Latin America 2018 - Day 2. Guatemala

I overslept, so it was not until 7:30 am that we sat to breakfast, and 8 am when we straddled the motorcycles for our first round of adventure. We want to see if we can get to Volcan de Fuego and check out some of the pyroclastic deposits. Just in case you have been absent from the world, Volcan de Fuego erupted a week ago, in the first days of June, and between pyroclastic pumice flows and lahars, completely destroyed two small towns (one with 8,000 inhabitants and another with 3,000). Regardless of the numbers reported in the press, over 80% mortality is to be expected. We were not going to poke our nose in the devastated areas, but were both curious to see if the surrounding areas had been affected. 

There are any number of volcanoes in Guatemala, but the three closest to Antigua are Volcan de Agua, Volcan de Fuego, and Volcan Acatenango. All three are pretty close to each other, occupying the ends and crook of a letter “L”. Acatenango would be at the top end of the “L”, Fuego would be in the crook or inner corner of the “L”, and Agua would be on the right end of the “L”. Of the three, Agua has not has any historic eruptions, Acatenango erupted in the 19^th century, and Fuego has been intermittently active in the 20^th and 21^st centuries. All three belong to the category of andesitic stratovolcanoes, and from what I could see on the fine tephra the eruption last week involved andesitic magma.

We had a great time zooming around in the cross-country motorcycles Tom has acquired over the last year. He sed to race dirt motorcycles in the Mojave Desert of California when he was young, and is a very experienced rider and mechanic. I, on the other hand, am at best an advanced beginner (but always ready to tackle a new adventure). We make a good pair, and had no problem handling the small hickups that are inevitable in a first ride. For example, my electronic starter decided to quit for no reason, but the bike has a kick starter and I am cool. Tom also taught me how to bump start a bike, not to use the front break in curves, avoid dry loose tephra coating the road, and standing on the rest pegs to take obstacles at full speed. In a week of this kind of instruction I will become a certified daredevil!

The Guatemalan country side is absolutely lovely. The mountains are a great backdrop to slopes covered by a patchwork of cultivated fields, coffee plantations merge with a luxuriant carpet of high montane bush forest, and the many tones of green appear to be interrupted only by the colorful dresses of the women walking to market. We did stop at the Sunday market in Acatenango, weaving our way through vendors of flowers, colorful vegetables, fabulous weavings, enticing toys, and the hundreds of products that keep commerce alive in this part of the world. After a tasty lunch of pizza and barbecue ribs in the restaurant that is past the marraneria (a specialty meat shop that specializes in pork meat) we headed back to Antigua. I believe we are both ready for another session in the hot tub!