Caelynn and I decided we wanted to take each other on a surprise trip before the end of 2019. The rules were we had to take the other person to a country they’d never been to before, it would last about seven days, and it had to be a surprise, no matter how much the other person begged to know. My surprise got ruined the second we got to the airport because we were running extremely late, the front desk was closed, and we had to plead with the agents at Avianca to print our boarding passes and let us sprint to our gate (shoutout to TSA pre-check).
Even though the surprise was ruined, it was late at night, and we were a little bit hungry and exhausted, my excitement was piqued because I knew we were about to have some fun in a new country. A friend of mine visited last year and posted pictures from beautiful little towns, explosive volcanoes, and a huge tranquil lake so I asked for some advice and he came through big time with his highlights from his trip. Guatemala is a beautiful and geographically diverse country, meaning it would take way more than just eight days to see it all but, with our condensed timeline, I knew we could fit in the mainstays of his trip by hitting Antigua, Volcan Acatanengo, and Lake Atitlan.
Antigua
We caught a red-eye from LAX to Guatemala City and landed right around six in the morning. I’ve always been a big advocate for public transportation but something about renting a car and driving through a foreign country is so much fun to me. We picked up our rental car (booked through Expedia for $265 after taxes and fees) and set off for Antigua right away, just over an hour drive. After stopping for breakfast on the way, we got to Antigua and were overcome by exhaustion so we decided to take it easy and relax for the entire day. Fortunately for us, our hotel Casa Santa Rosa ($146/night) let us check in early so we could get comfortable and lay down for a bit. I was surprised to see hotels being as expensive as they were. This boutique hotel was quaint and comfortable but for the price tag I expected a bit more.
Over the next few days we explored the beautiful town of Antigua. There is an abundance of cool little cafes and restaurants that will keep you interested and make you not want to fill up on food or stick around in one place for too long because you’ll want to see as much as you can. A few recommendations that were passed along to us were Cafe Sky, Cafe No Se, and Samsara to name a few. Our favorite dinner restaurant, perhaps of the whole trip, was an awesome spot perched on top of a big hill on the East side of town called El Tenedor del Cerro (our dinner for two came out to $78).
Beyond the restaurants and colorfully painted homes and buildings, there’s a few interesting places to hike around to. We spent some time around the Santa Catalina Arch, a beautiful yellow arch with Volcan de Agua perched in the background. It’s here that the city seems to be centered around and there’s a lot of unique shops and cafes that you could spend hours popping in and out of. The hike to Cerro de la Cruz from there takes about 20-30 minutes and give you a birds eye view of the town with a beautiful stone cross in the foreground. It’s a good way to get active and see a bit of the town from a different perspective while you’re at it. Caelynn also took the liberty of booking us massages at Casa Santa Domingo which is perhaps the nicest hotel in all of Antigua. I didn’t include these massages in the price breakdown because it was her doing and I thought it’d skew the numbers unfairly but the price came to roughly ~$140/person for a 90 minute massage but it was a lovely way to end our few days in Antigua. The property itself is vast and beautiful and being there made me regret not booking our stay with them.
Antigua is a wonderful town that’s rich with charm and a must-see for those visiting Guatemala. I think we did it perfectly by staying in town for three days. Given its size you can see most of it in a short amount of time. Surely there’s more we could have done but I think, given our timeline, we got just the right amount out of our visit to this quaint town, rich with history and delicious food
The Volcanoes
The inspiration for this trip came from one thing and one thing only; volcanoes. Guatemala has SO many volcanoes, something I didn’t realize until I saw it for myself. I’ve been on a few volcanoes in my life in Colorado, Hawaii, and South America but they’ve all been dormant and thus feel like just regular mountains. That’s not the case in Guatemala. Sure, there are quite a few dormant volcanoes but the activity of those that are still alive and well is something you have to see to believe and experience firsthand.
Volcán Pacaya
Our main excursion for the trip was to summit Volcan Acatenango but I wanted us to be prepared for that big trek so a few days before I drove us out to Volcan Pacaya, about 75 minutes outside of Antigua. The route I took us on to get to Pacaya induced a bit of concern with Caelynn. It was through small towns, winding dirt roads, and down into some questionable areas but that’s part of the fun! The hike itself was pretty easy; about 4 hours in total and 4-5 miles round trip. This was the perfect introduction to the sights and journey we were about to undertake in a few days. If you only have time for a quick day hike while you’re there, I encourage you to check it out! Entrance fee is about $6/person and you are required to hire a guide that adds another $26 (plus tip) to the bill. I was annoyed at having to hire a guide at first but he ended up being super helpful and informative and it was a fun opportunity to practice my Spanish.
