The road chose me

The temptation to get extremely close to flowing lava is much too strong to pass up, in fact it’s something I never imagined I’d to do in my life. I’ve been really excited about hiking up Volcán Pacaya since I heard about it a couple of months back, and am hopping about the room when we book our tickets, about $12 USD for a complete tour. On the advice of many friends we book the afternoon trip, with the hope of seeing the red-hot lava at night.

Apparently the explosion level is "normal"

We get picked up from our ‘hotel’ at two in the afternoon and settle into the mini-van for an hour and a half drive out to the volcano. The last half an hour or so we do some serious climbing and are all pretty happy to pile out, ready to hike. Immediately we are swamped by small children trying to sell us all sorts of things we don’t need. A few people in our group succumb and buy walking sticks after the children repeat “is necessary” about 250 times each.

Volcán Pacaya smoking away

We start walking up the steep dusty path and the enthusiasm of the group drops as the realization of the difficult hike sets in. I’m in my element here and love every minute of it, rushing to the front to talk to people, then slowing down and chatting to others further back. The hiking changes from hot, dry and dusty to small volcanic pebbles then huge volcanic boulders with razor sharp bits all over. We quickly climb above the cloud level and are treated to an amazing view of Volcán Fuego (Fire), which can be seen from Antigua and spits out a huge smoke cloud every couple of hours.

Kate & Dan with Volcán Pacaya smoking in the background

The hiking turns into a rock scramble and then a very congested rock scramble as about sixty or so tourists try to make their way to the top. I’m uncomfortable to have so many hikers on the extremely unstable rocks that are constantly being kicked down to rain on those below. As we near the action the rocks under us begin to get hotter and hotter, to the point where I don’t want to use my hands for balance anymore and I’m sweating profusely. Occasionally a strong sulphur smell wafts past, adding to the general excitement. I stop and have a good look up and see heat haze pouring off the mountain all around me. A guide points to some funny colored rocks I’m standing on and says they were lava last week. Cooooool.

The congested steep rock scramble

I reach a point where lots of people are milling around and am stunned to see lava less than four meters away. I climb up on a high point and am then about three meters away from the small flow that is slowly sliding down the mountainside. The heat pouring off is immense and when the wind changes it’s overwhelming on my legs and face and I really don’t want to hang around for too long, especially with thirty or forty more people still climbing up.

The flowing lava was moving a foot every 10 seconds or so

I move down to a lower vantage point which turns out to be an amazingly good idea as more and more people pack onto the extremely hot, uneven rocky surface. A couple of times people slip and panic trying to get away from the heat and have nowhere to go because of all the people – not a good scene at all.

Dan loving the lava flow

I stand around on my little platform chatting to various people and roasting marshmallows.
Yep, you read that right.
I roasted marshmallows on lava.
From where I was standing I could poke a marshmallow on a stick through some cracks towards the lava. It only took a few seconds to have it roasted to perfection & I honestly think they were the best marshmallows I’ve ever eaten. I wonder if I’ll ever go back to regular old flame roasted.

A few of the guys standing around with me are only wearing very thin-soled shoes and they melt and stick to the rocks, making for some pretty anxious faces and a nasty melted plastic smell. As the sun dips below the horizon the sunset is spectacular and the visible lava increases ten fold in the dusk. The majority of people make their way down and I stay to milk the experience for every second, knowing I can get down pretty fast when I want to.

A group of people have gone about ten meters further than the rest and upon hearing a report I know I have to check it out. I make my way further up, through a really hot section were between every rock I step on is red hot lava, a freaky experience. At the top is a good standing area where the temperature is bearable and we’re only about 2 meters from the flow of lava, which is significantly more here.

Getting close now...

I stand and stare in awe at the liquid rock. It really is amazing and hard to comprehend.

There was a lot here and it was really moving

I’m really curious about the consistency of the lava and so I throw a few rocks in to see what happens. It turns out it has a reasonably hard invisible shell and the rocks mostly bounce off or kind of sit on top for a while. Marshmallows and sticks turn to flame instantly upon contact.

Lava all around us

I stay for as long as possible, and in the quickly fading light the lava really comes alive, glowing bright red all around us. I could easily stay up here all night, but my group is far ahead of me, so I make quick time on the way down to catch them up.

Sunset above cloud level

Volcán Fuego spitting out smoke

Hiking up Volcán Pacaya is a really amazing experience and I’m still grinning like mad thinking about it.

Volcán Pacaya glowing in the dark

-Dan

We’re up early and get set for another big day of driving. Our opposing maps combined with the general lack of quality road signs means the 400 km to Antigua might take 10 hours – we really have no idea. Gas here costs about 28 Quetzales per gallon or around $3.50 USD / gallon. It’s a little strange to see gallons being used, as everything else in the country appears to be metric.

