And so the talk came to a nice pause “what an astonishing view” -my friend said-. And just as this post began: “we were talking about the weather (and landscapes)” I now see the “lonely” (but in good company) four trees… and I wonder, as time goes by, what have they seen and what would they be talking about.

So as we talked about the weather, I bet those trees, wise as time can make them, “they were talking about life…” and how nature renews itself no matter how bad the weather might seem for us.

Where?

The place is Tajumulco Volcano located in San Marcos, at approximately 5 hours driving from Guatemala City. It is the highest summit in Central América reaching 4,220 meters above sea level. And yes, one of my fav spots around.

Read more about Tajumulco volcano here.

A quick look at Cerro Quemado reminds me my rock climbing days (back then when I didn’t work on saturdays). Then, after a minute or so walking around I get it, I get the feeling again. A little smile starts to grow and there you go: the energy comes back.

Yes, no matter how everything could be out of place, the same places are there, the same buildings, nah, better! The atmosphere is cold again. Xela changes but somehow stays the same…

There are places staying almost the same, without change… just to remind us things keep going.

Just as the days go by waiting for something to heal whats been hurt, a little of sport get my knee back to work and there you go: Acatenango volcano again.

There is something about this volcano that no matter how bad, tired and without motivation I am (really adult days), once I climb it, I come back to put everything on its place, in order.

I don’t know what it is, but when I have a hard time, really hard time… I come back to this place and then it seems all the lost energy comes back to me.

Ancient practice?

Maybe… as history teaches us, the mountains are places related with God. Jesus Himself used to look for the peace and solitude of a mountain to pray, and so the people before Him and after Him.

Once you get to know Acatenango you just can’t keep coming back. Even as the Volcano “seems the same”, you will never be the same.

Thanks God for making this things possible. Let the new year begin.

* I hardly put pictures of myself on the web, but this time I couldn’t keep the idea out of my mind of putting this image taken by a really nice girl friend of mine. She caught me by surprise catching the “real me” while smiling back.

What I like the most of the picture is the memory of me “coming back to life again”.

Thanks Valeria for the picture, specially for climbing with me on my hard times.

Is very unlikely that I stay at hotels on my trips. In fact I usually avoid cities for staying the night.

Very often I just keep driving/walking/biking to my next destination. Ok, a while ago I had a little discussion with a friend about this. He usually avoids my places and just stays at the city.

I just wonder why…

I mean, do you see this very often? no. I guess once you see it you start getting the point. Yes, the picture is great, but there is no comparison watching the same place with your eyes with 360 field of view.

And just a little detail… cities have lots of those… how do you call it? “people”??? yes. The mountains have little of them, and thats why I like the mountains the most.

To my friend: if it wasn’t for people like us who don’t hesitate on getting a little dirt on our hands, you would never see this places (even in pictures). And if I walked a mile on your shoes (cities, thing that I have done many times) and you walked one mile on my shoes, seeing what I see… I bet you change your preferences.

It takes to live to know… It takes a walk to get there.. but it takes little steps to end always in a little fancy room. No offenses my friend, I guess I will be on one of those rooms, but let that for my last years… not now…

While walking around on some trails in Petén a little movement caught my attention, it was this guy. I still don’t have any idea of what kind of animal it is but one thing is certain, he is saying “this is my space”. (I guess is a male because of that distinctive orange thing…). Very often, only the males have this kind of distinctions and the females are frequently bigger, I could be wrong, correct me if you have a better idea of this.

It was about half the size of the palm of my hand, but still had no fear showing me that was his space.

Back in the city I see people running away from conflict, and very often, instead of getting some respect, they just run away even from people half their size.

I wonder if this “educated manners” so common in our society really help or we should go back to the natural way of “this is my space”. Not trying to start a war here but I guess you get the point: some people with “good manners” often run away while this little guy is telling me “dude, YOU go away”.

So we went to Sololá and after 9kms of fun, hard and tricky descent Werner crashes with some bigs stones… the tire gets broken and all messed up… still at least 20kms left… Maybe the picture doesn’t show it well but the tire is all skewed.

We were lucky to replace the tire after the following 5 kms of descent WITHOUT one of the brakes… Yeah, some falls on muddy terrain and then some lunch.

Still to much left to do. The complete route is about 28kms, the uphill wait for us and there we go.

Werner, Mario and me with still 5kms left (uphill). We were mostly sick than tired of going up and up with no places to rest. (damn road!).

