Volcan Santa Maria

Hello all,
Today we will be leaving for San Pedro la Laguna which is on Lake Atitlan. Right now we are enjoying our last morning in Xela and waiting for our laundry to be completed so I have time to give you a brief update.
Yesterday (Feb 25) we woke up at 5am, got ready and made our way to the foot of Volcan Santa Maria. This volcano is 3,677 metres above sea level and is dormant right now. Its last eruption was in 1902 and created a volcano beside it called Santiaguito which erupts approximately every hour.
We began our hike at 6:45am and met a stray dog who began to follow us. The trek up the mountain was extremely steep, rocky and at parts, quite dusty. Unfortunately, the volcano was very wooded and the sun rose on the opposite of the mountain so we could not enjoy the sunrise. On the way up, we ran into a guide who was taking his group down the mountain and he noticed the dog who was following us. Apparently her name is Maria and she frequently follows people up the volcano. After 3.5 hours of strenuous hiking we made it to the summit of the volcano where there was a very large religious ceremony happening with all locals. We found out today that the ceremony was a celebration of the new Mayan Calendar.
At the summit, with our dog friend Maria, we were a bit disappointed to realize how cloudy it was so we could not really enjoy the view. We ate our lunch at the top of the volcano which consisted of avacadoes, mangoes, bananas and peanut butter sandwiches, which were all much needed after using so much energy to get to the summit. At one point, some of the clouds cleared and we think we saw Santiaguito (the volcano which erupts every hour). After spending about an hour at the summit, we decided to make our way back down with Maria in tow. The way down was much more difficult than expected and it took 2.5 hours just to descend. Once we got to the bottom we were extremely exhausted and made our way back to Xela for a shower and a nap. Maria left us at the bottom of the mountain.
Once we finally woke up we were starving and we found a TexMex restaurant in downtown Xela where we ate a ton of food. After dinner, I was completely spent so I returned to the hostel for a much needed night's sleep.
That's about all I have to update you on right now so I will keep you posted on what we do next when I can. Adios,
Scott