antigua

Yesterday Elizabeth and I arrived in Antigua, a really cute city that feels much more modern, and touristy with walk ways full of botique like stores, ice cream, international food restaurants, markets, and lots of hostels and hotels. we are staying at the ¨jungle party¨hostel.

this morning we went up volcan pacaya, there are 33 volcanoes in guatemala. 3 are active and this is definately one of the active ones. it was a tough hike up filled with pokey sharp lava boulders (one which scraped up my leg) but its not too bad. then we walked on the lava where you can see in crevices right below you, the red heat. and you can feel heat coming up from the ground, and warm gusts of strong wind. then a big wave of hot lava cam and we got to see it. some people pocked it with sticks and it catches on fire real quick. i was about 10ft close i think. not hot enough that my shoes melted, but it seemed pretty warm to me. then on the way down we basically just slid and or elegantly fell down the lava rocks, i´ve never been snow boarding but it fel kind of like it. only when the big rocks roled on you..it hurt kind of. at the bottom we emptied our shoes of lava gravel. quite an adventure. tomorrow we´re leaving for semuc champey and the natural pools which are supposedly one of the most beautiful natural sites in guatemala.