Volcano Tajumulco

What a weekend!

Volcano Tajumulco.  Aka, the highest point in Central America.  Close to the Mexico border.  Close enough we could see it.  High enough to make anyone’s lungs burn if they hadn’t been in altitude for awhile.

Got into Quetzaltenango Friday, signed up to do the two-day hike with Quetzaltrekkers immediately.  Quetzaltrekkers is a non-profit volunteer organization that leads hikes all over Nicaragua and Guatemala, all money made goes to education programs for the local kids.  Not a bad thing ehh!

Excited, didn’t know what was to come yet!  Ha.  Xela (Quetzaltenango) sits around 2333 mtrs above sea level.  After a few buses and breakfast we started our hike around 3000mtrs.  The summit sits at 4220mtrs (13,845 ft).
After a few meters of walking, I already needed a break. 3.5 miles up, 4.1 down.   I looked up to see this staring down at me.

Wondering, ‘WHAT AM I DOING?’  Talk about intimidation.  Not to mention a challenge with 50lbs on your back.  Supplies for myself and the group (which entails heavy duty sleeping back, tent, down jacket, snowboard pants, gloves, hat, scarf, extra layers, 4.5 liters of water, tub o peanut butter, jam and headlamp.)  We’d be camping.  Base camp sits around 4000mtrs.

During one of our breaks, which we all loved dearly, we see the locals walking down from presumably the summit.  With nothing but babies on their backs, not joking, babies.  No sleeping bags, no coats, just babies.  Ohh Guatemala!

We set up base camp, some of us pass out from exhaustion/slight altitude sickness for a bit.  Then we hike Cerro Conception for sunset.  What a sight. 

After a dinner of noodles, people I ate noodles, I had no other choice. Those that don’t know me well, I’m scared of noodles.  Long story.  We snuggled into our tent, no worries 7 of us in one!  Wake up call for 4 a.m.  It was early.  We were a bit lethargic to say the least.

And the hour hike up about burst my lungs, my heart was pumping triple time.  But the color of the horizon, the excitement of the highest point in C.A., the views, who am I kidding here everything was motivating me to keep my legs moving up.

Yes, I did slam a Red Bull at the top.  It gives you wiiings!  Why wouldn't one need that for the highest point in C.A.?

This is something I'll never soon forget.  We saw the sunset, moon rise then moon set and sunrise!  Volcanoes erupting in the background.  Volcanoes near Antigua and Atitlan.  A shadow that is too gigantic to explain, a shadow that says something.  Feeling the altitude.  Feeling the burn.  Sharing the excitement.  And seeing forever.

Talk about a trip.  Please do yourself a favor and look into Quetzaltrekkers.  Great people doing great things!

Buses. Panajachel. Kayaking. San Pedro la Laguna

Who knew it could possibly get better!

We left Antigua via buses.  4 to be exact.  Anna's expressions were amazing.  Not sure if she was expecting to share a seat with two men.  Or to have 6 people in one row, one balancing off of both seats.  Or to be swaying side to side along the jagged mountain roads.  Or to see her bag get thrown on top of the bus then wonder the entire time if it was still there.  For one that needs excitement always, she loved the buses.

We landed in Panajachel.  A town that borders Lake Atitlan.  The lake, well it's beautiful.  Surrounded by volcanoes and mountains, its something out of a fairy tale.  The town on the other hand, has over 220 hostals/hotels/live-in houses.  And its touristy.  Not our kind of place.  We actually checked into one hotel and after going by our gut instincts and checking the beds, finding reminants of bed bugs, we checked out.  Fyi to other backpackers, don't stay in Panajachel.

 

 

Went kayaking.  Anna took the back, so she could steer, annoy me and drench me all at once.  Got the warning from everyone "don't stay on the lake after 1pm."  We're always being told something so we didn't know what to believe.  But after 4 hours paddling in the morning, we didn't feel like trying the 'big waves.'  Instead, we moved locations to San Pedro, falling in love with the volcano town as soon as we docked.

It's real.  Cultural.  The women all wear long skirts, touching their ankles.  Having the shirt tucked in high.  They dress colorful.  Other than tourist restaurants, we found 1 local comedor, Pacha Mama.  We ate there, they used a wood fire to make us chicken, fries, rice and guacamole.  A must stop in San Pedro!

 

And today we bought a papaya, pineapple and 7 mandarins for $1.50.  Ahhhh awesomeness.