Saying a reluctant goodbye to the peaceful & perfect Lake Atitlan, we hopped in a chain of chaotic Chicken Buses to Antigua, our next destination. We had read some horror stories online about the Chicken Buses, suggesting tourists to not attempt, but we took the chance and had a great (if not extremely cultural) experience. The driver was absolutely flying along the twisting mountain roads, blasting 80s rock. At times people would come on for a stop or two to sell little snacks or freestyle rap at us in Spanish. It was honestly iconic (and much cheaper than the alternatives!)
The main attraction in Antigua is a famous hike up Volcan Acatenango, a dormant volcano next to the incredibly active Volcan Fuego. After getting our feet wet with our hikes in Lake Atitlan, we were excited to take on the challenge, but our first few days we spent just getting to know the cute town of Antigua.
Antigua was charming, with colourful buildings and striking views of Volcan de Agua looming above us. Grabbing an ice cream and walking around the town centre, we felt like we were back in the towns of Oaxaca or Puebla in Mexico with the Spanish colonial architectural style.
A few days earlier at Lake Atitlan, we had seen one of our friends from Taiwan, Sergio, post a story flying over the lake. He’s Guatemalan and in the air force, and had since moved back to his country. We made plans to meet up when we were in Antigua — only an hour drive from Guatemala City where he was based.
He drove down with his girlfriend Kats and good friend Samuel, and we went out to a cool bar/concert venue called Cerveceria Catorce. It had a huge stage and throughout the evening very talented bands came up to perform. It was a great atmosphere for a wonderful evening catching up and getting to know them all better.
After some food and drinks we decided to try a different spot which we had thought was a karaoke bar. However, when we got there it was like we were transported back in time to a college bar with big frat guy energy, which none of us were particularly feeling. Wini and I were both pretty exhausted because we’re old with a typical bedtime of 8pm, so as the rest of them headed to a new bar we said our sleepy goodbyes and went home.
It was time for us to get ourselves prepared for our main mission in Antigua, the two day hike up Volcan Acatenango. We had to carry up all our clothes, snacks, and water for the trek but the company would look after the tents, sleeping bags, and meals. This would be great except Wini drinks a truly shocking amount of water, so the recommended 4L per person was certainly not going to cut it. We figured doubling it would be a safe bet and packed our bags with 8 litres each… an added 17.5 lbs on top of all our cold-weather clothes, camera equipment, and snacks. They were extremely heavy, and I was getting concerned that this was going to be a lot more challenging than I had mentally prepared for.
The morning of our hike we got picked up at 7:30am. As we drove around town picking up more people we tried to gauge how heavy everyone else’s bags were based on the effort needed to get them on the roof of the van. Ours seemed heavier by a lot.
We arrived at the Soy Tours office at the base of the volcano and were given our lunch boxes and we were able to rent some extra layers and hiking sticks. We had a big group of around 50 people, and a group of around 10 guides and porters.
We had to repack our bags with our new items, and we were a bit annoyed that the ground was dusty gravel, so our bags got quite dirty during the process. However, we would soon understand this as the foreshadowing it was.
We also decided our 8L of water each was too much for us to lug up. Something had to give. Wini ended up pouring some out so we each had about 6.5 litres — still an extra 14.5 lbs to our bags, but down a few pounds.
We begun our walk up the hill to the trailhead of the volcano. It was already quite challenging with our big bags but when we started on the actual trail it was brutal. The ground was super sandy, gravely, and steep. Every step forward felt like five steps back.
I was in rough spirits, struggling with each step, and feeling weighed down by the heavy bag. We were at the very back of the pack and moving at a snails pace. Some of the porters and guides from our company approached us and asked if they could help us with the bag. I looked at them and didn’t understand how that would be possible since they were already carrying big heavy bags, but Wini insisted we at least say yes and see what they do. I took off my bag and they seemed surprised by the weight, but I had packed a little day bag, so I opened up the big bag and took out a big bottle of water, our regular water bottles, and some snacks, which made the bag lighter, and they took it!
The porters were actually insane. By the time we got up, most porters had both front and backpacks, and many of them were wearing jeans and flip-flops!
It was definitely the right decision for me. It went from being an impossible, miserable slog to a regular hike. We were able to adjust Wini’s bag too, and give some of the heavier stuff from her bags in my little bag so we were both having a better time.
The next part of the hike was on an extremely narrow path between farms, and as we were going up other groups were coming down. We had to pause often while huge groups tried to squeeze past each other in between the rusty barbed wires on the fences on either side.
