Day 2: Antigua and Volcan Pacaya

I finally arrived to my hotel in Antigua at 1.30am, exhausted and weary after the long journey. I fell asleep instantly, feeling happy I had finally arrived. I woke up early as my body was still on UK time so after breakfast I headed out into Antigua to explore. The town is small so it was easy to cover the majority of the sights on foot. Antigua hosts a wealth of impressive 17th and 18th century buildings, the cobbled streets are lined with colourful shops and churches and the people are very welcoming. The town was lively with local bands playing traditional music and a bustling market selling local crafts and fresh fruit. As I wandered through the streets, I looked ahead to the horizon, the impressive backdrop gave an insight into what I have in store over the coming days. Volcanoes Agua, Fuego and Acatenango towered intimidatingly over the town, making me feel both daunted and excited for the upcoming challenge.

After exploring Antigua, I met my guide and group ready to head towards Volcan Pacaya. Having a local guide is pretty essential for climbing these volcanoes, as they understand the nature of frequency of their activity so can alter the itinerary according to this and make the decision of how high it is safe to climb. Diego, my guide, greeted me with a wide smile and introduced himself. He's the same age as me but has guided on these volcanoes for 8 years and grew up in the area. I met the remainder of the travellers, a small group entirely from the UK- Chris from Yorkshire, another Chris Cumbria and David from Lincoln. A friendly mix of Northerners and Midlanders! After organising gear we drove to the trailhead of Volcan Pacaya, the route passed through rows of avocado trees, sugar plantations and small settlements where locals wore the traditional Mayan colourful dress. Set in it's own national park, Pacaya is a storybook volcano with a continuous plume of smoke drifting from the summit. The volcano stands 2552m above sea level, although frequent lava streams often prevent a feasible journey to the summit. The volcano is called Pacaya as this is the name of a vegetable that used to be commonly grown in the area until a large scale eruption damaged the crops.

The initial route was steep but manageable, as the path followed a series of switch backs through the cloud forest. Due to the easier nature of this route and lower altitude compared to the other summits, its treated as an acclimatisation peak. It was hot and humid, but the trees casted shadows to provide some relief from the sun. After a couple of hours climbing, the route emerged from the cloud forest and the view opened up to a spectacular panoramic of volcanic peaks. From here there was a short rocky ascent to a view point where the volcanoes forming a segment of the Pacific Ring of fire can be seen. The view was stunning and was amplified by the sky being so clear, meaning the dramatic plumes of ash emerging from the volcanoes could not be mistaken for clouds. We remained at the view point until sun down, sat on the rocks in awe of nature. I explored the area while I waited for the sunset admiring the weaving patterns the lava flows had carved into the rocks . Diego told me that locals sometimes come up here to cook pizza as the large holes in the rocks naturally heated by the magma below serve as pizza ovens. The sky suddenly became coated in a rich palette of reds, pinks and oranges as the sun began it's decend below the clouds. The plumes of ash danced in the wind and their shapes distorted as the sunset colours intensified.

From here we headed to our campsite, a small patch of land where our tents nestled on the slopes of Pacaya. We would push closer to the summit in the morning in order to see the sunrise over the distant Pacific Ocean. As we headed to camp it grew dark, windy and cold. Guided by only the light of my head torch I walked towards camp with my eyes squinted as the dust swirled in the wind. The loose scree rattled and slid down the slope as my footsteps disturbed it. I dug my heels in an attempt to remain upright and embraced the sliding which is inevitable on this terrain. After arriving to camp I collapsed into my tent and sprawled out, feeling the lack of sleep creeping up on me. We ate dinner, chatted and drank tea then went to bed at 8.30pm in anticipation for the 4am morning wake up ready for the sunrise summit attempt.