Within the first five days of starting my Maymester program in Guatemala, I was able to experience one of the most beautiful sights I have ever seen in my life. While I was still adjusting to all the changes that come when studying abroad, I had my eyes set on Acatenango, one of the tallest volcanoes in Guatemala.
Myself, along with my classmates Quinn, Riley, Atlanta, and Gabe signed up for an overnight excursion with a travel agency here in Antigua. If we were going to do it, it had to be our fist weekend here since it was the only free weekend we were going to have. The hike was excruciating. We traveled around 6 hours going mostly uphill carrying around 30-50 pounds of gear each. It rained several times and I got some massive cramps, but we were motivated by our guide who repeated several times “Vamos a la playa!”, or “We are going to the beach!”.
From our camp, we had a beautiful view of Agua and Fuego, two neighboring volcanos. While our guide setup our fire, we setup our tents and fed some mountain dogs we came across. All the while, El Volcan de Fuego was erupting with thunderous explosions a few times every hour. The lava was much more visible at night, and with lightning in the backdrop, the views had me in awe. At one point, one of the eruptions was large enough to wake Rylie and I, and we witnessed lava flowing halfway down the volcano.
We slept through rain and cold in our tents, and at around 4 AM, our guide woke us up with his call “Vamos a la playa!”. He made more hot cocoa for us, and we continued hiking another hour and a half to fully reach the top. This part was very steep and difficult, but most of us continued the hike from camp in order to see the neighboring volcanos at sunrise. The views from the top were amazing and breathtaking. It was a surreal feeling that I am never going to forget. All of us made it, even our new friend Tarzan, one of the mountain dogs we acquainted.
While I still have several weeks of the program to look forward to, I could not have started it on a better note.
