18/11/2012 - 20/11/2012 - Guat goes up must come down

After a fair old huff and puff, we'd made it in time for sunset!

The famous Antigua arch, complete with Volcan Agua in
the background (you'll be seeing more of him!)

More Antigua archi action

No annoying American waking us up at the crack of dawn, so after a relaxed start to the day (and then a not so relaxed trundle to a better hostel) we set out exploring Antigua. Very similar to Granada – they like living dangerously these Central Americans and putting their cities at the bottom of various volcanoes! That said, it was actually an earthquake in 1773 that turned numerous pieces of Antiguan architecture to rubble – still is highly evident to this day. About 10 days prior to our arrival there was a 7.4 earthquake on the Richter scale about 100 miles northwest of Antigua which people told us was felt very strongly but luckily damage was limited. 

The main square at Antigua

The earthquake devastation in evidence

Yet it didn't stop the locals plying their trade!

It might not look like much, but
the bag weighed a load!

Scree action at the start

After much deliberation, we decided that we’d take on the largest volcano (Acatenango) in the region in an overnight trek. Only after handing the cash over did they tell us we’d be carrying the tent, sleeping bags and mats ourselves – a clever technique! Upon hearing that we’d be gaining altitude of 1.7km in the first day, we started to get a bit scared – we’ve done a fair bit of walking in our time but that is a serious height gain especially when you’re lugging all your stuff.

Volcan Atitlan in the distance

Our first view of Fuego

The other thing they don’t openly tell you is that you’re on scree pretty much the whole journey, which for those who’ve not experienced it’s two steps up, then one slide down! Not easy conditions, for sure – after the first hour Tony (who was carrying the tent, sleeping bags and mats!) was concerned he’d bitten off more than he could chew.

Arrived at camp, in time to watch a small eruption!

Scree struggles...

Many steps and slides later, and we’d got to the campsite in good time. This meant we could ditch most of our stuff for the summit attack – wouldn’t have been possible otherwise due to the increase in severity of the slope and difficulty of footing. To see the sun on the back of our local guide (whose version of guiding was keep 100m+ ahead!) indicating he was at the top was the necessary motivation for the final push.

In the shadow of the Volcan

Scree struggles #2 - this is the
closest we got to the guide!

3,976m.a.s.l. and not a hint of a breeze – never experienced that before. Felt like we were in a plane, seeing the numerous surrounding volcanoes poking their heads above the cloud level. Then came the sunset – I’ll let the photos speak for themselves as words won’t do it justice.

The final descent of the sun

Running high on the clouds

Getting a bit dark on the way back down

Heading back down was initially fun (a running-walk down the scree), but when it got pitch black we realised our head torches weren’t actually that great. Didn’t stop the guide’s guiding technique though! A hearty pasta meal around the bonfire (not so hearty tortillas!) and we were done for the day, with our sleep only interrupted by Volcan Fuego-ing off and the incredibly hard ground (which was much more of a hindrance than interruption!). Fuego is an active beast for sure - http://www.newsday.com/news/world/volcan-del-fuego-eruption-terrifies-locals-thrills-tourists-in-guatemala-1.4002111

On top of the world looking down on Volcan Atitlan

The relief at getting to the top, so a photo opp!

Not a bad tent view to wake up to

Fuego-ing off first thing in the morn

Rose to the sunrise, which competed with the previous evening for a spectacle, then after cramming everything back into our bags started the trek back to base. Gave our knees a comprehensive work out, but that said the going was notably easier, giving us a chance to really appreciate the 4 distinct levels of vegetation on the volcano (corn fields, cloud forest, high alpine forest, volcano scree). Yet another bumpy transfer followed by lunch in Antigua geared us up for our onward travels.

The Corn Fields

The tent, right at the top of the
High Alpine Forest

The Cloud Forest

More sunrise action

The volcanoes and rolling hills

Key Learnings:

1. Antigua is not flush with fridge magnets – you can only imagine the distress that this can cause…

More Fuego-ing off when back
at Antigua (but no lava...)

2. Tour guides have unique concepts of time – “10 minutes” really means 3 minutes, and “setting off at 8am” actually means he’s stressed out if you’re not out of your tent by 6:30am, and on your way before 7:30am!