Guatemala's Pacaya volcano has been erupting since February, keeping local communities and authorities on high alert. But for David Garcia, the streams of molten lava oozing down the mountainside have become his kitchen.
Garcia, a 34-year-old accountant, serves up
David Garcia prepares a pizza dough to cook on the lava rivers that come down from the Pacaya volcano in Guatemala.
In his makeshift kitchen, Garcia spreads the dough on a metal platter that can resist temperatures up to 1,000 degrees Celsius (1,800 degrees Fahrenheit), slathers it with tomato sauce, a generous helping of cheese and pieces of meat.
David Garcia is seen preparing a pizza.
Wearing protective clothing from head to his military style boots, Garcia places the pizza on the lava. He first started baking pizzas on the mountain side in 2013 in small caverns he found amongst the rocks.
David Garcia places a pizza on a lava river that comes down from the Pacaya volcano.
Garcia's kitchen has become a magnet for tourists that work up a appetite climbing the massive volcano -- one of three active ones in Guatemala -- located just 25 kilometers (15 miles) south of the capital.
It's a potentially risky undertaking given the plumes of volcanic ash blasted into the sky by the angry beast, to which some local villagers pray, pleading with it to desist.
(Published 24 May 2021, 06:14 IST)