We made it up past the farms and entered into a mossy forest. It was nice to be in the shade. There were still a lot of people going down, but a little more room to continue up. However, we kept playing leap-frog with another massive group going up too. They would stop at an actual break area with benches and space to chill, and our group would kept going and then just stop randomly on the trail a little bit further up. 3 minutes later they would have to squeeze past us while we are literally sitting on the dirt on the narrow path. Then it would happen all over again. We were like… maybe we could just give them a it of a lead and then when we get to the actual break spot they would be ready to move on!
It also can’t be overstated just how dirty it was. The air was 90% kicked up dust that we were breathing in. Each sip of water went down like mud. Our snot was black.
Stopping for lunch in a shaded area, we sat on the ground next to a funny American girl named Eleanor. Lunch was rice, grilled chicken, and boiled vegetables, but Eleanor was vegetarian so her chicken was replaced with some beans.
We continued up the mountain in the same way as before, passing and then being passed by the other large group a few minutes later.
At one of our stops along the path we started chatting with these two people Cody and Meranda, and we asked where they were from and Meranda was like “BC” (meaning British Columbia, Canada), and I was like “oh me too”! And then we all had a laugh because answering BC to that is such a specific response you don’t normally hear so far from home hahah. But it turns out they’re from Vernon which is where I was born!
We stopped pretty frequently on the way up, which was much needed as the air got thinner. Finally, we got up past the trees. The ground was completely black and sandy, with hardly any plants.
Rounding a corner, we were met with a huge plume of smoke erupting from Fuego. It felt illegal to be that close to an actively erupting volcano!
The last stretch wasn’t too difficult as it was mostly flat. We arrived at the basecamp around 4pm, about 6 hours since we began the hike (and 4 hours of actual hiking).
The basecamp didn’t have any running water. It had a long building with tents inside, and we were shown our tent which was at the very end close to the back door which led out to a long path and the “toilet” (a seat with a garbage bag under it, with a pile of sawdust for you to shovel over your deposit).
Our group was given the choice of whether we just wanted to stop for the day at basecamp or continue on at 5pm to do a hike to the ridge of Fuego, the active volcano that erupts every 15-20 minutes.
Wini and I were on the fence about going, leaning towards no, but the friends we had made so far were all going, and giving us motivational messages “Even if it sucks, you’re not going to regret going” – Eleanor. “When else are you going to get the opportunity to do it?” – Cody & Meranda.
The break at basecamp was basically the exact right amount of time for our bodies to return to feeling relatively normal so after all the pep talks we were like… okay, let’s do it!
The guides said it was going to be around 3.5 hours, so we were like, okay we’ll be back at camp before 9pm, not the best, but manageable. They also told us “this is going to be harder than the hike you just did.” I was like… oh no what have we done. But we had already committed in front of all our new friends so we were in it.
The hike goes down first, then up the ridge of Fuego, then back down Fuego and up Acatenango.
The way down was stunning, right at sunset. We were so far above the clouds so it was amazing to see the colours on the clouds. Streaks of sunlight pierced through the kicked up dust. Fuego erupted a number of times, catching the colours of the sunset.
We got to the lowest point right as the sun went down and it immediately started getting dark and cold. We had a little break at the bottom, and then started the uphill Fuego hike in the dark, with our headlamps. The way back up was slippery with loose rocks and sand, and there were people coming down.
On the way up we also ran into Maureen, one of our friend’s from Taiwan! We had randomly bumped into her on the streets of San Pedro on Lake Atitlan and knew she would also be doing this hike, but didn’t know if we would see her!
It was really chilly at the top. Our group sat on the ridge and waited, hoping to see the big show. Fuego erupted a few times but without lava so it was hard to see and underwhelming. The stars were incredible though!
We were starting to get disappointed that we trekked all that extra way for nothing. The other large group left like 5-10 minutes before we were about to leave, and just as our group was putting our stuff away and getting ready to go we started to see some sparks flying from the mouth of Fuego and then all of the sudden BOOM! It erupted! It was surreal to see the lava run down the side of the volcano (we couldn’t feel any heat from it though).
We were so happy that our extra hike wasn’t for nothing. It was honestly such a powerful feeling.
We packed up our stuff and started heading down, and then BOOM another lava eruption! We ended up seeing five lava eruptions as we headed back towards camp!
The way down was challenging, but manageable, in the dark. Down at the lowest point we stopped for a break. The guides brought some snacks and juice for us, which was much needed as none of us had eaten since lunch.
It was already past 9pm (we thought we’d be back at basecamp by then) and we still had to hike all the way back up Acatenango. We asked a guide how long the rest of the hike would be, and he said another 1.5 hours. Oof. That completely took the wind out of our sails.
The way up we were at the front, anxious to get back, but we had to keep waiting for the whole group the catch up. When they did, we had to wait for them to have a decent break. The rest of our group was in rough shape. A couple girls got altitude sickness, and a bunch of people were feeling extremely rough. None of us had eaten a meal since lunch, and were all just exhausted. It was a very slow and demoralizing slog back up to basecamp.
