Pacaya Volcano National Park trek

Tuesday, January 28 

Sue had a better night with not so much coughing, so hopefully she is on the downside of this head cold. She is blaming it on the air conditioning, suggested to her by the person who sold her the cough medicine. We awoke in plenty of time to dress and go to the buffet breakfast and get prepared for the day. 

It is a beautiful morning! Temperatures are expected to be in the mid 80's and skies are clear.

We disembark the ship and wind our way down to the gangplank and make our way through the myriad of shops selling all kinds of souvenirs and anything else to separate you from your dollars.

Sue on the long gangway to mainland

We are directed to Bus No. 28 or 29 for our trip to Pacaya Volcano Trek. We choose 28 and end up with 38 adventure seekers like ourselves. Our guide, Jose and bus driver, Pablo, welcome us to Guatemala.

Carlos

We will have a nearly two hour bus ride to the volcano and Carlos informs us we are very fortunate to have such a beautiful day because a lot of time, the weather is not as cooperative. He said we will see five of the country's 37 volcanoes, two of which are active.  

We head east into the interior and it is relatively flat, but I know before long we will be climbing in elevation.  Guatemala was once described to me:  crumple up a piece of paper and throw it down, that is Guatemala.  This was back in my Army Reserve days.  I belonged to a Combat Support Hospital that deployed down here for a two week active duty assignment.  I was the Pharmacy Officer and we had a full complement of officers and enlisted to staff a complete hospital to take care of most any kind of medical care. We were housed at Joint Task Force Bravo, a military base shared with the Guatemalans, and helicoptered each day to different sites to treat the Mayan Indian population.  Many times they had to clear enough area with machetes in order for us to land and set up shop, which was in school houses most of the time.  But I digress, that is another story.

We wind our way through the town of Pureto Quetzal.  Some areas are quite modern but there is a predominance of poor areas with many sightings of loose dogs, tethered horses and old cars and trucks. 

The streets are very narrow and Pablo skillfully handles the large bus in and around traffic.  Carlos tells us that Guatemala has 24 languages, Spanish being the official one.  The Mayans have 21 different dialects and there are two "xinca garifuna" an indigenous group that is non-Mayan.  The official currency is the Quetzal.  The Quetzal is also their national bird.  It sports a tail that can be as much as a meter long!  It is on their flag as well as their currency.

The Quetzal

We soon leave the small town and get into open area that reminds me of south Texas scrub brush.  There are quite a few trucking centers and depots of land-sea containers. 

This is obviously a major terminal and we see lots of loaded semis presumably heading for the capital Guatemala City with its five million inhabitants.

We continue to increase our elevation as Pablo leaves the four-lane expressway and heads toward Pacaya Volcano National Park.  As he winds his way up the two lane road, we occasionally have clear views of the five volcanoes and smoke is visible from two of them.

We wind our way through a couple different villages that seems like we are always looking down on them and level areas are hard to spot.  Shops are so close to the roadway, it seems like we could touch them.

How Pablo makes his way around sharp turns and through traffic is a wonder.  We enter the gates of the park and an attendant comes aboard to check the head count.  Admission was part of the excursion cost. 

We finally arrive at our drop-off point and we pick up  a couple more guides, one to be at the front of the pack and the other to bring up the rear.  We are provided with green wrist bands to identify our group.  Carlos will accompany us also and warned us that it is a steep climb and to do it at our own pace. 

In addition, there are five horses with young riders who will tag along and offer us a ride if we feel that we cannot make the climb.  $30 for the ascent, $45 for a round trip.  There are also several kids, renting walking sticks (cane poles) at $2 each.  Sue gets one, mainly for the descent she says.

We are currently at 2.8km (about 9,200 feet) above sea level.  Our climb will take us another 1,000 feet.  We begin and it doesn't seem too difficult at first.  The ground is hard rock at this point but it quickly progresses to a more loose rock which makes walking even more difficult.

  Remember, at this elevation, the level of oxygen is only 15% as opposed to 21% at sea level!  I'm quite a ways ahead of Sue who is struggling and I see she finally hires a horse.  After about 1/2 an hour, I too am considering a ride.  My chest is tight and aching and I am breathing rapidly.  But I am stubborn and want to report to you all that I did it.  And to add to the situation, where there are horses, there are abundant "trail apples".  I try avoiding them but as time went on it became too much of an effort.

We finally come to the first rest area.  Most of our group of 38 get there before me.  The horses try to remain in the rear mainly because they kick up a lot of dust and make things worse.  After resting about 10 minutes the group staggers out again and I feel somewhat rested.  Carlos says we just finished the hardest part, I found out that he just said that to encourage us and the rest of the climb was just as hard or worse.

 https://photos.google.com/photo/AF1QipMZ98auLzk6RcJASWcUzmLeXIJxj8GRjfkF8O6c

(The above link is a video of the rest area with Guatemala City and Sue leaving aboard "Chocolate", you may have to copy and paste it)

The views are stunningly beautiful when there is an opening and we can see.  A lot of the time we are enclosed in vegetation or a rock wall on one side or the other.  A couple more people opt for the horses.  One young lad sees me struggling and urges me to rent in his "taxi". 

