After spending a week in Costa Rica with the family, I extended my annual winter trip with an additional week in Guatemala. I’d heard amazing things and knew it was time to give it a go. I invited my boyfriend to join and he met me in Antigua where our trip began.
Antigua – Volcan Acatenango
After a long day of travel from San Jose, I made it to Guatemala City. I ordered an Uber from the airport with no trouble, and arrived about 45 minutes later in historic Antigua. Matt was waiting for me at Tropicana Hostel, and it was great reuniting after spending the previous week apart. He grabbed us beers and we laid on a hammock for a few before wandering the town, busy with visitors for the holidays. After a late dinner, we attempted to get some sleep as the next day was a big one…
I’d determined several months earlier that I would camp on a volcano for New Years Eve. Normal consideration, right? After Matt and I started dating and he’d decided to join on the trip, I gifted him the Acatenango Volcano tour for his birthday in October. The morning of the tour, breakfast was served on the Tropicana rooftop and the staff proceeded with a gear check which resulted in us renting winter coats, gloves, hats, and a day pack. We were also instructed to bring 4 liters of water, each. This was starting to sound intense.
There were 20 or so people on the tour. Most appeared to be in their late 20s/early 30s, and were from America, China, or the U.K. We jumped into a few small vans and took off to the base of the volcano, about an hour outside of Antigua. After renting walking sticks, eating a snack, and listening to instructions, the hike began. It would be close to a 5 hour climb, broken into about seven 30 minute increments. Between each leg we took a 5 minute break.
The first leg was great. It was a gorgeous, sunny day, the temperatures were ideal for hiking, and I felt energized despite hardly sleeping the night before. (Note to self: do not stay in a hostel dorm before the most difficult hike of your life). By leg two, I was starting to feel the intensity. The air was thinning with the altitude increase and I was kicking myself for not working out more leading up to the trip.
Leg 3 came and I was hating myself for the two drinks I’d had the night before. The weight of the water bottles on my back seemingly complicated every step and I slowly fell toward the back of the group. Matt proved to be an awesome motivator, however, and kept me moving. Eventually we reached the halfway mark and had an hour break for lunch. The lunches provided included a really good vegetarian burrito, apple, brownie, and juice box. I grabbed a coffee and laid on a bench in the sun, still catching my breath.
Heading up leg 4, I was now regretting the coffee. Stomach rumbling and short on oxygen, Matt took my heavy day pack and carried it for me (good man, right?). With this weight retracted, I felt a bit lighter and was able to continue forward. We had reached an elevation over the clouds and the views were magnificent. I knew if it was already this beautiful, even better scenes were to come. We pushed onward.
Leg 5 had a different topography, with tall thin trees, and very steep, loose-rocked trails. I was at the point where I had to mentally will one leg in front of the next. I felt dizzy and my heart was racing. The five minute breaks were feeling shorter and shorter.
Leg 6! Knowing we were almost at the top encouraged me to keep going. This part of the expedition wrapped around a very slanted section of the volcano, where our guide warned us to keep facing forward. If you were to lose your balance, you would surely roll down the volcano and there would be no stopping the fall.
I can’t properly describe the feeling of seeing the neighboring Volcan Fuego for the first time. Excitement pulsed through the air, everyone cheered a bit, and as we reached base camp, it was an awe-inspiring moment to be standing at 13,000 feet on Acatenango. The hike was a 2.5 mile incline, and the entire group made it successfully.
Over the next few hours, we watched a gorgeous sunset to close out the year, ate a pasta dinner prepared by our kind guides, and huddled around the fire as the temperatures quickly dropped. We drank champagne for New Years Eve and watched the many villages below bidding farewell to 2018 with firework celebrations. I should also mention that Volcan Fuego erupted several times through out the night, booming with each blast, and spewing bright red lava almost every time. It was kind of scary but magical at the same time. Mother Nature is amazing.
But I was completely freezing, so I eventually retreated to the tent Matt and I were sharing, wrapped up in every single piece of clothing and blanket available. Temperatures were well below freezing and the wind blasted through the tent, which felt bone-splitting at times. I’m pretty sure it’s most treacherous night of non-sleep I’ve experienced.
At 4AM, a small group awoke to attempt the summit in time for sunrise, another hour and a half climb up the volcano. I was severely dehydrated (we had run out of water around 5PM the day before), way too cold, and delirious on no sleep at the high altitude, so I made the sensible decision to skip the summit. Matt went, however, and said it was absolutely epic. His pictures prove it.
Between 4AM and 6AM, I was able to sleep a bit because I took and warmed myself with Matt’s empty sleeping bag 🙂 After breakfast, the full group descended the volcano, which only took about an hour and a half, as compared to the 5 hour climb up. By that point in time, we were filthy, achy, and extremely exhausted. We eventually made it back to Antigua – done-zo – but super PROUD of the accomplishment.
Fortunately, considering the difficulty of the hike ahead of time, I had booked a nice “recovery” hotel for January 1. Palo Santo was beautiful, rustic, and had a lovely rooftop. We walked around Antigua that afternoon and evening, enjoying a great meal at Frida’s and photographing the famous Arch de Catalina.