Volcán acatenango
The hike to the top of Volcán Acatenango can be made in one day but most travelers extend the trip over two days and one night up at a basecamp to summit the volcano in the morning. I booked our excursion through OX Expeditions, a local guide company that I heard good things about. First things first, OX holds a preliminary meeting the night before the journey to basecamp. It usually starts at 5pm at their hostel in Antigua and shouldn’t be missed if you plan on making it to the top with the group. We showed up a few minutes late but our guide filled us in on what we missed and we were good to go. OX is able to provide you with just about everything you’d need for the trip; backpack, warm layers, tent, sleeping bag and pad, and food/utensils. I brought my own 40L backpack for comfort purposes but elected to use their equipment for the rest of it. In hindsight, it would’ve been easy to pack my own tent and sleeping pad for the trip for added comfort and less weight to carry to basecamp but what was provided was perfectly adequate and got the job done just fine. In total, the night stay and the guided trip to the top of Acatenango cost $136/person and must be paid in cash by the end of the second day.
We stayed the night in the hostel the night before we all set out. I thought it would be a good idea to already be in the building and eliminate having to travel there in the morning to meet the group. My one grievance with OX was that I booked us a private room in the hostel that later was occupied so we were given a four bed dorm and a promise that we’d have it all to ourself. Surely enough they went against their word and booked another person in the room- something I’m totally fine with but I wanted Caelynn’s first hostel experience to be just her and I in a private room so she could sleep a little more comfortably. That aside, the process and stay with OX was as expected and just what it needed to be.
We set off the next morning around 8am for the trailhead of Acatenango. Our group was larger than normal, according to our guide, we had 16 people in total. Hiking with a group that large means you’re with people of varying skillsets and you’ll be moving a bit slower than normal. We made it from the trailhead to basecamp in about five hours, a pace faster than expected but we weren’t winning any speed records. In my pack I carried our tent, sleeping bag/pad, dinner, breakfast, warm clothes, and snacks for the next 24 hours. Also, don’t forget a headlamp (OX will provide one for you if you do)!
We were super fortunate to have the weather we did. It was warm but not too hot, cloudy at times but cleared often, clear skies at night and zero precipitation. The weather in Guatemala, especially around the volcanoes, can be hard to predict and the microclimates means you experience a big range as you hike up the volcano. All I brought for layers was a smartwool base, shell jacket, and fleece pull over. That was more than enough for me to hike in and had me sweating a bit at night.
The morning of day two is an early one if you plan on making it to the summit for sunrise. A 3:45am wake up call and a two hour hike to the summit is what it’ll take to get you there. A few of our group members stayed behind to sleep in but where’s the fun in that? The last 2 hours of this hike were probably the most challenging, a steep incline and loose skree the whole way up didn’t make it easy but made the accomplishment of reaching the top all the more fulfilling.
Volcán Fuego
For an extra $40 and about four hours more of your time, you can hike over to a knifes edge just bellow the active crater of Volcán Fuego. For anyone that makes the journey to basecamp of Acatenango, I strongly encourage you to make it just a bit further to this portion of Fuego. It’s such an unbelievable feeling to be so close to an active volcano that seems to have huge eruptions every 10 or so minutes. Be mindful that you’ll be hiking back to basecamp in the dark and you’ll be tired and cold so plan accordingly!
Volcán Fuego is the main event that makes this entire trek worthwhile. I have never seen anything like it in all the places I’ve traveled. This alone made the trip to Guatemala more than worth it. I can’t stress enough how cool it was to see huge pieces of molten rock ejected from the ground at high speed and 100’s of feet into the air. There aren’t many places in the world you can see this firsthand, let alone get as close as we did here!
Lake Atitlán
We got back into Antigua around noon on a Sunday and immediately set off for Lake Atitlán. From Antigua it’s about a two hour drive through winding roads and the beautiful Guatemalan countryside. The roads in Guatemala are a strange mixture of being very well maintained and then feeling like you’re driving over a perpetual speed bump. Traffic at times got pretty bad but overall the drive to Atitlán was smooth sailing.
We were blown away by how massive the lake is. There was no way we were going to see all of it in our 3 days there but that was ok because we were using this as a time of recovery from our big hike up Acatenango. I booked us a room in a wonderful little boutique hotel on the North East side of the lake, Casa Prana, that came out to $166/night. In order to get to the hotel, we had to park our car in a public lot and take their private boat about 15 minutes to entrance of Casa Prana. On the second night I booked us both a massage that came out to $80/person for just over an hour.
