Antigua.
It’s not every weekend you get to hike a volcano – combined with exploring Antigua it was one of our best weeks yet.
- Hiking Volcano Acatenango (3,976m).
The climb up to base camp of Volcano Acatenango was a solid 5 hours uphill. There was minimal talking as we were all too out of breath to mutter a word. The trek started in beautiful sunshine until we walked into the clouds, which was closely followed by very heavy raindrops. Rain or shine, I absolutely loved it.
We arrived at basecamp while the rain was pouring, we were engulfed in a cloud and couldn’t see a thing. The guide set up a fire and we sat undercover, drying our clothes, for the rest of the afternoon.
Slowly the clouds cleared revealing the most amazing view of Volcano Fuego. It was right in-front of us. We sat until bedtime admiring the puffs of smoke as the volcano erupted, munching on popcorn and sipping hot chocolate. As it turned to night we watched as lava spilled out of the volcano joining the puffs of smoke – for added effect the guide shouted ‘lava lava lava’ every time there was a big eruption. I’ve never seen anything like it!
We woke up at 3.30pm to start the 1.5 hour hike to summit for sunrise. Guided by our head torches it was pitch black and seriously steep. When we got closer to the top it felt like we were walking through sand as we stabbed the ground for balance with our walking poles. We migrated from hiking, to amateur rock climbing, to crawling on hands and knees before reaching the summit.
It was 100% worth it. The view was absolutely amazing it felt like I was on top of the world. We were way above the clouds looking over Guatemala and could see as far as Lake Atitlán and the Pacific Ocean. Not only that, we were above Volcano Fuego erupting every 10 minutes as the sun rose. It felt like we were on top of the world. Epic.
Turns out going downhill is a million times harder for me. I’ve been kindly informed it’s got something to do with how I walk on the balls of my feet (who knew!). Lets just say I look like bambi learning to walk, and my tactic when it was really really steep? Snowplow in my trainers. Haven’t skied in over 12 years but for some reason that seemed like a sensible idea at the time.
Climbing volcano Acatenango was one of the best things we’ve done on our trip so far.
2. The streets, plazas & shops.
As Tom nicely put it, the cobbled streets of Antigua were made for a horse and cart, not for cars. But that just adds to the beauty of the town and its colourful buildings and pretty plazas. Guatemalans, men and women, walk around in their traditional dress including cowboy hats for men and beautifully patterned skirts for women.
There are plenty of shops selling a range of stuff from good quality cotton or jade to tacky bits and bobs. My favourite was Nim P’ot just because it’s a huge warehouse and has all the souvenirs under the sun.
3. Accommodation.
We stayed in Maya Papaya a ‘boutique hostel’ (didn’t know that was a thing!). It’s pretty new, has lovely decor, breakfast and a bar (£1 mojitos on Mondays). Fanciest hostel around.
4. Food & Drink.
To our surprise, Guatemala turned out more expensive than Mexico, you could stumble into some pretty dear restaurants in Antigua if you’re not careful!
Taqueria Doña Lupita. Food-stand come restaurant the food comes from a street cart parked inside. Supreme tacos are decent and cheap for Guatemala (£2.50 for 3 tacos).
Toko Baru. Another cheap eat in Antigua filled with backpackers, it has big portions of yummy Middle Eastern food.
Roots juice bar & cafe. There was a lot of expat influence in Antigua, and juice bars seem to be the latest trend. We treated ourselves to a smoothie post hike and it was definitely worth it.
Door Eleven. Just need to flag the happy hour here: £1 for a beer, vodka tonic, and plenty more.
Ps. We weren’t that impressed with Fridas, average at best!
5. Mercado.
This place is an absolute maze, it wouldn’t surprise me if you got lost and re-emerged an hour or two later. You have to admire it for its sheer size. It sells absolutely everything: fruit & veg, toiletries, clothes, fake DVDs, football boots, electrical goods…you name it, they have it.
We visited Antigua in October 2018.
