Acatenango volcano
By Jaimy de Vries
Finally we were able to go on the 2-day volcano tour what we hoped for, but eventually gave up on. At the end we were lucky the shuttle to Nicaragua was cancelled. Maybe the Universe was telling us to wait a bit longer. Well it was good it did! The trip was amazing! It was a tough hike to climb up to volcano, a 1350 m elevation on a height of more than 3000 meter above sea level, but for us manageable. Ones we were at the top we had an amazing view over the Fuego volcano. And it was a miracle: we didn’t had any rain!
The tour we were waiting for in Antigua, but didn’t looked possible. We were in Guatemala at the end of September and it was raining everyday! We needed to cancel out rip 3 times! We eventually called it the volcano curse. When our shuttle to Nicaragua was cancelled, it was necessary to stay longer in Antigua. And by coincidence the weather was perfect! Maybe it was all meant to be that we stayed in Antigua till this moment! We were finally able to go on the volcano trip: a 2-day trip on the Acatenango volcano.
Our group was really nice, mostly young people from France, Israel and Belgium. Also a family with two kids of 9 and 13 joined us. We were well prepared even though we went last minute. We knew it could be very cold, so we brought layers, water & windproof outer layer, our travel sheet (sleeping bags are dirty!) and lights. We had one bag together. From the tour company we got a hat and gloves. Water & food was included. But it turned out we needed to carry our 3 liter water bottle ourselves up to the volcano and didn’t had much space left in our bag. In the bus the group made us a bit nervous with stories from other travelers who did the tour that said how heavy it was and how cold it was at the top. We did quite some hikes already and agreed that we’re just going to rock it and carry our own bag. And we did! And I can tell you, it’s not an easy hike, it was sometimes quite hard, but we had many other hikes that was tougher. Besides we had lots of breaks during our climb up.
The climb
We started our hike at 2500 meters above sea level. The start would be hard because this is the steepest part of the hike and lots of gravel. First we walked through farmland and lots of dogs started to follow us and join us on our quest to the volcano. After a short break at a small café (and last place to buy drinks) we climbed up again. The gravel trail changed into a small path with lots of “stair” steps. At the end of the stairs there was the entrance kiosk where we needed to pay 50 quetzales. We didn’t know about this, but we did brought dollars. Here we had lunch too that we got at the office in Antigua. I ate some rice and vegetables. I didn’t want to eat much, because I was afraid to get sick from it. My digestion was still not good. After our lunch spot the trails leads to a cloud forest and started to flatten down a bit making it more manageable. Time went by quite quick. I thought we would be halfway, but they said it was still a 2 hour hike. Did we walked already for 4 hours!? We continued a still quite steep ascent and after an hour the trail flattened down and was very comfortable, it went up and down. At that moment we had an amazing view above the clouds and could see Antigua and Guatemala city. The last hour we started to hear thunder every 5-10 minutes, but no rain! The weather was good, even though it was clouded.
And then we finally got a view over the Volcano! This volcano is called Fuego and erupts every 15-20 minutes. And again we heard a big thunder sound…but it was no thunder – it was the volcano bursting! In the meantime we saw lots of ass and smoke getting out of the crater. So cool!! And we were so close!! We walked to our camp. We slept all together in one big tent. It depends with company you go, other camps had tents or cabins. But for this you probably pay more.
Interesting trees
Still doing good
Walking through a cloud forest
Dog followed us and joined our group
A small break
Volcano burst above the fog
Hot & cold
Once at the camp and after everybody set up their bed, it started to get really cloudy and the view over the volcano disappeared…and so did the guides. We didn’t know what was going to happen next. When do we have dinner? Do we get a fire to stay warm? We started to get really cold. There was no campfire or hot drink that was promised. We saw other camps with a nice warm bonfire and drinks. I got a bit jealous. After a while, one of our group started looking for the guides and found them sitting in their tent on their phone. We complained. After more than an hour they finally made a fire, an hour later they brought hot choco and at 9 pm our dinner. But I didn’t let it get the best out of me. Eventually the fog got away and we had an amazing view over the volcano. I enjoyed this once-in-a-life-time-experience: getting close to an active volcano bursting lava and sleep next to it. This is something you can’t just do anywhere else!? And we did saw some big eruptions with an incredible sound. You could feel the ground shaking. We saw red lava, rocks, and ass coming out of the crater with violence and then we saw the boiling hot lava rocks sliding down the volcano. It was amazing!
