Sophie Birkett
GVI Charitable Trust Volcano Challenge 2010
Fundraising for Action Change
Story
The Aim: To raise money for the GVI Charitable Trust and Phoenix programs in Central and South America by completing a Volcano Challenge.
£10 Buys the necessary educational utensils for one child per year
£50 Buys fruit for 30 children for one month
£200 Pays for the salary of one local teacher per month
The Challenge: Climbing four volcanoes in a week: Acatenango, San Pedro, Tajumulco: the highest volcano in Central America, and Pacaya.
Day 1: Acatenango
The ascent of Guatemala’s third highest volcano, begins with a bumpy ride for one hour to Soledad at 7,680 feet. The climb is quite steep, but continually interesting, as we pass through four different zones of vegetation beginning in the cornfields of La Soledad and traversing bamboo-clad slopes, then cloud forest and finally pine forest, before reaching the summit cone. We plan to have lunch at the summit. The view from the 12,723 foot-high summit is very impressive, with all of our ‘Magnificent four’ volcanoes visible - from distant Tajumulco to the nearby and spectacularly active Fuego and Pacaya. This promises to be one of the more remarkable places you will ever have lunch, with the sight of Fuego blowing rocks and dense black clouds into the stratosphere being particularly unforgettable.
Day 2: Down Acatenango and transfer to lake
A couple hours back down off the mountain and back to Antigua in time for a big lunch. We’ll get cleaned up and head out to Lake Atitlan.
Day 3: San Pedro Volcano and transfer to Xela
In the early morning, as dawn creeps across the lake, we take a fast boat to the small town of San Pedro. After breakfast here, we drive for 15 minutes to the start of the trail at 1,800m/5,906ft. The path is steep in places as it winds its way, firstly through a large plantation of coffee and then between cornfields, before entering thick cloud forest. The summit of San Pedro affords us a superb view of this truly beautiful place. We take our lunch on the summit before making the descent back to San Pedro where we return to Panajachel and catch our transport to Xela to prepare for our next adventure.
Day 4: Tajumulco Volcano
We make an early start for the 30 mile drive to Tuican, which lies close to the border of Mexico and is the starting point for our climb on Tajumulco, the highest of Guatemala’s volcanoes. The trekking today is not difficult but we do have a longish day. We begin traversing beautiful forest trails, and then a pine studded ridge to a shoulder below the final summit cone, reached in 4 hours from our start point. From here it is a steep climb of 20–30 minutes to the lowest point of the crater rim followed by a short scramble to the highest point in Central America at 4219m/13,842ft. The summit views over the surrounding countryside and eastwards along the volcanic chain are quite breathtaking. We descend to a very pleasant and sheltered campsite with great views.
Day 5: Down off Tajumulco and transfer back to Antigua
After breakfast at the hotel, we’ll head out from the campsite and make our way back down this beautiful mountain and head back to Antigua. It’s a long day back from Tajumulco but time permitting we’ll stop for a few breaks to stretch the legs and maybe even get a chance to stop in at some smaller Mayan ruins on the way. Once back in Antigua we’ll head out for some dinner.
Day 6: Pacaya Volcano day hike
The active Pacaya (2,552m/8,373ft.) is set in its own national park, which also contains the Amatitlan lake. Pacaya is a storybook volcano with a continuous plume of smoke drifting from its summit. It is a 1½ hour drive to the trailhead beneath the peak, beyond which our walk starts out very easily, through delightful woodland. The ascent culminates in a final, steeper section of trail on cinder scree. The ascent is neither difficult nor long, taking around 2 hours. The prevailing state of Pacaya’s volcanic activity will dictate how close we can get to the edge of its summit crater.
In the afternoon we will head out to see the projects nearby.
The Charity
The Global Vision International Charitable Trust is dedicated to sustainable development through the empowerment and education of local communities and grassroots organisations in 40 countries worldwide.
The GVI Charitable Trust was set up in 2005 to help with disaster relief following the devastation caused by Hurricane Stan in Guatemala and since then, has gone on to manage and fundraise projects with many of GVI's Partners overseas. See our Partners page for more details.
Our Goals:
• To promote for the benefit of the public the conservation, protection and improvement of the physical and natural environment
• To advance education and research for the benefit of the public in the conservation, protection and improvement of the physical and natural environment
• To relieve sickness and preserve and promote the good health of persons
• To relieve poverty, financial hardship and distress
• The GVI Charitable Trust has also created an emergency fund that is used to aid communities around the world affected by natural disasters such as the communities in Central and South America supported by the Phoenix project.
Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.
Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity and make sure Gift Aid is reclaimed on every eligible donation by a UK taxpayer. So it’s the most efficient way to donate - I raise more, whilst saving time and cutting costs for the charity.
