Volcan Pacaya
Volcan Fuego sent out a lot of smoke over Antigua when we were there. We watched it send up plumes over coffee in the morning that dusted the city with ash. We wanted to trek up it, but it was covered with bandits. So we went to the smaller Volcan Pacaya instead. We scrambled up Pacaya’s crunchy ropes of lava fields and cooked marshmallows over glowing cracks in the earth. The summit made loud bangs every time it ejected rock, clouds of gases and ash. We had lunch on the volcano surrounded by cows, dogs fighting over food and some kids who wanted to rent us horses. On our drive away the people in the truck ahead of us fired a few shots from a pistol out the window. Not at us, just carelessly out the side, while still in the village, with children playing nearby. Yeehaw.