The only full day that we were in Antigua we decided to pack in as much activity as possible. We first decided to wake up ealry to see the sun rise over the mountains that surround the town and therefore got up before 6a.m. and climbed up to the roof top terrace to wait for Mr. Sun. We ended up staying up there for almost half an hour waiting for the sun to peek out from behind one of the mountain tops.
We spent the next half of the day walking around Antigua taking in the history and beatuy of the old churches and buildings from long ago. During our self-guided walking tour we stumbled upon a cute little cafe and decided to take a break for some breakfast. The food was good, my cafe mocha was beautifual and delicious, and the price was just right. After being re-energized we continued our walk around the town stopping at the bank and several shops along the way. My favorite were the bookstores, go figure. Around 10p.m. we headed to a tour company that we had booked a hike up one of the volcanos with. When we finially found their shop they sadly let us know that we were supposed to pay in advance to reserve our spot (they had failed to mention this when we spoke to them on the phone 2 days before). Since Antigua is a hot spot for tourists we were told that we could probably find another tour company to take us up, and after some searching we did, and we payed less!
The van up to the volcano left Antigua at 2:00p.m. and arrived at the base around 4:00. We had a guide to take us up the volcano and after some negociating on the price of a walking stick, we were ready to go. The hike up the volcano was definitly not easy. Of course it was all up hill and by the halfway point we were all tried, but kept on going. After about two hours of hiking, we made it to the top. What a site it was! The lava was flowing pretty steadly and we had to watch where we were stepping as to not burn our feet. Honestaly, I was a little scared to be so close to the lava, but our guide told us it was pretty safe, so we roasted marshmellows over it! What an amazing experience! Of course it had to start raining just as we were making our way down. It was light at first, but then really started pouring, so our group took shelter in an empty building for several minutes. Much to our luck the rain let up and then stopped while we waited it out, so we were able to walk the rest of the way down the volcano without getting drenched. I was happy, and so were my feet that were confined in shoes that were still wet from the night before.
We were very happy to make it back to our hotel, cleaned up a little, and then went to bed before 11 so that we could wake up before 4a.m. to catch our bus back to Copan Ruinas.
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