What’s up with us? enjoying everything including the falls? Nothing like coming back with some scars on legs and arms… Yeah, I know… silly me to forget the helmet at home… I needed it while going down (ouch my head!)

And after 10 seconds I still can’t give you a short answer…

But if that was my last year of living, it still will be just great.
I still can’t choose a favorite place. There is no top ten, just a big endless list of memorable places where I have been with friends and alone.

After many years living like this, I say it proud: I’m a loner, and I can go to places you won’t dare going even with company. Its a must to know yourself.

But by now, browse the pictures on this site so you can get to know Guatemala, my country.

Some say some people life can be resumed in a day, and for some people, one day of life is a lifetime… And… what can you tell me about yours? what are you doing with your life? so, let me guess… enough tv?
Where was I?

I was near, far, below, above… I was… what can I say? maybe just “I was” and more important than that: “I still am”.

This is a natural sanctuary named Lachuá, which means “smelly water”, as it has some sulfured aromas. It is located in Alta Verapaz and it is AWESOME.

Is not an easy road, but mostly, and adventure trip. That was our prize after reaching it on mountain bike with some friends from Chisec. Yes, thats right, Chisec, at 75 kilometers from there, biking.
Where is Lachuá?

It is located in Alta Verapaz. Head to Chisec First and from there, a non pavemented  road will take you there. There is nature everywhere and the place itself is a sanctuary. No electronic devices, radios or similar are allowed there. People over there take cautions to preserve this and will watch you closely for your behavior expecting you not to disturb the peace in the place.

The water is clean and you can see the fish in there. Also, when you relax, the fish come close to you and some will bite you thinking your hair is some kind of food. NO FISHING allowed. This no aggression  is what makes them feel so secure to get close to you.
Want to see it for yourself? visit the place. I encourage you. Read the trip report here. (sorry, in spanish)

I have no idea what kind of spider is this but it was huge, like 35 centimeters long hanging there at Yaxhá in Petén.

Any ideas what kind of spider is this? Nice!!!!

I take a picture, check it on the screen and wow!!, what was that? The “Volcan de Fuego” just made a big eruption… I’m right at Fuego Volcano, just descending from the summit, in fact I’m on my way back to the camping site. I saw many eruptions that day but this one was one of the big ones… My expression speaks for itself.

I don’t get surprised with easy… but what you can’t see there is the big eruption… My friend is also shocked and surprised…

Just saw the eruptions a while ago from the summit of Acatenango and this time I’m seeing them right there, right at Fuego Volcano. When we were near the crater (as close we could get) it was waaaaay more calmed than now.

Lucky us (my friend and me), the biggest eruption happened when we were already on the trail. We looked back and to our surprise, it shacked the whole place and made lots of sand move right on the place we were sitting at Fuego…

NICE! Lets wait some more next time so we can feel the earth moving below our feet. (and we are serious!)

Picture taken in automatic mode at Tajumulco Volcano (4,220 meters above sea level).

Tajumulco is the highest peak in Central America and you can see ice formations over the rocks and among the grass near the trail. It is a medium difficulty hike and with some previous training you can complete the journey in one day without camping over there.

For newbies it is advisable to train some on other volcanoes and stay at San Marcos (near the volcano) for a while so you can adapt to the altitude. For non experienced climbers it might give some nauseas while on the summit.

Are you crazy?

Its what people asked me when they knew I was going to the summit alone, without guide and not knowing the route. In the meantime, a Mexican was receiving the same questions on another trail. It was a long trip to get to Tajumulco.

And if you think we are crazy, those new friends on the left side of the picture… came from Costa Rica to Guatemala only to visit Tajumulco…

I wouldn’t say crazy… Crazy is to spend the life sitting on a couch for ever while all this beauty waits for you in the nature.

And how can I get there?

Wanna visit Tajumulco? Drive to Quetzaltenango via Interamericana road. Reach Quetzaltenango and from there goto San Marcos. Ask for directions and take your car (you don’t need a jeep) to Tajumulco. The landscape is great.

You can hire a local guide over there who will be happy to take you to the summit as a quick tour between the forest.

Take some food and water, mostly water as high altitudes tend to dehydrate your body very quickly. Bring some aspirins as they help in some way to the altitude sickness.

If you are a complete newbie… think twice it is the highest peak (4,220 meters above sea level) and average people have problems at 2,500 meters.

It doesn’t matter how much stress you have. When you are several meters off the ground with only your hands holding your body to the rock wall, you just forget everything and become one with the rock: hard and solid.

