There are not too many places in the world where you can climb an active volcano. That would be crazy right? There is no way people would climb something spewing lava? Well, this is Guatemala.
I’m going to tell you Pacaya is not a difficult hike, but bear in mind I ran a marathon two weeks before this, so I had a large amount of cardio training. It’s about a 2 hour accent to the viewpoint and it’s pretty much all uphill. Most people with a moderate level of fitness should have no problem. It’s not a technical hike but it is mandatory to have a guide.
This is the viewpoint. From here you can see it smoking with the occasional ash shooting out of the top. When we got here I was disappointed. “Where is the lava?” I asked the guide. It turns out the trail continues down from here and you can get pretty close to the lava flows.
Now – what you see depends on the mood of the volcano. There could be small lava flows, large lava flows, or no lava at all.
Apparently this is small. But it’s hot enough that if you sit in the ground you are nice and warm. If you move rocks to one side then you can roast marshmallows. If you move rocks and put your hand down you will move it fairly quick. The guide handed me a hot rock, and I ended up dropping it.
You cannot go any closer than this point, but nobody will stop you. Just be warned that tourists have been injured or killed by flying ash.
You also get a nice sunset over the volcano.