So please dig deep and donate now.
£10 Buys the necessary educational utensils for one child per year
£50 Buys fruit for 30 children for one month
£200 Pays for the salary of one local teacher per month
The Challenge: Climbing four volcanoes in a week: Acatenango, San Pedro, Tajumulco: the highest volcano in Central America, and Pacaya.
Day 1: Acatenango
The ascent of Guatemala’s third highest volcano, begins with a bumpy ride for one hour to Soledad at 7,680 feet. The climb is quite steep, but continually interesting, as we pass through four different zones of vegetation beginning in the cornfields of La Soledad and traversing bamboo-clad slopes, then cloud forest and finally pine forest, before reaching the summit cone. We plan to have lunch at the summit. The view from the 12,723 foot-high summit is very impressive, with all of our ‘Magnificent four’ volcanoes visible - from distant Tajumulco to the nearby and spectacularly active Fuego and Pacaya. This promises to be one of the more remarkable places you will ever have lunch, with the sight of Fuego blowing rocks and dense black clouds into the stratosphere being particularly unforgettable.
Day 2: Down Acatenango and transfer to lake
A couple hours back down off the mountain and back to Antigua in time for a big lunch. We’ll get cleaned up and head out to Lake Atitlan.
Day 3: San Pedro Volcano and transfer to Xela
In the early morning, as dawn creeps across the lake, we take a fast boat to the small town of San Pedro. After breakfast here, we drive for 15 minutes to the start of the trail at 1,800m/5,906ft. The path is steep in places as it winds its way, firstly through a large plantation of coffee and then between cornfields, before entering thick cloud forest. The summit of San Pedro affords us a superb view of this truly beautiful place. We take our lunch on the summit before making the descent back to San Pedro where we return to Panajachel and catch our transport to Xela to prepare for our next adventure.
Day 4: Tajumulco Volcano
We make an early start for the 30 mile drive to Tuican, which lies close to the border of Mexico and is the starting point for our climb on Tajumulco, the highest of Guatemala’s volcanoes. The trekking today is not difficult but we do have a longish day. We begin traversing beautiful forest trails, and then a pine studded ridge to a shoulder below the final summit cone, reached in 4 hours from our start point. From here it is a steep climb of 20–30 minutes to the lowest point of the crater rim followed by a short scramble to the highest point in Central America at 4219m/13,842ft. The summit views over the surrounding countryside and eastwards along the volcanic chain are quite breathtaking. We descend to a very pleasant and sheltered campsite with great views.
Day 5: Down off Tajumulco and transfer back to Antigua
After breakfast at the hotel, we’ll head out from the campsite and make our way back down this beautiful mountain and head back to Antigua. It’s a long day back from Tajumulco but time permitting we’ll stop for a few breaks to stretch the legs and maybe even get a chance to stop in at some smaller Mayan ruins on the way. Once back in Antigua we’ll head out for some dinner.
Day 6: Pacaya Volcano day hike
The active Pacaya (2,552m/8,373ft.) is set in its own national park, which also contains the Amatitlan lake. Pacaya is a storybook volcano with a continuous plume of smoke drifting from its summit. It is a 1½ hour drive to the trailhead beneath the peak, beyond which our walk starts out very easily, through delightful woodland. The ascent culminates in a final, steeper section of trail on cinder scree. The ascent is neither difficult nor long, taking around 2 hours. The prevailing state of Pacaya’s volcanic activity will dictate how close we can get to the edge of its summit crater.
In the afternoon we will head out to see the projects nearby.
The Charity
The Global Vision International Charitable Trust is dedicated to sustainable development through the empowerment and education of local communities and grassroots organisations in 40 countries worldwide.
The GVI Charitable Trust was set up in 2005 to help with disaster relief following the devastation caused by Hurricane Stan in Guatemala and since then, has gone on to manage and fundraise projects with many of GVI's Partners overseas. See our Partners page for more details.
Our Goals:
• To promote for the benefit of the public the conservation, protection and improvement of the physical and natural environment
• To advance education and research for the benefit of the public in the conservation, protection and improvement of the physical and natural environment
• To relieve sickness and preserve and promote the good health of persons
• To relieve poverty, financial hardship and distress
• The GVI Charitable Trust has also created an emergency fund that is used to aid communities around the world affected by natural disasters such as the communities in Central and South America supported by the Phoenix project.
Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.
Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity and make sure Gift Aid is reclaimed on every eligible donation by a UK taxpayer. So it’s the most efficient way to donate - I raise more, whilst saving time and cutting costs for the charity.
So please dig deep and donate now.