As I was climbing up the highest peak in Central America in the dark hour before sunrise I thought to myself, "What am I doing here? This is nothing but pain!" But then I reached the top and all I could see were clouds, the tops of volcanoes, and several other exhausted climbers. We hung out atop Tajumulco for an hour and watched the sun rise and illuminate the peaks all around us. To say the view was beautiful, amazing, incredible are all understatements. And no picture could ever really capture what we saw.
The trip began with three bus rides from Xela to a small town where we started to climb. Riding through Guatemala on a chicken bus might be the worst, least peaceful way to prepare for such a trip. I think my car sickness will never again be an issue, because if I can hold it together while being crammed into a seat with three people meant for two and hauling ass around curvy mountain roads for four hours, there is nothing in the US I can`t handle!
A quick note about my traveling companions: Only two of us from Celas Maya signed up for the trip, the other students wise enough not to try and tackle a volcano their first weekend here. However, on the bus ride from Xela to San Marcos we met up with other travelers heading to the volcano and decided to hike and camp with them. We were un grupo muy mezclado! There was a couple from Spain, a guy from France, a Canadian woman, a girl from Israel, two Americans, two Guatemaltecos, and an Aussie. Half could speak Spanish, half English, and there was also a little French and Hebrew thrown in. It was so beautiful to sit around the campfire and try to communicate with each other through our first and second languages. We were a jolly group, even when in extreme physical pain!
The first night we camped after backpacking up 1,000 feet from our starting point. We had to go slowly due to the altitude but finally made it. We were greeted at our campsite by a little "mountain dog" who lives in the mountains near the camp and survives off scraps from backpackers. I thought he was adorable until 2 am when he started barking non-stop.
The next morning we awoke at 4am to begin our trek up 2,000 feet to the peak. I think we were all so sleep deprived that we didn`t totally appreciate the difficulty of bouldering in the dark. The quiet breaks that we took on the way up were my favorite parts of the entire trip. Just leaning up against the mountain, staring at the sky filled with stars, and not hearing a sound. Era muy tranquilo.
Now I´m back in Xela for another week of verb conjugations, salsa dancing, and yes, recovering from being sick. ( My stomach had to protest sooner or later!)
P.S. I´m working on getting pictures onto this site somehow! Sorry for the delay- but seriously, you try downloading pictures in Guatemala!
