I was up early, had a bite to eat in my room and at 6 am was waiting in front of the hotel when the minibus came to pick me up. We drove around town collecting other tourists from various hotels and then headed off to San Vicente Pacaya, about one hour away. It was a group of eight and our guide, I was the only American and the oldest in the group. We went up and over the foothills of Volcán de Agua and through the fascinating Mayan village of Santa Maria de Jesus but you won’t see any pictures I took because I have lost my camera once again. And this time it is well and truly lost. I recall using it to take a picture of the pizza stand at fumaroles on Cerró Chino but don’t have a clue where it ended up after that. Fell out of an incompletely zipped backpack I guess. Fortunately I’d taken some selfies and a few other pictures with my phone, but all the good ones with optical zoom are lost forever. This will probably bother me for a while, and it’s such a pain in the ass to not have a dedicated camera, but I digress.
Back in the day, one drove to the town of San Vicente de Pacaya, parked and climbed. No fees, no rules, no restrictions on where to go and what to do. You could dig holes and pour cement even! Now it’s a national park with an entrance fee and a hired guide is required. I was initially disappointed when we got to the entrance and was told that we were going to take an alternate route and summit Cerró Chino, a cinder cone next to Pacaya. You are no longer allowed to summit Pacaya but I’d have preferred to have gotten closer. The tour goes to Cerró Chino now because there you can roast marshmallows in the fumaroles. In the end however, I was close enough and enjoyed the excursion. But as a nice hike, not the emotional “loop of life” experience I’d anticipated back when I imagined this return. It’s clear that the country, the volcano, and I have all changed so much that was never going to happen.
Volcán de Agua was visible off and on today. This is taken from the bus on the way up to the town of San Vicente de Pacaya
I’m pretty sure I’m leaving Antigua tomorrow, I just haven’t decided on a route. Part of me wants to head south, towards Escuintla and then to El Salvador in a day or two, part of me wants to head east towards Honduras and the Copan ruins. The Escuintla route will take me past Pacaya again and places where I spent time during my two extended stays in my youth but then nothing interesting as far as I can tell. The Copan route will require getting into Guatemala City and possibly Tegucigalpa, both big cities. So I keep toggling that decision.
Karen PoretI am sorry you lost your camera, David! Now your pictures will all be in your mind. Perhaps you may have an idea ( probably at a later date) where it could possibly be. We all lose something dear to us at some point in our lives and always beat ourselves up over it. It’s unfortunate to be a “part of life”.. At least you are living yours! Reply to this comment 8 months ago
