Hiking in Guatemala, 26th-30th November

I left early on Wednesday morning on my trek to Lago de Atitlan. Just 4 of us in the group plus our guide Alex. An English guy called Nick and a couple of Spaniards (Gabirel and Axa, or something like that). We got a ride to just outside of Xela before starting on the trek proper which was several hours of step up hill through the woods. Eventually we came out onto the ridge line giving stunning views to the south, looking down Guatemala's string of Volcanoes. The rest of the day was spend walking on small tracks though local villages. The people of these villages speak Maya as their first language and in fact the children speak very little Spanish at all. This meant whenever we walked through a village they would all come running out shouting Hola! Hola! Hola! and waving. However whenever we tried to talk to them we either just got blank faces or they would smile, nod and say Si! no matter what you asked them. We spent the night sleeping on the floor of a local family home. The next day was a pretty tough down and up through a deep valley, walking up though coffee plantations. The afternoon was relatively easy hiking to Santa Clara la laguna, which sits on the ridge above the lake. On Friday we got up early to catch the sunrise over the lake, before heading down the last couple of hours to San Pedro. I unfortunately had to rush back to Xela, first by boat across the lake and then bus.Early on Saturday morning I set of on a hike up central America´s highest peak of Tajumulco (4222m). This was different from any tour i´d done before as the tour agency was completely non for profit volunteer run. This not only meant that all of the fee went to local charities, but also that the guides were volunteers mainly from Europe. This gave quite a different feel to the trip as it was more just like a bunch of friends hiking as no one was being paid to be there. Also it meant we had to have meetings to discuss what we were going to do, and got told about staying hydrated etc etc wheres with a local guide they just tear off into the distance and expect you to follow.We spent the morning getting buses to the base of the mountain. The second one was a combi which we manged to fit 21 people in, even though it only had 12 seats! as well as stacking our bags 4 high on the roof. It also had a bit of a dodgy dorr, which fell of about 10mins into the journey! It was relatively easy hiking for about 6 hours to reach our campsite at about 4000m. The clouds rolled in over the mountains so you had the great feeling of standing on an island on a sea of cloud. We hiked up to the lower peak of Conception to watch the sunset. However the thick cloud stopped anything spectacular being seen (apart from the clouds rolling through the trees in that photo). The evening was spent round the campfire, keeping warm and roasting marshmallows (though not as good as the lava ones). In the morning we set of at 4am to climb the last few hundred metres to the summit and watch the sun rise. It was bitterly cold though and I struggled to stay warm wearing a double t shirt, merino wool jumper, two fleeces, goretex jacket, and my down sleeping bag! Spectacular views of the sunrise over Volcan Pacaya, Agua, Fuego and Acatanengo, as well as the periodic eruption of Santiagito to the south sending plumes of smoke thousands of feet into the sky. Also quite fun to stand on the summit and know you are the highest person on the continent.
O