Being a kinda risky sport it is hard to have some pictures like this one. So this is me while red pointing a route at Jalapa, Guatemala. My friend the photographer is already up there anchored to the rock. It is kinda high and yes, falling from there is something I don’t want to experience…

I was so excited of coming back to rockclimbing that I didn’t take off my watch. Nice moments.

Rock climbing in Guatemala?

Yeah, Guatemala is a volcanic region and has plenty of places to climb. With routes from 5.8 to 5.12+ . Of course Quetzaltenango and Huehuetenango are the most visited places for this sport. Find routes and information on Rock Climbing in Guatemala at XplorandoGuatemala and see for yourself the options you have. Also, browse the archives at Rockclimbing.com

Walking on the muddy trails to Laguna Brava or “Yolnabaj” (mad or angry lagoon) at Huehuetenango found this.

A small snake crossing the mud. After half a second my camera was out trying to capture a nice “smile” from the snake. Poisonous? doesn’t seem so. For the hints I’ve learned looking at their head and tail: negative. Anyhow, it quickly assumed the defense position.

If you find a snake

Mostly, you won’t even notice when they are around. They sense you in a radius of 6 meters and most of the times are hidden. They runaway from us by nature. There are few exceptions that, once mad at you, will attack and follow you. But trust me, they are more scare of you.

If you learn how to distinguish poisonous from non poisonous, still, DON’T mess with snakes. And PLEASE don’t take snakes to your house. They survive in certain conditions (weather, warm places) and most of the times, when you take one out of the habitat, they will die.
I bought back some nice shots of this snake. I have received several indications of what kind of snake this is but no clue after all that… Still don’t know… do you?

What did you said? So you are not coming with me to see the lava flow? Yes, the dry lava we are walking on is hot, but thats not a problem… right? Make up your mind, is starting to rain… and don’t give me that look.

Ok great, follow me, just be careful with the cracks and hot steam.

See? is not so hard at all!

We are finally reaching the lava flows and yes, it is hot. The rain makes the lava emit weird sounds and the water evaporates right away. Of course, we are all wet now.

Right at the end of the walk, there we are, at just 1 meter from the liquid lava. It is so hot that our clothe is dry in just a matter of minutes. Some nervous people have walked on the hard but hot lava and they laugh constantly as they cannot contain their emotion.

Is not so hot after all right? wait!, your bottle of water is melting… Yes, it is totally deformed.

And whats that smell? OMG, your shoes!!! they are melting!!!!.

Finally we got back. Nice trip and sorry about your shoes, mine are deformed but yours!!! (some friends had to say goodbye their shoes as they end up with big wholes…)

Wanna visit Pacaya????

It is about 1 hour driving from Guatemala City. It is one of the tree permanent active volcanoes and in some seasons you can see lava flows. It is an easy hike. Enjoy the tour!

* seeing that lots of people are looking for information about this volcano, I promise I will publish a complete guide.

This is a nice, fresh (but really cold) river that feeds the Maddalena’s Lagoon at Huehuetenango.

How do I get there?

There are no tours, no hotels and no restaurants over there, so if you wanna go it will be on your car, bicycle or walking…

From Guatemal City, the Interamericana Road will take you to Huehuetenango. From there take the road to Chiantla. Follow the ascent to Todos Santos and just ending the ascent, passing the “Look at, Olaverry”, you will see the sign that says “Madgalena 18km”.

Drive or bike for 18 kilometers and you will be right from where this picture was taken. It is a nice mountain bike ride.

Cold on winter, but nice and clear sky. Beautiful place.

This is the Acatenango volcano summit. In front of us you can see Fuego Volcano.

The night was really cold and we could hear the volcanic eruptions of Fuego Volcano. After seeing the big red magma coming out at night we decided to plan a journey to Fuego.

That December (I must confess) didn’t seemed like a good idea as it was very active. But anyway we went there. Acatenango is almost 4,000 meters above sea level (where I am). And Fuego is considered one of the most beautiful ones.

There I am while marking the bearing and some other data on my GPS.

Volcano climbing became my passion, and there is nothing like being Photographed when you are distracted or enjoying the view.

It’s not ego

Is just that not very often we are able of seeing ourselves as we are. It is not like seeing you on a mirror. Its way different. We can reveal a great deal of ourselves… to us. The picture was taken by my fellow climber Will Enriquez.

Acatenango and Fuego volcano climbing

First, if you are not in great shape, don’t do it. This brothers are a beauty and you won’t enjoy them if you are not in shape. Fuego Volcano es better climbed when you ascent Acatenango First. The trails are great.

