Erupting Volcanoes, Mayan Ruins, and (randomly) loads of Italian Aperitivos 🌋🗿🫒

Our first stop in Guatemala was Antigua - a lovely colonial town that is the country's major tourist hub. We spent a couple of days chilling and finding a tour company to sign up for the 2-day-1 night Volcano Acatenango hike with. For all you social media lovers - this is the volcano perpendicular to the Fuego volcano - the one you’ve probably seen videos of that is constantly erupting lava!

We thought climbing Cotopaxi was hard until we decided to climb these two volcanoes…

Volcanoes Acatenango & Fuego 🌋

At 3,780 meters, the volcanos were nearly 1,500 meters lower than Cotopaxi, making us assume it would be a way easier hike. Since we had come from way higher elevations in Ecuador, Sam and I were more prepared for the altitude change vs the other 15 people in our group. We found the Acatenango part of the hike completely doable, despite hiking uphill in volcanic ash and dust for 6 hours straight. 

By 4:30 pm, we reached our base camp. We settled into our wooden cabins for the night and admired the already erupting Volcano Fuego from afar. Fuego pops off about every 20 minutes, some eruptions more dramatic than others, but it’s fascinating every time! 

Once you arrive at base camp, you can opt-in to pay $25 more to hike Fuego for sunset. Most people do this hike to admire the erupting lava volcano up close (you can only see the lava at night!). This portion of the hike was the real challenge. The hike to Fuego starts with a steep descent down Acatenango for ~30 minutes before a steeper hike back up Fuego for another ~45 mins. By the second half of the hike, our stamina was wearing off. The temperature quickly dropped with stronger winds as we ascended higher and higher. 

Our group was the first ones up, so we enjoyed golden hour above the clouds while gawking at Fuego’s eruptions without the crowds. The sunset was like nothing I’ve seen before. We had 360-degree views above the clouds; the sky changed from shades of fiery orange to cotton candy skies. It was incredible to see Fuego, Acatenango, and other nearby volcanos sit above the clouds all in one glance. 

As the sun set, we saw some small lava eruptions but couldn’t stand the wind much longer so our group began the descent. By this point, we had to climb back down the steep and slippery rock/ sand in the pitch black. We managed to do it while slipping and falling multiple times, but morale was pretty low. Our legs were officially shot, our mental strength was gone, and all we wanted was a warm fire and food. Finally, after about an hour and a half and multiple stops in between, we made it back to base camp. 

Our camp was perfectly situated to see Fuego’s eruptions all night, and every time it shot out lava, the group never lost enthusiasm while ooooing and awing in unison. The guides cooked us spaghetti bolognese, which our Sicilian friend, Nico, refused to eat because the pasta was overcooked, while the group enjoyed boxed wine and smores (I even taught everyone how to roast the perfect golden marshmallow!!). Everyone turned in about 9 pm in preparation for a 4:30 am sunrise wake-up. There was an additional sunrise hike we could have done to summit Acatenango, but the group decided to stay in bed and admire the sunrise from our cabins. 

The night was rough, Sam struggled with altitude sickness and had hot sweats/ chills the whole time. The volcano was also terrifyingly loud with loud BOOMS that shook the ground. We were still exhausted by sunrise but managed to watch the last lava eruptions and cloud layers from bed.  

The hike down was easy. By the end, everyone was FILTHY. There was no running water at base camp so we couldn't wash our hands or bodies from the dirt until we got back to town. 

Despite the difficulty, it was 1 million % worth it. The views and scenery were truly breathtaking, but as always it’s all about the people we met and shared the experience with together 🙂 This is where we met Nico from Palermo and Izzy and Neal, a couple from London. We ended up traveling for the next 2 and a bit weeks together! (More to come below on that)

That afternoon, we booked a 3-hour bus to Lake Atitlan which was a poor decision since we couldn't shower before (we felt bad for the other passengers lol). We managed to check into our hotel, shower, and enjoy a sunset beer to reward ourselves for the hard hike we’d completed earlier that day. 

Lake Atitlan 🚤🐟

Lake Atitlan is gaining tons of popularity on social media because of its serene views and resemblance to Lake Como. Tbh, Lake Atitlan doesn’t compare to Lake Como but we made it a running joke since Nico was searching for an Italian aperitivo and freshly made pasta every day, even though he’s only traveling away from Italy for 3 weeks!!!

