I WENT UP A LIVE VOLCANO TODAY! The day dawned bright and early at 5am with the sound of my alarm. I tried to momentarily convince myself that the noise was coming from outside...I was having such a nice dream (a REAL mattress too, I was rather excited after weeks of sleeping on lumpy springs poking out even occasionally cardboard covered 'mattresses' - such a treat)...I love getting up early though (ahem, well sometimes) so opened my eyes and stretched. There is a certain quality in the early morning that cannot be found at any other point of the day. The air always seems still, softer, than what is to come. Two hours later we disembarked from the minibus to an absolute horde of local children offering us 'stick para cinco!'...about 35p for a walking stick hacked from the nearby trees. We had been told they were a) useful due to the clamberyness of the rocks (they later proved to be) and b) fun because you could stick them in the lava and set fire to them! Plus it helps the local economy – bonus. Amid the clamor of the children came the occasional call of 'taxi!'...looking around I saw a small gaggle of slightly sodden looking horses, unfortunate enough to be the ones to carry any tourist up the volcano...any who were too lazy to walk that is. Old school though. Who needs cars? However, as the horses looked rather malnourished we declined. So...the climb begins. Only a short 1 and a half hours to the summit where we were promised a sighting of flowing lava. Eek!
We reach the top of the twisting, mud slicken path to meet a biting wind and a view of pearly white mist shrouding the summit and the other two nearby volcanoes from view (Volcan de Fuego y Volcan de Aqua). The landscape was dotted with crouched weather beaten trees, which quivered in the wind. Layers and scarfs that have been removed rapidly reappear. A little further and the lava fields began to appear out of the mist. How to describe them? For those of you who have never seen one before I shall do my best. The grey black lava fields stretched away before us, rolling and undulating into strange contoured, contorted shapes. The porous rock crunches and occasionally crumbles underfoot as we walked alongside its many different formations and ridges. Long elongated rolls of blackened stiffened lava roll continuously unmoving down the mountain side. The blackness has a mineral caused sheen to it. Sulfur. Leaving shimmering deposits of the surfaces beneath our gradually-increasing-in-temperature shoes. A pleasantly warm breeze after the coldness blows warm in our faces. The wind seems to sing telling of the unseen not far ahead. A shout! Lava is sighted for the first time. Steam oozes up from a gash in the landscape.
Our guide sticks his own stick in making it spit and spark. A burst of flame, a blackened stick and several photos later we move on. Carefully navigating the sharp, spikey, uneven landscape. A fall here would be most unpleasant. The cooled lava is rough to the touch. Unstable and unpredictable, each step must be tested. Round a corner and there are gasps from the people in front as we descend a little, a red crusted river comes into view, sliding down the hillside towards us. The heat is incredible. Waves of engulfing hot air roll towards us as we head in the direction of the lava, cameras going off like crazy. Thankfully there are only 10 people in our little group so we can hear what the guide has to say although he doesn’t speak any English. I am personally glad he doesn’t, as think you can often lose things in translation. In ones and twos we approach the scorching rocks surrounding the running lava. The guide tells us the rock beneath out feet was molten not two days before, an enormous river cascading down the volcanos' side. He throws some of his water from the bottle strapped to his belt onto the rocks alongside a gash with molten lava seeping through it. The water instantly turns to steam with a sharp satisfying hiss. After a few minutes within close proximity to the lava we have to retreat as it feels as if our faces are being scorched, our eyelashes and eyebrows about to be burnt from our faces. This will definitely be one of those stories to tell the grand children – the whole experience has been absolutely incredible.
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