First hike and other updates

Today I went on my first hike as a guide in training (along with two other new guides). It was to go "volcano boarding" on Cerro Negro, a cinder cone volcano 728 meters high. I have no idea how many feet that is - another thing I'll have to learn. The night before, the guide assigned to the hike, Thiago (from Brazil I believe) went shopping at the local open market for fresh fruits and veggies to prepare for the trip. Then we all sat around and chatted while chop-chop-chopping the veggies and storing them away for the next day. In the morning the clients/trekkers arrived at 7:45 and just after 8 we loaded into the back of Victor's covered truck. Victor is the official Quetzaltrekkers transport man.
The ride to Cerro Negro took about an hour, and most of it was on dirt road, which really isn't much dirt. Imagine black volcanic rock and dirt, aka gravel.
Even on these roads we passed a typical site: the man of the family maneuvering a bicycle while the woman sat across the top tube of the bicycle in front of him, and often a child sat on her lap as well. The road got worse and more narrow the closer we got to the volcano, and we began to pass cow-driven carts full of wood - trunks or small trees or medium-sized branches. In other carts sat a family, and we would all wave at each other. I noticed my initial thought not to wave, not to look like a silly tourist, but when the whole family grinned hugely and waved back with enthusiasm when one of our clients waved, I realized that sometimes being friendly is better than being cool, haha.

View of Cerro Negro as we get closer.

Eventually we arrived at the ranger station, used the restroom if needed, paid for our entrance to the park, and got back in the truck to head to the trailhead.

Pause - it's raining VERY hard right now - the hardest I've experienced since I've been here, and as I sit inside the Quetzaltrekkers house in the front entrance, rain drips on my head. There's a good drip going in the kitchen, too, I'm sure, where it was going the last time it rained.

Anyway - we all strapped on wooden boards and a small bag of necessary gear and trekked the 45-60 minutes to the top, where we could see into the various craters and had a beautiful view of the surrounding landscape.

Boards strapped on and ready to go.

Cerro Negro really is black, just a mound of black volcanic rock, and the contrast of its slopes against the vibrant green of the rest of the countryside was beautiful (see picture directly above). I DID take many pictures, but with someone else's camera and I do not have the necessary equipment to acquire them (now I do!).

A hiker posing for her dad who is taking a picture from further down the slope ...

The most recent crater formed, in 1999.

Two of the other new guides - Veronica on the left (from Miami)

and Natasha on the right (from the UK).

Yay, the first picture of me!

Anyway, everyone then put on a jumpsuit, like a mechanic's suit or a prison suit, to keep them semi-clean and protected from the scratchy rock, a set of goggles and gloves. We walk to the take-off site, so to speak, and each person takes their turn sitting on the board and sliding down the very steep slope of Cerro Negro. We did not have enough boards for all the guides, so my first trip down was running, which was actually very fun and even challenging, because you get to running quite fast due to the steepness, but the quicksand-quality of the gravel kept me from losing control as each step was well cushioned.

Veronica in her jumpsuit ...

Heading to the launch site.

Launching, with a helpful push from Thiago!

The rocks in my shoes after running down the slope ...

Then, back down the volcano and after a snack of bananas and cookies and peanuts, all trekkers have the option of going for a second time. Only two trekkers (out of 8) opted for a second ride, so three of us four guides went back up with them and that is when I got to slide down on a board. It was a lot of fun, and not as wild as it looked because you don't slide all that fast.

Snack time.

I went back up a second time and this time boarded down - here I am in my jumpsuit!

This is not me coming down, but at least you get the idea.

One last picture of the contrast, with a storm in the distance this time.

After heading back to the ranger station, Thiago set up lunch, which consisted of burritos amde from the flour tortillas, refired beans, chopped vegetables, and crushed doritos. Pretty good! It was followed by fresh pineapple and watermelon for desert. The hour ride back to Leon was a sleepy one, as everyone was worn out, but when we got back, each trekker got a free t-shirt and a choco-banana (a frozen half a banana on a stick, dipped in chocolate). A lot of sugar is consumed around here, and for a lack of other snacks to eat as well as a desire to try new things, let us hope I burn it all off on the volcanoes, myself! (And that the heartburn goes away - however I imagine I'll soon figure out an eating habit that works for me with the food that is available here ... more passionfruit please!)

And in regards to a housing update - I still have no place to stay! We looked at two places today for only $50/month, but they weren't very nice - not private enough or close enough to Quetzaltrekkers. So it seems that if I can hold-out for 2-3 more weeks, I will have many rooms to choose from as some of the volunteers that have been here longer will be moving out. I came up with an idea though, to pitch a tent in the large entry-room of the Quetzaltrekkers house for $5 a week until a room opens up. Ha! This will be terrible when people want to stay up late or when hikes gather and leave at 4:45 in the morning, but it will also be $5 a week (instead of $5 a night in a hostel). I'll save about $30 in rent (that's a lot of food right there!), and at least feel safe and in familiar company. Afterward, I'll have a room guaranteed and I won't be tied into another living arrangement. Hilarious? Hilarious. Let's just hope I get ENOUGH sleep not to be the grumpiest volunteer here.

Alright folks. Enough of a novel for now. When I figure out the pictures, I'll post them in the appropriate places in the blog entry so that all you will need to do is return to this posting and feast your eyes on something more interesting than text.

Much love!