We finally got back around 10:45pm, far later than we ever expected when we signed up for the additional hike. We were thankful that we were able to see a proper eruption up close, but otherwise were too tired to think.
The stars were absolutely nuts though. It was easily the most either of us have ever seen, as we were so far above any light or air pollution. It was magical.
Dinner was served but we couldn’t get down much because we were exhausted (and probably over hungry) and we just wanted to sleep.
Around 4:20am we were woken up by the guides and told to get ready for our sunrise summit. Wini was feeling particularly rough, having eaten next to nothing the night before. She powered through with the help of an energy gel and a handful of m&ms that did NOT hit the spot even remotely, but we made it to the top!
The views were magnificent, but freezing. We were above the clouds, and watching the sun come up between Volcan Agua and Fuego was surreal.
After the most beautiful sunrise ever, we made our way back to basecamp where they had a fluffy pancakes waiting for us. After a quick breakfast, we had to immediately pack our bags and begin the long journey down.
The way down was steep and slippery with the sandy, dusty ground often giving out under us. Thankfully, we had our walking sticks that helped brace us a lot, but Wini did have a hard fall at one point, and I overextended my knee at another.
We were also once again DRINKING in the dust clouds being kicked up, our bodies, lungs, and souls completely covered in a thick layer of dirt.
Despite only having one way down, we had to stop frequently to keep our group together which made the way back significantly longer than we wanted. Finally, when we were so close to the end we could taste it, our guide told us to stop again and wait for the group. We didn’t have another 30 minute stop in the sun left in us, so Wini told the guide she had to go to the bathroom (emergency style) and he let us run the rest of the way down hahah.
We were the first ones back at the main office for awhile, and we had time to chat with the owner of Soy Tours, Gilmer Soy. He greeted us with celebratory beers, and told us an amazing story about his life. In 2005 a car reared ended him and crashed him into the car in front, leading to him going completely blind. He didn’t think he would ever be able to see again, but a family friend of his had a daughter that got into a car crash and tragically died. Her family donated her corneas to Gilmer to try to regain his sight. It was a new surgery that the doctors had never performed before, but he said when he woke up he saw a line of 11 doctors in front of him all with tears in their eyes because the surgery worked! He was also told after the crash that he would never play sports or hike again, but now he leads tours, plays soccer, and has his eyesight.
Gilmer told us said he started out as a private tour guide, and as he got more clients and he saw that people enjoyed his tours, he realized he could start his own company. It was fascinating and inspiring to hear his story.
The rest of our hiking-mates arrived and we returned our borrowed clothes and said our goodbyes. A van took our filthy, sore, drained bodies back home.
Wini and I made the unanimous decision to not to enter our room before everything was clean. Luckily, our accommodation was an indoor-outdoor vibe, and our shower was accessible from outside so we were able to clean ourselves and our bags without sullying our room.
It took at least 3 solid shampoo and body wash scrubs to get all the grime off, but it felt blissful to rinse off the thick film coating our every surface (though our lungs still felt like we had smoked 100 packs of cigarettes!).
As someone who isn’t very personally motivated to do difficult hikes, I honestly feel like I came back from Acatenango changed. A sense of accomplishment, definitely. A feeling of awe of what I’d seen at the top, for sure. But also, a bit of self-respect for just doing it at all.
As Wini was cleaning our bags and herself, I ran out to get food and drop off laundry, and then we hunkered down for some well-earned rest.
When we were back in Canada, a friend of mine from high school (shoutout Rosie) told us her friends, Mari and Ceilidh, were also living in Antigua. We made plans to meet up with them for dinner at a Mexican restaurant downtown the day after our hike.
Getting to know them over margaritas, we learned Mari is Guatemalan and Ceil is Canadian, but they met leading a camp for kids in Egypt! We swapped stories and halfway through the meal some of their friends from Canada showed up and joined our table. The wife was from Turkey and the husband was Argentinian. It was a lively conversation and a great evening, but when they continued on to another bar, Wini and I listened to our tired bodies and called it a night.
The next day we checked out of our accommodation and made our way to the Chicken Bus ‘station’ and we were directed to a bus bound for Guatemala City. Again, we’re not sure if we just got lucky, but we are Chicken Bus STANS. It was absolutely hilarious speeding out of Antigua in this decked out school bus, barrelling down cobblestone streets, flying out of our seats with every bump and hole, music at 1000.
We arrived in Guatemala City at breakneck speeds, and made our way to our accommodation for the night, only a few minutes from the airport. We ordered-in food for the night, and settled into bed, setting our alarm early, ahead of our 5:30 AM flight to… Panama!
