Lower reaches of the volcano
Just set up camp before the rain hit us
The rain and cloud came in and we didnt see much more than this all day
At the peak with the sun coming up
Use at the highest point
The sun came out for a few seconds on our decent
View from the camp site when the cloud cleared for a minute
12 October 2009
We got to Xela (Quetaltenengo) and decided we couldnt pass by without climbing Volcano de Tajumulco the highest in central america at 4220 metres. As soon as the bus arrived in Xela we found a cheap place to sleep and got some good zzzz´s for our mission up the mountain. We got a real guatemlan experience when we took a mini bus which at one stage had 23 PEOPLE jamed into it, yes i said 23 people, personal space and flat tyres are no issue for guatemalans.
After 3 hours of buses we started to climb 3 hours to 4000metres where we set up camp. It wasnt long until the THICK cloud set in and it started pissing down. The temperature dropped to like 3 degrees and we sat in the tent playing cards. We got up for a couple of hours before bed for a fire (I have no idea how our guides lit it in cloud with so little oxygen)and were able to roast some marshmallows.
That night we wore every bit of clothing as it dropped below 0 degrees. At 4am we started our hike to the summit for sunrise, it was a slow trek under the moon light as one of the guys got altitude sickness. At the summit we could see the lights some 17kms away on the mexico border. But just before the sun came up above the clouds some massive thick clouds swept through and it stayed like that the rest of the day for our descent.
It was a bit disappointing as we didnt get to see the lineup of all the 5 volcanoes in the area so we are hoping for some good weather after our language classes on saturday when we try to climb Volcan de Santa Maria.
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