Welcome to the revival of my travel blog! It's Central America this time, and we (Paddy and I) are very happy to be here after volcanoes and hurricanes and American beurocracy all tried to stand in our way... But we finally made it!

Antigua is "Guatemala for dummies", it is a good introduction to the country because everyone speaks spanish, you can see volcanoes and something resembling the jungle in the distance, it's hot, but there is no mess or chaos to be found! And very few stray dogs.

While munching on a loaf of the world's best banana bread in the parque central, we were approached by a little kid who wanted to sell us a tour to Volcan Pacaya - the one that erupted last week - and we thought this would be a fun way to spend an afternoon! So on the bus we pile, joined by 20 or so other tourists, and a 2 hour ride later the guy parks the bus in front of a huge pile of cooled lava that's spilled over someone's farm.

Out we got and could immediately feel the heat in the air, from the (still warm) rocks in front of us and the yummy sulphuric oxide hanging around in the air. The sun was gone, the trees were orange, and the big black spill extended up the side of the volcano into the clouds. We were led up the side of the cooled lava, on foot, until we could see molten lava, seeping out from the gaps in the solid rock.

The guide didn't have any problems with us getting as close as we could stand the heat, but told people to put on their masks to avoid inhaling too many fumes. Masks? Here I am in shorts and flip flops clearly with no clue what's going on.