Walking around Lava in Pacaya Volcano
Published February 5th, 2007 in Places and moments.There is lava everywhere! Are you coming or not?
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.
I was doing my practice teaching from Iowa Wesleyan College in Mt. Pleasant IA at the Colegio Americano in Guatelmala City in 1964. Elizabeth McVean was my supervising teacher. The freshman class coerced me into accompanying them on a trip up volcan de Pacaya, because they told me if I didn’t do it, they would not be able to go. We camped on the way at a mesita and climbed all the way into the dome the next day. It was quite an experience, since I was having the turista problem at the time!
What a view from the top! I will never forget this experience.
There is a nice view from there. I’m glad you made it to the top. There are clear days where you can see the coast line from there. Pacaya is fairly easy to climb and is near the city. If you come back try Acatenango, you can see the ocean from the top and all the volcanic chain. Thanks for the visit!