Hey everyone! It’s been a pretty eventful week. I’ll start from the beginning, which is the highlight. Saturday started at 5 in the morning for us as we prepped to make the climb up to the volcanic fields of Mount Pacaya, which ended up being a blast! Our tour guide was chill and nice, the views were amazing, and we got to see some lava shoot from the top (from a safe distance). As a side note to all the rock connoisseurs out there, I will say the dried lava boulders at the top had pretty immaculate formations and surprisingly fun rock climbing routes. After our descent we made our way to the volcanic beach at Monterrico. The beach was beautiful, the airbnb was beautiful, and the surf was beautiful. Not much to say other then that. It was an amazing weekend away. Though Sunday, on our way back to Antigua, brought rumors of tragedy; Fuego had erupted and it was bad.
Cars covered in ash passed, people were sweeping off the streets, the highways were in gridlock, and we didn’t know what was going on. When we returned to Antigua, it was almost unrecognizable. The once colorful city was covered in layers of black and grey. We were given an update on the situation and it was worse then just extreme ash fall, lava had creeped into towns close to the volcano and other cities were buried in thick layers of volcanic debris. The events of the volcano were tragic and scary, made worse by slow aid; however the people of Guatemala banded together to give help to those who needed it. The cities are getting cleaner and many of those stranded have been saved.
Fuego’s eruption and its consequences are tragic, however, they have also shown me the beauty of Guatemala and its citizens. They have addressed the situation together and have done everything in their power to help. The unity and love felt here is indescribable and resonating. At the will of the environment, Guatemala stands strong.
