks for 5q (about 80¢). Next we were repeatedly asked if we wanted a ‘taxi’ up the trail on a horse. Locals assured us that it was difficult time from atop their horses. They told us we looked tired and we could have an easy climb. Our guide Carlos arrived and told us our group of nine tourists were going to be called the ‘Dragons’ and we should stick together as we climbed. We started up the trail following Carlos with four horses and riders following us. Most of the talking during the climb was done the locals on horseback who commented that we looked tired. “You look tired, how about a nice ride on a horse!” Or, “It is a long way to the crater, would you like a horse taxi?” For the next hour that is all we heard… questions from the guys on their horses. One girl finally gave in a paid to ride a horse while the rest of us continued on foot making stops every 10-15 minutes for a rest break.

 

Steam vents

Finally the trees ended and there was only volcanic rock and lava formation. We could clearly see the steam coming off the crater above us and from vents along the sides of the cone. Our guide took us out to several of the steam vents. Some were only hand sized with hot steam coming out of them. Others were large enough for us to climb in, or sand it (one was waist deep, although we crouched down for photos to appear like we were neck deep inside). I kept wondering as each person climbed inside if the next burst of steam might be a bit too hot cooking me on the spot!

Sunset

After we played in the steam and got our photos, our guide led us down the hill a little way to the area he deemed best to watch the sunset. I must admit the sunset was the best I’ve ever seen. The clouds were perfect shades of pink and orange with two volcanos Agua and Fuego visible on the horizon about 20 kilometers away. Just as the sun was setting and the clouds were a perfect shade of pink and orange, Fuego erupted with amazing dark gray smoke for perfect contrast again the bright clouds. It was breath taking to see and the photo I captured hardly did it justice.

Descent

The hike back was wonderful as the sun set and the lights of the city and stars above became visible. It was very cold near the top, but once we dropped back below tree line it began getting comfortable again.

 Fuego Volcano

While living in Antigua I see several eruptions of volcano Fuego to the west. The view of this active volcano is very clear on most days as it is only 13 kilometers away (8 miles).

Santa Maria Volcano

This one is located very close to Quetzaltenango (commonly called Xela). Although I lived in Xela for two weeks, I didn’t make the trek to see this volcano.