Go to Antigua Guatemala and follow the road to Ciudad Vieja. Then head to La Soledad.

Ask for Don Martin little store. This old guy climb this volcanoes as little mountains. From his house you can start the ascent. Acatenango is about 4 hours average. 7 for the newbies.

Add 3 hours to get to Fuego Volcano from Acatenango. The descent/ascent begins right where I am on the picture.

Good luck.

It is called Yolnabaj, but the locals call it “Wild Lagoon” as it has some waves that emit the sound of a crisp water. What you see here is only a small portion.

The place is a paradise far away from Guatemala City (almost 15 hours to get there), but that’s what makes the place a sanctuary.

Even from the town you have to walk for 2 and a half hours to reach the Lagoon. What you are watching is not even the half of the way there. I’m about to enter “Noche Triste”, or “Sad night” as it is a place where long ago some people got lost and started raining, passing a sad and wild night over there.

It is cold and muddy, so be patient. Wanna visit the place? I’m sure you want to, but pretty sure you are not willing to pay the sacrifice to get there… do you?

How to get there

Ok, go to Huehuetenango and then follow the main road till you get to La Trinidad (ask the locals, piece of cake). Once there you will be at just 5 minutes from Mexico. Right at Trinidad you’ll find a fork. Take the road to your right and done. Ask the locals as there are no visible signs on when to turn to your left.

Good luck!

Me and some friends watching the heat at Pacaya on a cold night in Guatemala. The picture, as usual, was taken without filters. I never use filters.

Pacaya volcano at night, or “Paca-night”

After several visits to the volcano and one walk over the dry lava we decided to take some pictures at night. To our surprise, it looked as a city in flames… red glow all over the place and we, knowing Pacaya like the palm of our hands, couldn’t recognize the roads with easy.

During the day you can only see the most evident lava flows, which look red and dark red because of the sunlight. But at night it is a different story.

The heat was nice but in some parts it was too much to stay there. Some families went there with food and were having dinner right there.

Don’t believe me?

See for yourself… the place glows in read and the hot steam helps to make the glow more evident. It looks as a possible hell, but it is not frightening, it looks quite peaceful. Lots of kids from 5 years old and up where hanging there with their folks… so take yours next time with you.

Do you remember your first time there? when you were only a kid?

Esquipulas is a very visited touristic region with several natural and cultural places to see. The church is the most famous and people all over the region come by to ask for forgiveness, health, miracles and some to say “thanks Lord!”. It is a tradition in Guatemala to come here at least once in the lifetime.

And that was your first visit?

No, not mine, but it seems like the first time for that kid, who remind me of myself when I was there for the first time. I was more focused on the hot burning candles on the floor.

I’m still intrigued by fire and after like 10 years since the last time there, sure, watching that kid brought back a lot of memories, happy memories from a running kid who used to play with little toys.

I’m not a kid anymore…

And you will hardly see pictures of me on the web but what the hell… Here I am, come and visit the Church at Esquipulas, located in Chiquimula. It is about 5 hours driving and yes, you can do the visit in one day if you get up early. You will be having dinner at home with no problems.

But it will be better if you stay the night… It is a nice place and as other has confessed, after the visit they have the strange and strong need to come back. Some have stayed here to live. Me?

Yes, even me, that I like to travel a lot, got the same feeling. Wanting to stay.

Want pictures of Esquipulas?

You can visit my stock photography website at Fotos de Guatemala. People say you should bring your new car to Esquipulas so it can be blessed and you will have zero problems or accidents… thats what they say…

Why look for more if you can have a nice playground all around, clear sky, fresh air and weather?

Here the soft grass provides you a nice support for your back taking out any residual stress you might have. There are plenty of trees nearby and enough rock to climb and boulder. Check that big rock near the tent, solid and clean.

As a guest on this lands at Huehuetenango, you can enjoy nice talks with the locals, who also prepare great natural meals. The sun appears fairly early and the moon shines with all its brightness. All this from $0.00!!! free!!! You don’t need to make reservations.

The water is cold but is no problem at all. It has been proven that helps you to feel awake in the early morning, having therapeutic effects on your health.

And where is this place?

It is named Chiaval, located in Huehuetenango at almost 5 hours driving from Guatemala City. No hotels, no restaurants there… They just cannot compete with the surrounding beauty. Too far to go? nah, make a quick stop at Quetzaltenango and continue the next day. You will only need a couple of days.

On the cold season (november) you can enjoy some fresh ice on the tent in the morning and cold water on your Camelbak. The ice is also free over there. Enjoy.