I crossed the border, walked in a holy week procession, climbed an active volcano, boated across a lake, and somehow managed to safely get back to Honduras, even after the bus broke down. What an incredible week!
This past week was Semana Santa (holy week), so pretty much all of Central American went on vacation. A few of us headed to Antigua, Guatemala for the week to experience the unique Holy Week in this fantastic city. Antigua resembles an old Spanish colony and its beauty and charm fascinated me the entire week. That, and the spectualar celebrations that I witnessed. Alfombras (carpets) made of sawdust, flowers, leaves, and even fruit lined the streets the entire week. The processions lasted the entire day, beginning before the sun rose and going all through the night. Huge floats of Jesus holding his cross and the Virgin Mary were paraded through the streets and instilling awe in many of the visitors. It was a beauty and unique celebration that I was glad to witness (and for a moment when I was working my way through the crowd- be a part of!)
One of the days while we were in Antigua, we decided to hike up an active volcano (or as the guide book described, a highly active volcano). We started up the mountain, in a huge tour group 
and soon realized that our guides would be of very little assistance. About 30 minutes up the hike, it started to rain and not just rain, but downpour. We attempted to find some shelter under the trees, but it was too late. Mud was streaming down the mountain and we were soaked to the bone. But we continued on. We found friendship in some Israeli boys, who gave my friends and I the encouragement we needed to continue on (the hike wasn’t exactly light…) And then we finally made it to the top. And wow. I was literally walking on hardened lava and could see the red, hot, molten lava just a few feet below me. As we continued to climb, we could see the lava flowing down the mountain, and could feel its heat. Words do not adequately describe what it feels like to be a few feet away from flowing lava. As it was an afternoon hike, we reached the summit at about 5:00ish, so we realized that if we didn’t want to be on the hardened lava (which was a bit dangerous- I fell once and now have my very own proud lava scar), we had better start heading down the mountain. The rain had finally let up, but in its wake it left a nice layer of thick clouds surrounding us. What this meant was that, without guide, we were attempting to maneuver our way down an active volcano, with no vision of what was before us. With the help of some Guatemalan climbers, we successfully and safely made it down the mountain and reveled in some hot chocolate at the bottom as our rain-soaked jeans were providing very little comfort. So, I climbed an active volcano. And I have the scar to prove it.
In the middle of the week, as the crowds were growing rapidly in Antigua, we decided to head out to Lake Atilan for a night. The lake, surrounded by two beautiful volcanoes, was relaxing and quiet. During out boat tour, I was mesmerized by its cool, calm waters and the clouds that sat quietly on the tips of the volcanoes.
Our last days in Antigua were spent soaking up the loco processions during the day and meeting many friendly faces from around the world. Our long trip home on Saturday (beginning at 4am), was of course filled with adventure, as moments before reaching the Honduran border, our bus broke down due to unclear circumstances. We were stranded on the side of the road in Guatemala, and luckily were able to flag down another busito to make it back to Honduras!
Holy Week in Guatemala. I crossed the border, climbed a volcano, boated across a lake, witnessed a holy week procession and somehow, made it back to Honduras.
and soon realized that our guides would be of very little assistance. About 30 minutes up the hike, it started to rain and not just rain, but downpour. We attempted to find some shelter under the trees, but it was too late. Mud was streaming down the mountain and we were soaked to the bone. But we continued on. We found friendship in some Israeli boys, who gave my friends and I the encouragement we needed to continue on (the hike wasn’t exactly light…) And then we finally made it to the top. And wow. I was literally walking on hardened lava and could see the red, hot, molten lava just a few feet below me. As we continued to climb, we could see the lava flowing down the mountain, and could feel its heat. Words do not adequately describe what it feels like to be a few feet away from flowing lava. As it was an afternoon hike, we reached the summit at about 5:00ish, so we realized that if we didn’t want to be on the hardened lava (which was a bit dangerous- I fell once and now have my very own proud lava scar), we had better start heading down the mountain. The rain had finally let up, but in its wake it left a nice layer of thick clouds surrounding us. What this meant was that, without guide, we were attempting to maneuver our way down an active volcano, with no vision of what was before us. With the help of some Guatemalan climbers, we successfully and safely made it down the mountain and reveled in some hot chocolate at the bottom as our rain-soaked jeans were providing very little comfort. So, I climbed an active volcano. And I have the scar to prove it.
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