So far Guatemala has definitely surpassed my expectations. From all that I read beforehand I didn't expect that I would feel so safe (touch wood) and at times I feel like we may as well be in the South of Spain from the architecture, atmosphere etc. (well except for the staple diet of beans and rice!) One strange thing that we noticed is that every evening there are suddenly huge queues outside all the banks. No idea why but it does look as though they are giving away free cake with every withdrawal or something! As Erica said, yesterday we went up to Pacaya which is the closest active volcano to Antigua. It was about a 2 hour hike up to the top of the volcano which consists of 2 cones-one that is active and fortunately one that is not. The summit is the closest you get to the active crater and you can see the rocks glowing red as every few minutes it spits lava up into the air. At the very top the sulphur levels were pretty suffocating and you could feel the warmth of the rocky sand as it slid from under you. The volcano is one of the places where bandits are supposed to target tourists so we apparently had a security guard with us although I didn't actually see him! Our guide decided to take us down via the short cut which essentially involved running down a steep incline of soft volcanic sand. All good fun and the views were better on the way down when the morning mist had cleared. We are taking it easy today (and apparently there is some important football game on sometime this afternoon.... !!) and then going over to the lakes tomorrow for a few days.
3 comments:
What was that Tom Hanks movie where they had to sacrifice a virgin to appease the Volcano god?
Do you guys have digital pics you can post. We'd love to see what you see.
Re lines at banks - wondering if they are giving away toaster ovens because we need a new one - chrome color is preferred.
Re rice and beans - remember DON'T PUT BEANS IN YOUR EARS.
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