We went to Fuentes Georginas on Friday afternoon, which is a natural hot spring area about an hour outside of Xela. It was really incredible ... we drove about half an hour on dusty dirt roads in the middle of nowhere, and then all of a sudden there were these beautiful hot springs with a bunch of gringos (what everyone calls foreigners!). The water was legitimately very hot, although I think it varies by day. By the water source the water was near boiling and very sulphury. It was like a sauna and hot tub all in one ... very relaxing.
On Saturday night and through Sunday morning 3 friends and I climbed Volcan Tajumulco, which is the highest peak in Central America. It was really really incredible, one of the best things Ive ever done in my life! We left Xela at 1030 PM and got to the base in San Marcus at around 1230, and started hiking then. It was kind of creepy hiking in the dark ... I thought so mostly because our guide was telling us about wild coyotes. He was also telling us stories about "los espiritus", the spirits, which were really interesting, not because I believed them, but because he actually did. Spirit stories are so engrained into the culture that really everyone (even educated people, like our guide, David) believes them.
Anyway, the summit of the volcano was just amazing. It was freezing, winds over 50 mph, but we actually had a 360 view of Mexico, Guatemala, and the Pacific. Also, it was sort of cloudy when we first got up there at sunrise, which was actually cool because it looked like the view out of an airplane, except we weren{t in an airplane. It cleared up really soon though, and we got our awesome views.
After the hike back, I ate ice cream and slept for the rest of the day. I woke up to eat dinner, then slept again for like 9 hours.
That's funny that you chose to eat ice cream afterwards...not nutritious fruit, or nuts or granola. The photos were amazing!! Dad has been forwarding them along to his entire contacts list. I think your legend has grown where you may have climbed that volcano by yourself, when it was actively spewing. :)
ReplyDeleteGo Rosie!!
I really really loved those photos! And the spirits thing reminds me of our guide in Peru and how he thought that the coca leaves really helped him call to the spirits of the mountains
ReplyDeleteWow I wish I got to be on top of a volcano! I saw all your pictures and they were so cool. You looked miserably freezing, though. =) I really like your blog...it's such an interesting perspective.
ReplyDelete