Driving through the mountains of Guatemala

We make excellent time and having Kate to navigate across the top of Guatemala City helps immensely. After a quick lunch break in the big city we move on and roll into Antigua in the early afternoon. We heard about free camping in the Tourist Police compound in the middle of the city, so we head straight there and make it our home for a few days. It’s nice to know we have armed guards patrolling our free campground
I’m really surprised to see Tyler’s beat-up Subaru sitting in the lot and I’m told he’s around the city somewhere. I haven’t seen Tyler since La Manzanilla in Mexico months ago.

Our free campsite in downtown Antigua

Our campground is right next to the main market so we wander over there to buy a few odds and ends we both need. We start out on the outskirts looking through all the junky stores before moving into the middle and getting throughly lost in the endless identical fruit and vegetable stands. The Mercado De Artesanias, a market just for local artists, is right next door and Kate’s eyes light up as she almost runs from store to store perusing the goodies on offer. I’m pretty sure she buys two of everything, to the point that she has to buy another bag to carry it all home.

Kate going crazy in the markets of Antigua

I’ve heard the Cerro De La Cruz, a lookout above the city is really worthwhile and our guidebooks say it’s not safe to go without a free Police escort. I end up climbing on the back of a motorbike with a Policeman and we zip across the city and up the mountain. The lookout is pretty good, and the ride up and down make it great fun.

The view from Cerro De La Cruz

In the compound are quite a few “overlanders” – people driving across continents like myself. I’ve been meeting quite a few lately and have been thinking a lot about vehicle choices. On one hand there are people that are totally dedicated to their chosen vehicle and have enough spares and knowhow to go around the world ten times. Others are driving vehicles they barely know the name of and carry no spares or tools at all – they rely completely on local mechanics. I like to think I fall in the middle somewhere and it’s really fun to see how everyone is doing it differently.

The city of Antigua, surrounded by volcanoes

Here in Guatemala American made vehicles have become exceedingly rare and have been replaced by makes and models I have almost forgotten about since leaving Australia. Everywhere I look I see Toyota Landcruisers & Hiluxes, Mitsubishi Pajeros & Mondeos, Range Rovers & tough looking Mercedes off-road machines. Almost all are diesel.
I’m told the further south I drive the rarer American cars will become.

The steets are full of character

We really enjoy wandering around the streets of Antigua, poking into stores and eating cheap meals. We’re in a bookstore when we feel an earthquake strong enough to make everything in the store sway and rattle for a solid five seconds. A few people mill about in the street afterward, then resume their daily lives.

The markets of Antigua are full of colours

-Dan

We’re up early and excited for our day to come and we know things are happening as they should when we have perfect blue sky for the first time in over a week. We team up with some other backpackers and climb into the back of a pickup truck that has a makeshift roll cage welded in. We proceed to drive 7km on an extremely steep, narrow, windy road, hanging on to the roll cage and loving every minute.

Our first stop for the day is the Kan’Ba Cave system, which quite literally goes straight into the side of a mountain. Our guide ties our flip-flops to our feet with string(!), hands us a candle each, and leads the way into the cave.
Note the lack of hard hats, lights or safety harnesses.
Only twenty steps in the Goonies jokes are flying, with Ben letting out a huge “Hey, you guys!” that has us all in hysterics distracting us from the increasing darkness and shin deep water we are walking through. I can’t believe how quickly the light disappears until we are completely enveloped in inky blackness, the only light coming from out flickering candles. We continue in this fashion for a hundred meters or so, passing cool cave formations and walking through a few places where the cave is only two meters wide and the water is up to my waist.

Yep, it's pretty dark

In these early stages we use a series of ladders to navigate around a tunnel where water is ripping through, and I climb a few vertical meters up a waterfall using a rope (most people go around). We get to a spot where our guide climbs up the wall and jumps a couple of meters down into a deep pool, and a few of us copy suit. He shows us a place where you can swim down about a meter and a half, slide between some very tight, sharp rocks and come up on the other side of a rock formation, staying underwater for at least 15 or 20 seconds. I wedge myself in the space  with my head above water to see what it feels like and immediately feel uncomfortable and scared.

No. Way.

The roof is pretty low... (imagine no flash)

We continue further and further and come to a series of sections that are too deep to walk. One at a time we plunge in, half swimming and half treading water with one hand while trying to keep our candles out of the water with the other. The stakes go up a little when out guide loses his lighter, meaning we’ll be in the dark if all our candles go out. We go in about 450 meters, which is as far as tourists are allowed – the cave system continues for 11 kilometers. For the finale we get to a section where the stalactites are literally touching the water and we have to go under for just a second to get through. It’s pretty funny two minutes later when we find out we could have just walked around that section

And now we swim... (imagine no flash)

The highlight on the way out is going down the tunnel with rushing water we avoided on the way in. I go first and the guide carefully shows me where to sit and put my hands and feet. When I pop out at the bottom I’m in complete darkness, my candle having been underwater during the trip. It feels really strange to be in a room with no idea what is around me, and I blindly feel around and guess where to sit to help the next person down.

