Hot Lava

Undeniably, my Antigua highlight was Volcan Pacaya. I joined an afternoon tour that included transport (one hour each way on a minivan) and a guide for hiking up the volcano. There's an early morning tour as well, but (a) I didn't want to get up at 5am, and (b) The afternoon tour allowed me to see the sunset from the top of the volcano. The tour cost me ~$6, although that didn't include the volcano entrance fee of $5. Well, still affordable.

At first, the hike didn't seem too bad. It was like hiking through a slightly uphill forest. Then suddenly it all changed – steeper incline, no trees, just loose gravel.
Which brought back memories of the time I climbed up Mt. Fuji. My suffering... Pacaya isn't as high as Mt. Fuji so I wasn't too worried about the amount of oxygen I was breathing into my lungs, but the incline and loose gravel...
Please keep in mind that WARU IS NOT PHYSICALLY FIT. And had too much pride to hire a horse (and too cheap).
I thought about giving up and waiting at the bottom for the others to come back. I was already at the rear by then, so why not.
Well, at the back with me was a girl who was also having a hard time climbing up the last part of the volcano. She had a very good excuse for her lack of athleticism (asthma), whereas I didn't. Still, we were "hiking" at the same pace and having a decent conversation when our breathing allowed. And somehow, sometime, we made it to the top. Yaaaay!

The pain was definitely worth it. Not for the view from the top. Actually, there was so much cloud cover that at times, I couldn't even see much in front of me.
But I was amazed at what I saw and felt when I got to the top – Red orange lava flowing through the black volcanic rocks. Total coolnessl!!!
You can get REALLY close to the lava. In some areas, I was walking on top of volcanic rock where the lava was still running underneath. No need to say that it was hot! I was glad to be wearing thick rubber soled shoes because a couple of people in my group went a little too close to the lava, resulting in partially melted soles.
People who had hiking sticks had fun throwing them into the lava flow. The branches were immediately consumed by flames. Awesome!!!
Another group, who probably knew what to expect, were really, really, really well prepared for the trip. They brought marshmallows. Yes, for smores. I wish I could've done that!!!

The clouds sort of cleared up on the way down for a wonderful sunset. Without a tripod in hand (so I say), this is the best one I could come up with. Hey, at least the colors are nice! I know, my future as a photographer is bleak.

If anyone is headed to Antigua, I'd highly recommend this tour. That is, if it still exists. I'm sure that one day, some tourist is going to fall into the lava flow and get severely burned. Followed by lawsuits or whatever. Apparently, some countries already warn tourists about joining this type of tour.