Volcano Pacaya, GUATEMALA

Rivers of red hot lava flowing so forcefully, you can hear the cracking and crunching of brittle lava rock as these rivers expand and find their way down the slopes. Unfortunately, these rivers right now don´t originate at the very top of the volcano, but from a few open "skylights" towards the middle of the volcano (at the side where the middle of the volcano has become the base...due to built-up of the flowing lava over a long time. A "skylight" is a break in the "lava tubes"....and a "lava tube" is simply a tunnel formed below the surface. When flowing in the tunnel, you cant see the flow, unless there´s a skylight (when you will see a red glow), or if the lava breaks out of the skylight and runs above the old dry lava fields.

This is Volcano Pacaya, looming over the colonial town of Antigua, an hour away from Guatemala City. Pocaya is 2,552 meter high, and certainly one of Central America´s most notorious volcanoes...read: Very Active!

Eruptive activity of Pacaya ranges from minor gas emissions and quiet steam eruptions, to explosions powerful enough to hurl bombs up to 12 kilometers and would necessitate the evacuation of numerous villages in the areas nearby. Unfortunately, I didn´t see any of this major activity (other than steam and red flowing lava), and was also not allowed to climb all the way to the top due to the current danger grading.

Anyhow, it was good to see the lava rivers!

Tomorrow at 5am I´m going north....to Mexico. Which means...I am done with Central America. Trust to sleep somewhere in southern Chiapas state tomorrow night and then continue on to the coast of Oaxaca state....returning to an area I visited last year October, and which I love! Adios from Antigua.