Tajumulco

Hola!

Just wanted to post some pictures from the volcano hike. It was an incredible trip. Our trek started in the middle of the night a couple hours outside of Xela. We were greeted by a multitude  of twinkling stars and planets above. Soon after we began our ascent, we were above the clouds and the cities below; it felt like we were on a different planet. After a long and arduous climb, we made it to the snow-covered top around 6am, just in time for the sunrise. While the majority of the hike was a steady incline, the last part was quite treacherous, especially with feelings of dizziness and nausea from the altitude. The descent was my favorite part. The scenery reminded me of a scene from Narnia or Lord of the Rings with mountains, enormous pines, melting snow, and crisp blue skies. Actually, we passed by a field where a battle scene from Lord of the Rings was filmed. At the base of the mountain was the agricultural community of San Marcos where farmers were at work in their fields. Some of us even spotted the elusive quetzal, a symbolic bird for Guatemala. When we made it back to the city we headed to the hot springs, Los Fuentes Georginas, for a nice soak. It sure felt good on the muscles. After such a long day/night I slept like a rock.

This week is my last week of class with Luis, the best teacher ever. I’ve been hanging with the kids at the daycare and translating some documents for Pop-wuj when I am not in class. Tomorrow is the first day that I will lead a group of student volunteers in safe stove construction.

Adios y disfute las fotos,

Carolina

Sunrise at the top

Going back down

awesome views

There it is. We climbed that.

Gringos at the hot springs!

steamy!