We made arrangements to take a collectivo (shared van) to Lake Atitlan the next day, but as it didn’t leave until noon, we decided to be crazy and take another hike – as if our legs weren’t sore enough. This one was a breeze though, comparatively. We walked through town and hiked up to Cerro de la Cruz, which features a huge cross overlooking the city and Volcan Agua.
Lake Atitlan
Traveling to Lake Atitlan was long and somewhat uncomfortable. Winding through tight mountain roads with several switchbacks, and then traveling around the lake by water taxi, we finally arrived in the small lake town of San Pedro as the sun was setting. A tuk-tuk drove us to our hotel for the next two nights, Mikaso. We walked the incredibly narrow streets that evening (truly only wide enough for tuk-tuks!), and ended up having an awesome meal at Sublime while chatting with an Italian couple.
Sure we were exhausted, but there aint no rest for the wicked, so up we were at 2:45AM to prepare for a sunrise hike. Our van left by 4AM and rounded the mountains for about an hour before arriving in San Marcos. Our guide, machete in hand, briskly led our small group up the trail and then a steep staircase, heading toward Indian Nose peak. After an hour we were at the top, and we laid on a blanket and watched the stars until the sun slowly rose behind the lake villages below. The views were insanely beautiful and well worth the early alarm clock.
Once back in San Pedro, we had breakfast and then laid out on the Mikaso deck, reading and journaling. We wanted to kayak, but I was feeling ill (unfortunately, it was the one day of my three week journey that I had real stomach issues). Although bummed, we decided to re-channel our energy and honor the day as a restful one. We dropped off laundry (hooray for clean clothes!) and found some thermal baths to soak in. These were awesome. The temperature was HOT and oh-so-good on the muscles after all of our activity.
We found the coolest place for dinner that evening, a relaxed, hippie restaurant called Zoola. Owned by Israeli’s, the restaurant is in an open air tipi, and you sit on the ground on colorful cushions. The food and wine were quite good, and afterward, we decided to see what was behind Zoola since we heard music. There we found a bar and pool, on the lake. Awesome discovery, right?
San Pedro was really, really special. It’s full of expatriates, and I can see why. It’s a town where hippies coexist peacefully with Mayan locals. Where there are hardly any vehicles on the street, the smell of pot lingers in the air, and everyone says “buenas” as they pass. Guatemalan women still wear their traditional traje attire, friendly dogs run the streets, and the weather seems to remain perfect. I hope to return someday for a longer stretch of time, and to explore more of the surrounding lake towns.
Flores/Tikal
After a long drive back to Antigua, we connected to another bus heading for the Guatemala City airport. Some people bus to central Semuc Champey, and then from there to Tikal, but having limited time, we could only choose one or the other. Tikal spoke more to me, and I knew this was my best opportunity to see impressive Mayan ruins. That evening we wandered the small island town of Flores, and learned that the entire place could be covered by foot in about 25 minutes! Charming as it was, I wondered if two days was too long to spend there.
Another early morning started with a 4:30AM departure for Tikal. Over an hour away, I drifted off to sleep on the ride there. The best thing about entering the park by 6:30AM was that we completely avoided the tourist crowds and did not have to worry about the sun in the heat of the day, which I hear is brutal. We essentially experienced the jungle waking up, as parrots, monkeys, and coatis among other animals loudly and boldly made their presence known.
The ruins were really cool to explore, and we opted to do so without a guide since we wanted total flexibility and didn’t care as much about an in-depth history. We climbed some structures, my favorite being Temple IV because of its mystical view in the clouds. After a few hours in the park, we jumped in a collectivo heading back toward Flores. But not before a fun detour.
We had heard about a tiny town called El Remate, and it happened to be on the way back to Flores. We asked the collectivo to drop us there, and paid our fare (around $.25/person for the 45 minute ride). El Remate was great. We had breakfast at a road side cafe and then crossed the street and had a few drinks, in what I believe was someone’s house, converted into a bar.
We wanted to swim, so wandered toward a good access point, but not before Matt petted a wild horse. After finding a dock, a man working the nearby restaurant bar approached and then served us margaritas and beer. I swam in the turquoise water and tanned, Matt back-flipped, and we had a grand ol’ time. He had to pry me away several hours later when it was time to leave!
Guatemala City
The next day we flew to Guatemala City, where we had a five hour layover before our departure to El Salvador. We decided to Uber to the city center, which unfortunately turned out to be quite disappointing and a bit unsettling. We did, however, find a good brunch spot, and I bought my favorite souvenir of the whole trip: a beautiful, hand-painted ukulele for only $3!
The 8 days in Guatemala comprise one of my favorite vacations to-date. I know Matt was a big part of that (first international trip with a boyfriend!), but I also know that it’s because Guatemala is an amazingly special place. I felt safe, welcomed, entertained, and impressed while there. “Guat-ever” you do, make sure you visit at some point in your life! <3
Your trip with Matt sounds fantastic!! Of course our family trip to Costa Rica was the best…… Love your stories, your love of travel and adventures! Not to long ago you didn’t like to fly… now look at all the great experiences that you have had! Many more to come…