Santa Maria and Las Fuentes

The pools at Las Fuentes that were actually bearable

The pool at Las Fuentes that was NOT bearable

Just like all of my Guatemalan pictures... you know you wish you had this outfit on right now... bright orange running shorts, a pink yoga jacket, a navy cotton scarf, black gloves and a multicolored wool hat.

The view climbing up

Typical to Guatemalan form, the trash is usually outside of the trash can (we were all surprised a can even existed!)

This is me trying to hold Tajumulco, the mountain I hiked and camped on. It didn't really work...

This is the little volcano erupting!

Diana and I, with Xela in the background. It always amazes me how large Xela is, especially since after 6 months, all I really know are zones 1, 2 and 3.

The whole group, minus Aeja (she twisted her ankle and couldn't walk) and plus Rachel's boyfriend, on the far right.

Sliding the way down

Saturday morning, November 26, we finally climbed Santa Maria, the volcano that can be seen from everywhere in Xela as the perfect point in the sky. It has quite a reputation for being grueling, but I actually didn’t find it to be too difficult. That probably has to do with the fact that we climbed relatively slowly, took many breaks, and I wasn’t carrying a 30 pound backpack (like I was when climbing Tajumulco)

We met at the corner of the school at 4:45am, and got picked up by a sketchy red microbus that said he was taking us to Santa Maria. Only in Guatemala…

After stopping at a gas station (which made it even more creepy), we picked up Kati at her apartment. Then, we took the 25 minute ride to the base of the mountain. I honestly don’t remember much about the beginning of our trip/hike except that it was dark and really, really cold. Kati gave us some snacks of juice, crackers and apples, and we began hiking up the mountain.

The hike was fun. We talked and joked and tried to stay warm. My feet and hands would not warm up! At one point during a break, I really wanted a drink of water and a snack, but I had no control of my hands because they were so cold (I physically could not grip anything). Logan had to open my backpack and help me get a drink and a snack. It was pretty pathetic!

We began hiking around 6, and got to the top around 10. At the top, we ate our snacks and hung out, taking pictures and chilling. As we were about to leave, we saw the volcano next to us erupt, which was pretty cool!

Santa Maria first erupted in the early 1900s. The second time it erupted in the 1930s. This eruption caused a great deal of destruction. In the 1980s, people feared that the volcano might erupt again. But, instead of erupting, it formed the small volcano to the side of Santa Maria. This little volcano erupts multiple times daily and allows the pressure held under Santa Maria to escape without another, huge, terrible eruption.

The way down took just as long, if not longer. The pathway, which had before been icy, was now muddy and super slippery. Many ended up sliding down on their butts for the majority of it, whether willingly or not. Surprisingly, I only fell once and didn’t hurt myself!

By 3pm, everyone was back down the mountain. We headed back to Xela and had lunch together. I spent the afternoon in a café.

Sunday morning I taught Patti how to make French toast, and she really liked it! I was happy to pass on something from my culture, since she has unknowingly taught me so much about Guatemalan culture. She made us French toast for breakfast the following week.

At 8:30, we met at parque central to head to Las Fuentes Georginas. Las Fuentes is one of the more popular tourist attractions around Xela. In fact, when people learned that I had been living here for an extended period of time and hadn’t visited the Fuentes, they were shocked.

Las Fuentes are natural hot springs nestled in the mountains, just outside of Zunil, about a 30 minute chicken bus ride and a 30 minute pickup ride away. I had no idea what to expect.

Let me tell you, that water is hot! The largest pool, where the water fed directly from the waterfall to the pool, was the hottest. Nobody could bear to be in it for longer than 5 seconds. First, we dared the boys to go in. They did it, but the look of pain on their faces was incredible. Then, they dared all of us to try it. Sarah, Rachel and I went in at the same time. I went in deep enough to submerge my shoulders and then ran out of the pool as fast as I could. I seriously felt like my skin was burning off. You could boil someone alive in there! Never again.

There were two other pools that were significantly less hot, although still hot enough so that when you first got in, your skin burned. Then, after about 10 minutes, you couldn’t take any more heat and had to get out. After 10 minutes of sitting outside, I would get cold and repeat the process. After about 5 cycles, it got old. I dried off and changed my clothes and hung out in the restaurant with some other people until it was time to go.

Back in Xela, we had lunch together again, and I spent the afternoon in a different café, finishing up blogs and doing Spanish homework and talking to friends.

Overall, a very fun weekend!