When there was still a bit light, photo credits to: Awital
Another amazing eruption
Murphy
The last half part of the hike that day was harder for me than I’m used too. Not only because I just recovered from food poisoning. I had pain in my hip. Very strange, but I had this pain briefly in Alaska too. After some research I found out it was Trochanter Pain, an injury in you hip tissue, probably caused by trauma and/or sport injury. At the top it started to get worse because of the cold. And after a night sleep I also woke up with a beginning eye infection. I felt such a “murphy”, if one thing goes wrong – everything goes wrong. I think the universe is telling me to take some rest haha. I need to hit my head three times before I’ll take some rest.
Prepare for a bad night sleep
After dinner and seeing some good eruptions and filming it, we went to bed. We were so cold and decided to go with clothes and all in bed. It was a bit hard to fall asleep because of the cold and the ground was hard. But once I fell asleep, I slept good till I woke up because of a big eruption that made a hard sound and caused the ground shaking. And again at 4 am when the guides woke us up if we wanted to see the sunrise from the top. That means 1,5 hour hiking up. We didn’t go, because you could also see the sunset from the campsite and I had trouble with my injury. But we woke up before sunrise. I felt some discomfort on my eye, what turned out to be a beginning eye infection. I know this because of a double eye infection in Peru. Probably because I couldn’t remove my make up that night before. So stupid! It ruined the early morning a bit for me, because I was worried. But I had eye drops with me and was able to clean my face a bit.
Relaxing morning
Afterwards it went better and I could enjoy the beautiful sunrise on a volcanic landscape. The sun was warm and gave me more energy. It was a very peaceful moment with some nice spectacular volcano eruptions every 20 minutes. I just stood there, relaxing and enjoying an amazing view. The meals were so-so the day before, but our breakfast was nice. Some cooked oatmeal with fresh fruit and coffee.
A beautiful sunrise
Amazing view with volcanic eruptions every 20 minutes.
Eruption before sunrise
Beautiful volcanic landscape
Yeah cool eruptions
Another amazing eruption
Going down part
Eventually around eight we walked down. You could walk (run?) down in just 1,5 hour, but with the group it was a 3 hour hike down. The walk down went well and I had no troubles. We were actually quite fast, but with all the breaks it was eventually 3 hour walking. Sometimes it was quite slippery. Some people had no hiking shoes on, but just normal sneakers. They slipped so many times. Eventually we were back at the depot where we left the day before. We gave back the hats, gloves and gave a tip to the guides. They don’t get much salary, so we gave them a tip…but it was not because of their good service. We got a shuttle back to Antigua, after arrival we arranged some stuff and checked in at our hotel. We were so tired, we slept the whole afternoon.
My guide for your Acatenango trip
I would 100% recommend this trip. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime-experience and is worth the money, but mainly the effort! A trip to the Volcano is not so expensive, between 30-60 dollars. We paid $40. But they have their way to gain more money. It depends how much luxury you want and if you want to do more than just climb the Acatenago volcano. Here some tips for your Acatenago volcano trip:
- Layers & layers: Bring lots of layers with you! The climb up at the beginning is steep and temperatures are still quite high. But going up further it starts to get cold. Instead of walking in shorts and a t-shirt you want to wear long pants with a sweater and/or jacket. At the top it can be freezing cold and your body starts to cool off from the exercise.
- Bring enough cash: bring at least 50 quetzales (entree volcano) with you and some money for tips. You can rent extra equipment like a backpack and hiking poles between 10-50 quetzales.
- Horse ride: There is the possibility to climb the volcano on horse. This will cost you between 500-600 quetzales. You can also paid someone to carry your bag for 150 quetzales.
- Bring your travel sheet: I was so happy that I brought my travel sheet with me. The sleeping bags are quite dirty and it was very cold. So having an extra layer is nice.
- Prepare for high altitude sickness: You climb in one day more than 2000 meters in height (1300 by walking), others by car. Make sure to drink enough te prevent getting high altitude sickness. You can bring some pills with you too. Having altitude sickness is not fun and can ruin the moment you came for: seeing lava at night on the top!
- Wet paper towels: Bring wet paper towels. There is no water at the top to wash your face or hands. And I read that there is lots of dust. Well we didn’t experienced that, but we went in rain season. Yet still it’s nice to have it. I was stupid not to use it to wipe of my make up. I woke up with a starting eye infection.
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So awesome. I was so excited as I read about your trip. I want to go now!
Love and miss you,
Al