the sojourn: Day 11 Volcano roasted marshmallows

Today was our day to do something fun, so after we completed our usual morning routine, which consisted of wake up call at 5am, shower, breakfast and worship, we headed out to climb Volcan Pacaya. We all loaded up in the big tourist buses that make us stick out like a sore thumb and drove about an hour to the base of our volcano. The trip was pretty uneventful and went by pretty quick. As soon as we stepped out of the bus, there were a ton of locals who were trying to sell us horse back rides to the top and walking sticks. We all just put our heads down and pushed our way to the entrance of the park where we were immune from the pressure to buy. After we got everyone rounded up and introduced ourselves to our guide, Pedro, we started the 2.2 mile walk to the top of Pacaya. The locals did not seem to get the hint when we said that we didnt want a horse because as soon as we started hiking, about 4 of them filed in behind us and any time we stopped to rest, they were hounding us to take the horse, but we were all strong and stuck to walking. The first hour of the hike took us through beautiful rain forests and it was very foggy so it added a sense of mystery and wonder to the trip. After an hour of walking through wet and slippery mud, we reached the point where we actually got onto the volcano. We walked about 20yds down a trail and then came out onto a very steep hill that consisted of pea sized lava rock. When you stepped out onto it you sunk in about 4inches and immediately filled your shoes with very annoying rocks. After we had walked about 200ft across the hill, the guide told us that now, instead of going sideways on the hill, we were going to go straight down. As soon as I started the 150ft decent my feet dug in to about mid calf and I leaned back on my heals and it felt like I was snow skiing. Lurching from left foot to right foot, dropping about 4ft with each stride, it was a really cool thing to do and I would love to try it again. At the bottom of the hill, we all dumped all the rocks out of our shoes and started the steep ascent to the top of the Volcano. The terrain was desolate of life and changed only in the size of the volcanic rock that we were climbing on. Sometimes it was pea sized sand, sometimes the size of a baseball and the further we went up the larger the rock got until we were climbing up solid pieces of volcano rock. As we approached the top, we started seeing lava flowing through the cracks that we were walking on, there was actually lava flowing right beneath our feet. The guide went up ahead to make sure that the terrain was solid for us to walk on because many areas are not stable enough to walk on and you could fall through. After he found the route he wanted us to take we followed in eager anticipation. Walking through the middle of a live volcano was very surreal and we eventually came to where the lava oozed out of the mouth of the volcano. It was about 10ft wide and looked like a giant pasta press, flowing down the side of the mountain. Our guide was waiting on the rest of the group when erika and I reached the lava flow, and the long hike filled my bladder to the brim. So what was there left to do but urinate on the lava, I mean come on, when else would you have a chance to do that. The closer I got the hotter the air was and when I was about 5ft from the flow, it was too hot for me to continue. So I stopped there and pee'd on the hot lava rock which steamed and smelled quite rank. When the rest of the group got there they were all commenting on how the volcano smelled like amonia, haha, so I had to tell them what had happened. We were so close to the lava that we could put our walking sticks right into the golden orange flow and burn the tips. It was raining at this point, and very cold but the heat from the lava kept us warm. We also had the chance to eat some lava roasted marshmallows that someone had brought with them, there really is nothing like a lava roasted marshmallow;) After spending about 20min on top of the volcano we started our decent which was just as treacherous as the ascent but we were pretty tired from the hike up so it was very interesting. We got to the bottom about 1.5hrs later and loaded up in the bus to head back to the hotel. We are not just sitting in our room waiting for dinner. After dinner I will be going straight to bed because I am wiped out. It was amazing being up that close to the lava, I literally could have jumped into it. It is definitely something that you could never do in the states. It was also crazy thinking that even a little fart from the top of that mountain would have wiped us all out faster than we could have thought about what was going on. The lava we saw was amazing but there was still so much more directly under our feet. It was a great experience and I can honestly say that lava is one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen, and it is not man made. God is so big, today he showed me that.

love to all
cody and erika

WALKING THROUGH THE RAIN FOREST