We got some weird vibes from the lake. Yes, it’s beautiful, but the locals seem not to want tourists there while expats are money grabbing and purchasing up land quickly. None of the locals have smiles on their faces or care to learn about you (which is fine!) but the level of hospitality was missing for an “up-and-coming touristy hotspot”. One morning, we left the touristy strip of Santa Cruz and ventured up the mountain to where the locals live (and where the only ATM is located). Up there, the market was bleak, with flies all over the half-edible produce and meats, the vendors looked miserable with no customers. It was a weird contrast, and unfortunately, the harsh reality that the locals are poor and struggling, while expats and tourists are encroaching on their land with trendy cafes and gentrification.

The Airbnb host we stayed with was a looney German Guatemalan woman who also only let us have friends in the common area if they bought drinks from her makeshift bar. We also met an American family on one of the water taxis (lanchas) who invited the boys to play football (soccer) on their brand-new private football pitch that sits directly on the lake. The woman said locals come to play pick-up games every Sunday at their house and Sam was itching to play some footie. 

 The boys played with local kids at first, then more experienced players came. The crazy part is, halfway through playing, she came down to tell the boys they had to pay $3 to play. And she charged the locals the same!!!! It wasn't about the dollar amount, but it felt so weird that she had invited our group as guests yet proceeded to charge the boys AND the locals the same price to play on the only football field in the town (especially since $3 is a pretty high fee for locals). Bizarre. 

We went on the lanchas to explore a few other towns. San Juan is the only town that is integrating tourism well. Another town, San Marcos, was overrun by hippie expats participating in yoga retreats, cacao ceremonies, and psychedelics. It made no sense to me how it became such a hippie hotspot, the locals and hippies don’t interact at all, and there’s even a bit of a sinister feeling in this town ( read here about Nancy Ng, a girl from California who went missing while kayaking on her yoga retreat back in October..). 

TLDR- the lake is gorgeous but the lake is weird. Also, the lake isn’t sanitary at all, you can’t dunk your head into the water bc it’s too dirty and when we paddle-boarded around, we were constantly hitting dead fish floating on the surface. Don’t believe everything you see on social media!!!!! ‘

Side note: this was just our experience. We met other people who had a lovely time there, especially at the Spanish schools which Lake Atitlan is known for.

Sumac Champey 🌿

From the lake, we had a long journey of two 12-hour travel days to reach northern Guatemala. We divided the trip by stopping in Sumac Champay, home to beautiful natural pools inside the jungle, and stayed at a remote hostel for a few days. There, I suffered from horrible stomach issues (I’m blaming the “filtered” water) and we chilled for 3 nights with our new travel crew. Sumac Champay has become a hub for backpackers who travel to/from Mexico, Belize, or Honduras. Here we met Natalie from Liverpool who joined the group for the next adventures. 

Flores & Tikal 🌸🗿🐒

After another 12-hour journey, we made it to Flores, the most authentic town we visited in Guatemala. It’s close to Tikal, home to some of the largest Mayan ruins, and El Mirador, the largest pyramid in the world (way higher than the Egyptian pyramids!!!). Only 30% of the ruins have been excavated in Tikal but you can see tons of peaks in the jungle with ruins buried underneath them.

I was still recovering from food poisoning so the humidity and long day tired me out, but Sam and the rest of the group loved exploring the ruins and jungles. The jungle also has howler monkeys that make the SCARIEST noises (it reminded me of Jurassic Park), while you're walking through the trees. Sam tried convincing the group into a 5-day trek to El Mirador, but thankfully everyone was done hiking by this point! 

Flores is a small island within a lake that feels like a mini pueblo with brightly painted colonial-style buildings. Besides Tikal, there wasn't much more to explore in the surrounding areas. We enjoyed sunsets on the water, rope swinging into the water at a popular lakeside bar, and once again, searching for Italian aperitivos with Nico (this time successfully!!). 

After 3 nights in Flores, we were once again off to our next adventure but this time, we convinced the crew to join us- Belize here we comeee!!! 

P.S. If you made it this far and you’re friends with Casey Chiavello, wish her a happy 30th bday!!!! HBD CASEYYY ILYYYY!!!!!🥳🥳🥳