El Volcán Santa María

Another weekend, another volcano.  This time we hiked up the Santa María, which was no easy feat.  Our adventure began at 5am, when our guide Gustavo (the same one who took us to El Volcán Chicabal) picked us up from our houses.  The hike to the peak took a good five hours, but the view at the top was totally worth it.


The air at the top, which is about 3,772m above sea level, was extremely thin.  But I kicked that mountan's butt and lived up to my new nickname, Samazo (the suffix -azo indicates that the noun is large).


The coolest part of the day was getting to see other volcanoes along the mountain chain erupt, like the Santiaguito, which is one of the ten most active volcanoes in the world.


The trip was physically exhausting, and I'm extremely proud of our entire group for hiking it.  Sadly, it was our last full day with Steph, as she is leaving to work at her site in Panajachel this afternoon.  On the bright side, the rest of the UVA group arrived today.  I can't wait to start showing them around Xela!

No comments: