Hiking Volcano Pacaya

So much is happening that keeping up with stories on here is tough to do. Will have to reevaluate how and what we tell. While I know some would prefer pictures, they are proving difficult to load with the internet here. Could spend 15 minutes trying to load them up only to see them crash. Safe to say though that Antigua is certainly growing on us as this small town is both vibrant and friendly. Tons and tons of great cuisine which is slightly a bummer because our host family cooks for us everyday except Sunday. It's nice to have meals made but the kids don't like everything and portions are smaller than they are used to - welcome to the 3rd world!

A few days ago we had a free afternoon so we opted to hike a local volcano. This involved an hour and half drive and then about a two hour hike to the top and then coming back down in about half the time. Some parts were quite steep but for the most part it was doable. Below is Fuego which is further away and not the one we hiked but very cool to see even from a distance. This picture was taken from the car. 

SJ was unhappy with her seating arrangement and proceeded to scream the entire drive up - that was fun. We drew a line in the sand and made her suck it up, not giving into her demands which was hard but even just in the last two days has proved worth the effort.

In the background is volcano Fuego which is extremely active and has small eruptions more than once an hour. What looks like a cloud is smoke from Fuego.

This is a lava river. What looks like black soil is actually a deep river of lava rock from the eruption that occurred March 2014. Incredible to see! The pictures don't do it justice.

The boys hiked out a ways in the dried lava river.. because, well they are boys. 

Same pic no zoom

Boys standing in lava river

Here we are roasting marshmallow in the rocks. They cook up pretty fast.

This was a very deep pit that the lava filled up. It's over 300 feet deep!!

This guy has the best store location in the world perhaps! On top of volcano with nothing in site. He sells chips, candy, beer and fruit. He hauls about 100 lbs of supplies every day from his local village, which is the same village our guide was from.

All in all, this was an amazing experience and worth the time and cost. Our booking was done through AntiguaTours.net