Acatenango: one of my top 3 life experiences
hi friends!
i would now like to tell you about one of the most epic adventures of my life, along with some tips so that you, too, can live this epic adventure… but in an even more enjoyable way than i did!
if you go to Antigua, Guatemala’s adorable little colonial town, you absolutely must visit a volcano. Antigua is surrounded by them, and 2 of them — Acatenango and Pacaya — are currently active.
trekking Acatenango is a rite of passage for adventurous travellers visiting Antigua, although it is NOT easy. for many reasons.
booking
leading up to the trek, you can register with a tour company, and i cannot recommend enough to go with Tropicana. it’s a party hostel and a tour company, and as far as trekking Acatenango goes, i believe Tropicana is as good as it gets. here’s why:
you can rent 3 (or more) pieces of warm clothing from them — and trust me, YOU WILL NEED THEM. i rented a jacket, toque and gloves.
their base camp setup is a front row seat to the volcanic fireworks show that will last throughout the night. i don’t think there’s a better view than from Tropicana’s camp.
their guides are so sweet and attentive and supportive
the food is GOOD. lunch was a burrito; dinner was noodle soup, rice, and quesadilla; breakfast was a delish warm porridge and banana bread
they go above and beyond. case in point: at base camp, they serve hot chocolate, and even red wine after dinner. it’s just suuuch a nice touch. but what was the cutest was when we were all in our cots in the tents, ready to go to sleep, their guides rushed in saying “blankets!” and put a blanket over each of us and tucked our toes in, and ran out with a “buenas noches!”
preparation
when packing for the trek, as soon as you think you’ve got enough layers, pack one more. here’s what i wore once we got to base camp:
3 pairs of socks
tank top, lulu longsleeve, hoodie, winter jacket
toque
gloves
lulu leggings
I. WAS. FREEZING. i should have added one more of each layer. like i kept waking up throughout the night shivering and thinking, hm, this must be what hypothermia feels like. do NOT take it likely; it’s COLD UP THERE!!!!
the trek
so what about the trek? it’s 11km each way (22km round trip). at the base, you can rent supplies such as a walking stick (this is a MUST), waterproof bag (also a MUST) and headlamp (nice to have, but you can use your phone flashlight if you want. you’ll need some form of light!)
you will start off hiking through farmlands, beautiful crops, loose volcanic sand (that part is a bitch), through a cloud forest, and up through black volcanic sand that has stunning vibrant wildflowers growing through it. it’s honestly stunning. and incredible to see how the vegetation changes.
the hike is HARD. the altitude is tough, but you will take lots of breaks throughout to acclimatize. a lot of it is borderline vertical. it takes about 5 hours to get up, and 2.5 to get down the next day. it’s tough, exhausting, and for us it rained the entire way up — but i promise it is so worth it.
base camp
once you arrive at the base camp you will come face to face with Volcan de Fuego one kilometre away. it’s absolutely insane you guys. the volcano erupts every like 15-20 minutes and when i say erupt, i mean the ground rumbles, the volcano roars, and a giant plume of smoke and lava explodes out the top. it’s so so so crazy. then the lava bounces and flows down the sides of the volcano in slow motion. watching this scene from day into night, when you can see the red lava glowing and flowing, is the craziest experience.
fuego erupted into the night and woke me up more than 5 times. between this and my shivering i probably slept an hour and a half total. then we woke up at 3:30am to begin summiting — left at 4, got to the top around 5:30.
sunrise
this is when all the trekking, rain, shivering, sleep deprivation became SO WORTH IT. oh my god. i can’t even explain this to you.
i wasn’t expecting to summit to a black volcanic sand crater. it looked like the sand dunes of the sahara desert at sunrise, but BLACK. the sun was beginning to rise behind the crater, which was dotted with the silhouettes of trekkers. then were is volcan agua capping off the glittering city of Antigua.
the clouds were hovering and cradling the volcanic peaks. the sun was insane. then of course behind us was fuego, continuing to show off — like WE CAN’T MISS YA, FUEGO. it was supposed to be cold at the top and i’m sure it was, but honestly carmy and i were so giddy at this point we didn’t even notice.
our group walked around the crater, i took a million pics and pinched myself a million times, then we went back down. breakfast and trekked down.
amazing. so in awe of this world. those feelings are what i live for. onto the next adventure, adios amigos :)
my perro friend who joined us for the whole trek :)