At times we held our breath to get under the roof

Everyone is pretty happy when we see daylight and step out into the warm sun.

Next up is a huge rope swing into the fast flowing Rio Cahabón. It’s a little different than what I’m used to because it has two ropes with a plank of wood in between forming a seat. Getting out of the seat when you are about five meters about the river is a little strange and one of our group lands on her side, making a huge red welt.

The beautiful Rio Cahabón we played on for the day

We walk upstream a few hundred meters to a raging waterfall, and the guide and I swim over to check it out. The very vast majority of the river water is flowing underground, under the waterfall and the guide and I walk into the massive caverns with seriously raging water down below. We climb around to the top of the waterfall and I have such a great time jumping off the 8 meters (25 ft.) I climb up and do it again

Jumping off about 8 meters (25 ft.)

We float back downstream on inner-tubes through some rapids, trying to have a water fight the entire time. We load back into the truck and drive around to Semuc Champy itself for the main attraction. A 35 minute hike gives us an amazing view of the pools below, which we swim in for about an hour. These pools are on the top of the waterfall I jumped off earlier – the pool water goes over the falls and we go and have a look upstream where the majority of water goes underground. Wow.

The amazing pools at Semuc Champy

The water is amazingly clear

Hanging out of the truck on the way back is immensely fun again, this time everyone is laughing and enjoying themselves, not just me. Again I put in a strong showing at the buffet dinner after such a huge day.

Swimming/lazing in the sunshine is amazing

The beautiful pools are everywhere

Guatemala is awesome.

-Dan

We continue to explore Guatemala, staying a night in a tree house at the Finca Ixobel, a working farm that provides accommodation, great meals and a bar. My eyes light up like a child when I hear the food is an all you can eat buffet and when told the uneaten food will go to waste, I make certain to do my part. A group of young dentists are staying here, they have volunteered to work in the local communities for a few weeks providing much needed dental care. At night we wander down to the great little bar hidden in the jungle next to a great swimming pond.

The tree house at Finca Ixobel

In the morning the drizzling rain continues and we move along and find El Paraiso, a hot spring waterfall close to the shores of Lago de Izabal. After checking out the area we find great camping at Finca El Paraiso, with the tent about five meters from the water and then head back for a soak.

The road to El Paraiso

I’m told the water is around 70 °C, which flows down a narrow little stream and cascades over a waterfall about five meters high. The spring water is obviously high in dissolved minerals, as the falls are coated in orange and yellow deposits, forming textured surfaces and even little stalactites. At the base of the waterfall is a beautiful clear river, with a couple of really deep pools ideal for swimming.
There is a lot more hot water here than any spring I have ever seen, and I go crazy exploring the whole area while normal people soak.

The hotspring waterfall at El Paraiso

Looking downstream into the jungle

We soak for an hour and a half in the evening and again first thing in the morning when we have the entire place to ourselves for a while. The guys working here do a really good job of keeping the place safe and spotless and we’re more than happy to pay just over $1 USD each for entry.

Kate at El Paraiso

Dan & Kate in the hot waterfall

On the way out we make a brief stop in the market lining the main street of Rio Dulce, which has the claim to fame of having the longest bridge in Central America. The market is bustling and we buy enough extremely fresh fruit and vegetables to last many meals for $3 USD. Unreal.

Enjoying the spray

We had the place all to ourselves in the morning

Kate brought two travel guides along and somehow the maps in those books and the road map I have from Mexico all disagree with each other more often than not. We choose our route and quickly find ourselves on one of the worst gravel roads I have ever driven on, rarely getting out of first gear. This road is actually marked as a major highway on my road map so we wonder if this is what Guatemalans call a major road, or if a map printed in Mexico in useless for Guatemala. Locals drive up and down and when I stop to ask what conditions are like ahead I’m told “It’s fine, just like this”. The mud and potholes continue for hour after hour, to the point where it’s really not funny anymore. In six hours we cover 90 km for an average of 15km/h. Ouch.

We make it out to civilization and find ourselves on an extremely good sealed highway leading right up into the heart of the breathtaking mountains. Before long we are once again bouncing our way along a tiny dirt track, this time stuck to the side of mountains. Dusk comes and goes, as does Kate’s patience for the day of horrible roads. Hours later when we expect to be at our destination we pass a sign saying it’s another 12km, and it turns out to be so steep I use low-range 4×4 on the downhill sections to control my speed.

Driving through the Guatemalan mountains

When we finally make it into town we’re both too tired to navigate and a very kind local man shows us the way by having us follow him on his moped. I’m not sure I’ve ever been more thankful. We fall out of the Jeep at the hostel El Retiro in Lanquin, right in the heart of the mountains. We’re just in time for the buffet dinner and are both stunned to find about 50 backpackers milling around the dining area. I once again do my best to make sure no food is wasted before putting myself to bed early after an exhausting day of driving.

I smile while thinking about the adventures to come tomorrow for about 10 seconds before falling sound asleep.

-Dan