At 8,200 feet, Guatemala's Volcan Santiaguito is not one of the tallest volcanoes in the world, but with eruptions taking place every hour, it is one of the world's most active. A few days ago, I joined four other people for a challenging two-day hike from the town of Quetzaltenango to witness an eruption first-hand.

Our group of five set up camp a safe distance from where the eruptions would be taking place, and the volcano was spitting out large amounts of ash, smoke, and gas regularly from the time we arrived. (Here's a farther-away version of what we saw from the camp-site.) Not satisfied to observe from a "safe distance," we asked our guide whether we could climb up next to the crater and wait for an eruption. He gave us his blessing-- after some pleading on our part-- and he led us on a climb up to the crater.

The video I shot, seen above, captures pretty well the chaos and absurdity (though not the noxious smell of sulfur) of standing thirty feet from a volcano as it erupts. Be sure to stick around until the 0:55 mark for some fun with static electricity-- turn the sound up on your computer for the full effect.

For another view (with even more cursing!), check out this great Youtube vid.