Sue aboard "Chocolate"

But, I stubbornly refuse, even though I can barely get out the words.  The temperature is in the 70s, but it is humid and I keep wiping the sweat out of my eyes.  I should have brought my sweatband and left my straw hat on the ship.  I also have a mild case of COPD and have an inhaler for but haven't had to use it since leaving Iowa.  I wish I had it now!

Another rest area comes and goes.  We get a fabulous view of Guatemala City and the surrounding area with five volcanoes and many other mountains as well.

Guatemala City in the distant background

One gentleman gets sick and vomits on the trail!  We are told that he had "Altitude Sickness" brought on by low oxygen content.  He gets on one of the two remaining horses to finish the trip.  I am still soldiering on, even though my legs a right knee are suggesting otherwise.

We come to the last rest area and the boy with the only remaining horse says its my last chance or he will stable his horse in the nearby corral.  I can't give up now of course.  Carlos says we only have another 20 minutes of climb left and we will be at our highest point.  Not quite true as it takes me at least another 1/2 hour because I'm taking baby steps by this time and the grade has not lessened as we snake our way to the summit. 

The "summit"

Sue and her horse get there before me and she has dismounted and is walking around fresh as a daisy.

The views are indeed stunning but I am disappointed that we aren't closer to the crater.  Carlos says that there are tours going there but it takes more than eight hours and most cruise ships aren't in port long enough.  Carlos has brought a Guatemalan flag and we join others in getting our picture taken holding it in the stiff breeze that we are experiencing.

Sue and I proudly holding the flag

  I come close to losing my hat on several occasions.  And believe me, if it gets loose, it is gone forever.  

Sue thinks she can manage the descent well enough and dismisses "Chocolate" to the stable.  We make our way across and up to an even higher point before encountering our first taste of what would become our  biggest challenge.

The slope looked like the downhill run of a ski slope!  And this is how I attacked it, skidding down a step at a time.  The surface was a granular mix of volcanic rock and dust and I am sure I wore off about two years worth of sole on my Sketchers.

https://photos.google.com/photo/AF1QipNHud-3VMk27A92U8hJjjcSjf3ERtHSh39bBlRV

https://photos.google.com/photo/AF1QipOEvf7B2M9lTaXX0JKVPYV89LjTf8OE6c9rV8xv

Above: Two videos of the start of our descent.  May have to copy and paste.

  Sue had immediate trouble and Carlos ended up steadying her the first part and another guide joined in to help her through this most difficult terrain.  My shoes are getting filled with pebbles and my socks turn black.  We had about 20 minutes of this before coming to a more reasonable surface but still, a very steep decline.

Sue's legs would not support her any further and when she reached a point where it was possible, a four wheel drive pick-up was summoned to take her the rest of the way down.  I will post a short video when we first started the descent.  This video will give you and idea of challenging it was.

 The descent did not take quite as long as the ascent of course, but it did take a little over an hour for myself.  I stopped twice to remove my shoes and clean out the rocks and dust off my socks.

The views going down were just as spectacular from a little different viewpoint. 

A homestead we passed on the way down.

This is the area where coffee beans are grown as the best coffee is grown at these higher altitudes in volcanic soil.  Carlos said that Guatemala is known for its brand of arabica coffee bean.  We can see these fields in the distance distinguishable by the rows of plants.  They are productive after five years of growth and will last up to 35 years before needing to be replaced.  Beans are harvested between November and March depending on region and climate.

Enlarged view with some coffee fields visable

The bus was a welcome site and after a visit to the nearby "bano", I boarded and we were soon on our way back to the terminal.  It was a much more subdued ride as everyone was tired out and Carlos did not bother us with commentary. 

We arrived with about 45 minutes before time to board which allowed Sue to find some purchases in the ever-present marketplace, find a geocache, and most importantly, for Dan to have a local brew!

We board the ship and head directly to our stateroom and shower.  We soon discover everything we have on is covered in volcanic dust as it shows up on the white duvet on our bed when I laid the pack on it.  We shake ourselves off on our balcony, than head for the shower.  I give our socks a triple rinse in the sink before thinking they are safe to put with our regular laundry.  Sue repeats the procedure and hangs them up in our shower clothesline to dry.

We take it easy before dressing for dinner.  Sue goes down a deck to take a picture of tonight's menu to see if we want to attend.  We do as Sue likes the Grilled Rump of Lamb and I will have the Sea Bass.  After a couple appetizers and a salad of course! If there is room, and there was, we will have the custard.

We had a strenuous day.  Am I glad I did it, yes!  Would I do it again? Doubtful, but who knows.  We saw some wonderful examples of our beautiful planet and were blessed with a near perfect day.  What more could one ask for?

I appreciate everyone responding to my plea for recognition.  It gives me the impetus to continue.

If any of you have any specific questions, please don't hesitate to email me message me on Facebook, or include them in your comments. 

Next stop is Cabo San Lucas located at the southern tip of the Baja California peninsula of Mexico.