In the southern part of Guatemala, from East to West stretches a volcanic mountain range that can be found in whole of Central America. These volcanoes, after erupting, covered most of the Pacific coast with black volcanic ash. This is the reason why the beaches here are black, as if a huge fire had burnt it all a few days agoThe locals here love to bath and play on the beach, but at the end they all leave their trash lying around, blown by the wind into the sea. There are still a few beaches around where locals make some effort to clean up, one of these lies behind the town of Monterrico. The houses are built from wood and thatch, the streets are lined with household garbage (much less though than elsewhere), a few sleepy shops and a load of annoying touts. On the contrary, there are plenty of mid-range lodges, great seafood, and the beach is a spectacle with glittering black sand and pelicans flying slowly above the surf.