The Quetzal and Climbing Volcanoes!

We have been wanting to see the Quetzal, the beautiful national bird of Guatamala (also the name of their currency) which is very difficult to see. We stayed in a cabin on the edge of a national park, got up early at 0530 and were rewarded with a sighting, very exciting! This is the beautiful Quetzal, pic from the web.

This is the best pic of our Quetzal.

We based ourselves in the lovely, cobbled, colonial town of Antigua which is surrounded by several volcanos, two of which are active - Pacaya and Fuego (seen erupting from Antigua in the pic below).

I (Phil) booked a challenging 1.5 day hike to the top of Acatenango at 3976 metres. The active Volcan Fuego is right beside it so I was hoping for some spectacular views! The group was me, Mauricio, a 22 year old lad from Quito in Ecuador and Florencio, our 55 year old guide (like a mountain goat). The hike started at 2300 metres and a quick pace took us to our camping spot at about 3400 metres overlooking Volcan Fuego. Our guide lit a fire to keep us warm as it was very cold.

Unfortunately, Fuego was shrouded in cloud but about every hour there was an eruption and the ash plume could be seen above it.

However, in the night we were woken by several loud 'booms' and a quick look outside the tent door each time revealed Fuego spewing hot lava, an incredible sight!

Florencio woke us at 0345 to begin our ascent to the summit in the dark. Unfortunately Mauricio had burnt himself out the day before and decided to stay in the tent. So under the light of our torches Florencio led the way along a narrow path and then up loose lava until we reached the top. The views from the summit at sunrise were stunning and Volcan Fuego was still erupting small ash plumes!

Mr Robin admiring the view, Volcan Agua in the foreground and Pacaya back right!

Back at camp with Mauricio and Fuego was still smoking! The hike down was fast with Mauricio rejuvinated and again setting the pace - tough on my thighs!

The next day Dee and I both hiked as far up the active Volcan Pacaya as we were allowed. From here we had a great view of the crater and also Volcans Agua, Acatenango and Fuego in the distance. The volcano did smoke a bit while we were there - see pic below!

The trip included roasting marsh mallows on the hot lava rock from a previous eruption so this ensured plenty of dogs came along too!

There was also a shop literally on the lava selling jewelery made by Mayan people using the lava. Dee came away with a new ring.