Monday, October 11, 2010

Pacaya Here We Come

Content by Joanne

There is a change in itinerary today, as we are going to try and harness the new-team-energy and match it up with the current good weather and walk up the Pacaya volcano. We do get a shuttle part-way up, but after that it is a three-hour hike (up and back) - wish us luck!!

To get the best views, it is recommended that we leave early, so we have to be all packed, fed, and ready to board the bus at 7:00 AM - I guess you should wish us luck on that one as well!

Monday - Let the Games Begin!

Content by Joanne

We had our late-afternoon free yesterday. Some chose to rest after a way-too-early departure time yesterday, and the rest went meandering around lovely Antigua. The quest to find a cigar store was a success for all parties except the one that was interested, but we saw lots of sights - such as the marimba band in the Central park area complete with a local dancer.

Just before supper we met up with the remaining 3 members of our group that arrived earlier, now we are a fearless tribe of 12, plus our leader Tim, and our GV Guatemala representatives Colin and Colin (yes, that is correct, they both have the same name!). Tall Colin is from New Hampshire, and Long Colin (long hair) is from St Louis.

Pre-Dinner drinks were at the Sky Cafe where a roof-top patio offered amazing views of the nearby volcanoes, a new moon, and the stars. The local beer is Gallo - which apparently you can drink too much of...

Supper was at a local place where there were about 12 huge steaming pots of meats-in-sauce to pick from. We were not all exactly sure what they were, but we had a choice of 1 meat and 2 sides and everything was excellent. After a brief session of  'Dance with the Stars' with Trent and Megan (avidly watched by the restaurant staff) we had a leisurely stroll back to hotel for our early-morning (breakfast at 6:30 sharp) and called it a very successful day!