Pacaya Volcano was amazing. The hike was steep and long, through loose gravelly, sandy ground. I managed to (barely) to keep up with the group and was so happy about this. Some people rode horses most of the way, until we reached the hardened lava, which is sharp, uneven and unforgiving. We laboured through this until we reached the glowing red embers of the erupting volcano. I dont know if erupting is the right word because it wasn´t violent, just brilliant red gel-like liquid, slowly billowing out of the mountain. All around us, underneath the grey-black barrenness of the hardened lava, were glowing red coals. It was so hot some people lost the soles of their shoes. As more and more people piled onto the sharps rocks, trying to get close for photos before the sun finished its descent, I began to feel an urgency to get away from the heat. I carefully selected footholds between the people coming through, trying to avoid crumbling bits only inches above the coals. I made it back to the edge of the plateau and began munching on my dinner, hurrying before we began our long climb down in the dark.

I ended up riding a horse down, as my IT band became too painful to walk...it was a beautiful sight - about a hundred people wound their way down the twisting path through the darkness with their headlamps and flashlights...the sky was full of stars and I could see Orion perfectly, on his side just above the horizon. Riding the horse down steep rocky slopes was not the easiest ride but I can´t say how grateful I was to have this help for the 1-1/2 hour journey down.