Yesterday I climbed a volcano. It was so cool.
It had rained all morning. I was scheduled to climb at 2:00pm. My host mother told me to be careful while I waited out front for the shuttle.
The drive took over an hour through jungle turns - up and up and up. When we got off, kids were pushing recycled walking sticks and renting out their horses. We followed our guide to a fork in the path. With the little Spanish I know, I was able to discern, "This way is easy, but there is less lava - This way is difficult, but there is more lava." Our group, who's majority consisted of American young people, simply chanted "Lava. Lava. Lava." I joined in.
An hour later, we could see it. Volcan Pacaya. It looked like Mount Doom - molten lava ran out its side, jagged rock littered its base, and its top steamed. Our guide demonstrated how to ski down the slope of loose volcanic stone so we could begin the climb to the peak. It wasn't difficult, but some guys got carried away and ended up going head over heels. They were OK - but a bit bloody. Volcanic rock is sharp.
Only a twenty minute trek to go, we stopped for a photo op. I've never seen anything like it. From our vantage point you could see the peaks of three other volcanoes rising through the clouds and steam against the setting sun. Below were green hills and the lights of small towns. Unreal.
We climbed to where the rock glowed red. I was afraid. You could hear the molten rock beneath, feel its heat, and see its glare. Our guide kept telling us to be careful - to only walk where others had walked, and showed us where to step. I made it to the river, where Donald, a civil engineer from Nevada, set his walking stick ablaze and our guide lit a cigarette. It was something to see alright, but I was ready to get off.
Descended through the rain with lightening overhead. The sun had set. With flashlights we followed the trail down the mountain, back to the shuttle. I arrived soaked and hungry, but still in awe.
"You´ll never get that close to lava again," Donald said. "Here, they don't have lawyers."
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3 comments:
Haha..that's probably true..they don't care how close you get..it's your life...seriously??mount doom..wowo....That would be cool to see lava..some day i want to make it to the big island and see pele
Hi Brianna!!!
I have been a bad correspondent and have only lame excuses, but I just waded through my 300 emails and discovered the one from facebook saying that you left 3 weeks ago! I am at Sara's house and we just read all of your posts and are very envious and happy that you seem to be having a successful trip this far.
Sara: Hi Brianna! I loved reading your posts and look forward to reading more. Good luck with the spanish.
Back to me: School starts Wednesday. Sara's back from her Alaska trip (she saw many bears and more salmon, and it sounds like she had a pretty good experience) and she's heading up to Western tomorrow, so I'm getting in a visit while I still can. Work is pretty dull. Summer has offered up few adventures, but I've enjoyed the sun and lack of homework I guess. I'm ready for school to start.
The volcano sounds amazing. Are you taking pictures? Are they online somewhere? I love the posts, but pictures would enable me to live vicariously through you even more . . . in a not-creepy way, of course.
Are you still using your UW email as your primary email? If I email you, should I use that one?
I hope you have a good day today!
-Johanna
Brianna -
I can't let Uncle Bob read this one - he wanted to see a live volcano so bad when we were in Hawaii a few years ago. We went up to the dormat one on Maui - and he tried to offer me as a sacrafice - but I didn't quite meet all of the qualifications! Thank God it wasn't an active one!!
Love you! Aunt Pat
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