Volcan Pacaya, Antigua, Guatemala

A day trip from Antigua today was to climb the Pacaya Volcano, one of only 3 active volcanoes in Guatemala. Up until 2 weeks ago it was possible to climb to the top and look into the crater, but now a new vent has opened in the side of the cone and is spilling out a slow river of lava.









We decided that, good walker though she is, it was a bit much to expect Princess Romany to keep up with an adult tour party, so we hired her a horse (for $5) to carry her 2/3 of the way (and very happy she was too).













When we reached the highest point to which you can safely climb, we were amazed to find ourselves looking down on lava outflow. We climbed down to it and were able to walk on the cooling crust in places.






The anxious face you see is Ciaran wondering how long he can stand the radiating heat from the lava behind him. Blair nearly singed the hairs on his legs poking the stick in, which instantly burst into flame.
Lawlesses have had a long history of fascination with volcanoes and Susie and Ciaran particularly were very excited with such a close encounter.
The cone above us also spewed out a few flying rocks for our entertainment.