Climbing el Volcán Santa Maria

Started at 5:30am in the dark. Our guide Carlos called the mountain his casa, as he climbs it about forty times a year. He had walking sticks stashed under grass at the bottom, and a jug of water stashed midway up in some brush.
Santa Maria is 3,772 meters tall, and when we reached the top, we saw Santiaguito, an active volcano on the other side, erupting. Most magnificent.












On the way down, the entire indigenous village of Cantal was climbing up. Women in traditional skirts and huipiles, walking in plastic sandals (we´re talking steep switchback trails and thick mud). The smallest walker must have been about three years old. They were coming to pay their respects, burn copal and pray at the top. One of the girls had a 2 liter bottle of orange soda tucked under her arm.