Antigua

Volcan Acatenango Hike

The hike up Volcan Acatenango is a popular hike to see the eruption of neighbouring Volcan Fuego. There are multiple tour companies to choose from to guide you on this hike, however I wanted to choose a company that was Guatemalan run, to support local business. Here are a couple Guatemalan owned companies, many of which use some of their profits to give back to their local communities:

• Soy Tours

• Wicho and Charlie

• V-hiking tours

I went with Soy Tours as it was within my budget and provided camp at the summit of the volcano already set-up, which meant less to carry on the hike up. We booked the tour 2 days in advance through WhatsApp and had to pay on the day with cash.

On the day of our tour, we were picked up from our hostel at 7:45am. We continued to drive around Antigua, picking up other hikers from their accommodation before heading over to their office in La Soledad at 9am. At the office, we met our tour guides, received a briefing about the hike, and then packed our bags with warm clothes and food. Soy Tours offers warm clothes to borrow for free (there is a penalty price to pay if items are not returned). This included coats, trackies, hat, scarf, gloves and socks. You are able to rent a hiking stick and a head torch for a small price. Meals are provided, but they also sell some snacks and water if you weren’t able to make it to a shop beforehand. They help you pack your bags, tying things to the outside if you aren’t able to fit everything inside. Alternatively, you can also rent a rucksack from them that should be big enough. You will need your own hiking shoes. It is also possible to leave bags at the office while you go on your hike.

At about 10:15am we started off. The entrance to the trail is right next to their office, so from the get go you are hiking uphill along sandy terrain. We stopped every 40 minutes on our hike up to break. This doesn’t seem long, but when you are hiking 40 minutes feels like forever. We were lucky in that our entire hike had fairly clear skies (being rainy season, the fear was an afternoon downpour) but that did mean much of our incline was under the beating sun.

The hike was tough, I cannot emphasise this enough. You are carrying your belongings and all the water you’ll need for the next 24 hours on your sweaty back. It is a constant incline for about 5 hours, only levelling out once you near the summit, and the terrain is mostly dirt and sand, requiring even more effort. As you climb higher, the effects of altitude can start to kick in. I took altitude sickness tablets beforehand in preparation, so didn’t experience any feelings of unwell, but I did get severe pins and needles in my limbs which can result from lack of oxygen associated with exercise at higher altitudes. Our break stops became longer as we get higher up, giving everyone time to get better accustomed to the change in altitude.

The first 2 legs of our hike, everyone was energised, and we hiked that section relatively quickly - with me bringing up the rear. After those 2 breaks, people began to slow down and the difference in pace between the front and the back of our group lengthened, thankfully. Guides spread themselves out so that there was always someone at the front leading and there was always at least one at the very back. If people were really struggling, they offered medicines and to carry your bags. They never made you walk faster than you were comfortable with and never pressured you to start walking again if you needed to rest. We were a group, and we always waited for everyone to catch up at rest breaks before restarting the next leg. I really appreciated this aspect, no one got let behind and no one was made to feel bad about moving at their own pace.

Along the trail there are a couple basic toilets (a hole with a wooden seat) which aren’t nice, but really the only place you can throw away any rubbish/used toilet roll. There are no bins along this trail, so be mindful about where you choose to use the toilet.

There are also 2 opportunities to purchase snacks and drinks, one at the official trailhead entrance where you sign-in, and another just after the entrance where a small stall has set up.

By around 2pm, the ground had started to level out, and we were at a height where passing clouds would engulf us in mist before passing through and opening up to clear skies. Volcan Fuego erupted whilst we were hiking near the summit, and we could see the dark grey smoke plumes growing. Once at the top of the mountain, the hike is much more enjoyable as the air is cooler and you’re no longer battling uphill sand.

We made it to camp around 3:15pm. It was mostly cloudy at this point, and I was just so tired that I went straight to my tent and napped. There is an opportunity here to add on an extra hike to Volcan Fuego, which involves partly descending, before climbing up Volcan Fuego and walking towards its crater in hopes of a close up view of its eruption. I was far too tired to even consider that extra hike, but a couple of people from our group did brave it, leaving camp at 4:30pm and not returning till nearly 10pm. The additional hike to Volcan Fuego is challenging because it is mostly sand terrain, and doesn’t have a clear or distinct trail. Instead, you walk mostly along the ridge of the volcano. Unfortunately for this group, visibility didn’t clear up, and they returned without seeing anything.

For those of us that stayed at camp, dinner was cooked over a fire and served at 6pm. At this point the clouds began to clear, only a little, but enough to produce some beautiful sunset hues. It was actually really beautiful sitting so high up in the clouds, surrounded by other hikers, with nothing but nature to entertain us. Volcan Fuego actually erupted again that evening, but cloud cover over its summit meant we could only see the ash cloud rise, and no hopes of lava. As soon as nightfall came, it got very cold, and I was asleep in my tent again by 8pm. The rumble of Fuego can be heard throughout the night.

Around 4:30am we woke up for the sunrise hike. This was the final ascent to the very top of Volcan Acatenango, and to the official viewpoint of Volcan Fuego. (I’d argue here that the view of Volcan Fuego from our base camp was just as good, although not as close, and if in the morning you are not feeling up to the hike, I don’t think you miss much at all by staying at base camp.) This climb is quite steep, but it’s short. And in the morning we were lucky to have clear skies, so we could see all the neighbouring towns and villages in the valley, as well as the gentle sunrise. At the very top, the weather was mean. It was bitterly cold, and the wind was very strong. I’m talking wind blowing you across the volcanic sand whilst you’re ‘standing still’. We made our way to a pile of rocks to try to shelter ourselves from the wind, and waited for Volcan Fuego to erupt. We were here about 20 minutes, and no dice. Fuego did not perform for us that morning. On our walk back down to base camp, we still had excellent views of Fuego, so I kept an eye out. Even over breakfast, as our camp looks directly at Fuego, I was watching, but still no eruption.

Personally, I was under the impression that Volcan Fuego erupted so regularly that we were basically guaranteed to see its eruption and lava. I was wrong.

At 8am, we packed up camp and started our descent. It’s crazy how quickly we made it down. We made a couple rest stops, but even then we were back down at the office by 10:30am. Bags unpacked, final payments made, hands washed with water and soap!, and celebratory beers and Coca-Colas had, we returned to Antigua.

We checked back into our hostel at 12pm, and were fortunate to have our beds ready. So we were able to get in and shower right away, sending some clothes in to laundry, before heading out for lunch. Trying to find Guatemalan food in Antigua can be quite hard as there are so many restaurants here catering to the tourists home cuisines, but I managed to find a restaurant that served both. We ordered caldo de pollo (chicken broth served with rice). Coming from Malay-Chinese heritage, chicken broth and rice is the epitome of comfort food for me. After lunch, the weather was rather grey and rainy, so we withdrew ourselves back to our dorm and rested till evening, when the rain had settled and with a little more energy we went out to explore.