There’s so much to do in Lake Atitlán like hike Indians Nose, SUP at sunrise, kayak on the lake, parasail, the list goes on and on. We did none of those things. We spent most of our time relaxing at our hotel, exploring the small of Panajachel, and even took a helicopter ride to the black sand beaches on the Pacific coast. The lake is surrounded by so many cool little towns, each very unique and known for its individual qualities. Since the trip was coming to a close, this is where we bought a few souvenirs. I got myself a sweatshirt, hat, and magnet and Caelynn got a cool pair of super cozy sweatpants.
Our last day we moved hotels over to Casa Palopó for a change of scenery and to prepare for the long drive back to Guatemala City. This hotel was just as lovely as the one before it, the restaurant served delicious food, and we even got to take a private helicopter ride 30 minutes West to the Pacific coast (this was complimentary and not included in the price breakdown).
Final Thoughts
Guatemala is an incredible country that doesn’t get enough credit for its beauty, in my opinion. Like any developing country, it has its issues but our experience with it was nothing but wonderful. The people were almost always incredibly kind, the food was delicious, the roads and towns always felt safe. Safety was a concern Caelynn had but we never had any incidents to cause any worry.
Something of note; last year Volcán Fuego had its deadliest eruption since 1929 killing an estimated 200 people (according to Wikipedia). From what we gathered throughout the trip, this figure is drastically underreported. After speaking with locals and guide experts, the casualty count from that eruption is well over 2,000 people and thousands more displaced because of it. My take on it is that Guatemala is relying more and more on tourism, as it should, and it didn't want to be faced with more negative press than it was already dealing with. According to locals, the government did its best to hide the casualty rate by building large walls in front of the affected communities to stop travelers from being able to directly see the areas. Does this have any direct influence on our trip? Not really. But I think it’s something worth noting.
Caelynn’s Corner
For every trip Caelynn and I go on together we think it would be a fun and insightful addition to hear about her experience through her lens.
Before this trip, I knew very little about Guatemala. I’m happy I didn’t have time to research it beforehand because I get scared easily and sometimes put too much weight in other’s experiences or opinions. On the second to last day, I read an article that said Guatemala is one of the most dangerous countries. I never felt that way. Our entire time in this beautiful, unique country, I never once felt unsafe. That being said, we were definitely smart while we traveled.
The first thing I realized in Guatemala was that everyone was so, incredibly kind. If you make it to Guatemala, talk to the locals, everyone’s willing to help in whatever way they can. The second thing was how great the food was. We had a lot of suggestions, but we also went into random places we stumbled upon, and everything was great.
Climbing Volcano Pacaya and Fuego, I did have a slight fear about climbing active volcanos. We could see the lava erupting from the top and I wondered how safe it was to be so close. We spoke to different people about the mass casualty that happened last year when Fuego erupted. It was heartbreaking to hear about how many people lost their lives and how bodies are still missing. During these conversations we were able to see how much these people loved their country and their people.
Our first volcano was Pacaya. It was a good intro to the hike we would be doing two days later. It was steep, hot, and I struggled a little, but I’ve never experienced anything like it once we got to the top. We could see little streams of lava coming down, and in certain areas we could feel the heat from the magma. It was a very unique experience.
We replaced our cute, boutique hotel with a hostel. My first ever hostel experience... Never in my life did I think I’d be staying in a hostel. There’s a certain stigma that comes with hostels I think that mostly stems from fear. I was very fearful before getting there, however, it wasn’t nearly as bad as I had imagined. I never felt unsafe, which was my biggest concern. I told Dean I loved getting to meet so many different people from all over the world from such different backgrounds. He told me that’s exactly what hostels are. I learned to quickly appreciate that.
The next morning we set out for Acatenango. The climb itself was difficult, but not impossible. I struggled, but not having any weight on my back (thank you, Dean) made it immensely easier.
We made it to base camp in about four hours and an hour later we set off for Fuego. I had no idea that Fuego would be the most challenging part of the whole hike. Ten minutes in I wanted to turn back, but I stuck it out. It was difficult and sketchy at times, but once we got to the top all of my frustrations and fears went away. We were above the clouds and a few hundred feet from the eruptions. The second the sun set we could see the lava erupting from Fuego.
The next morning I stayed back while most people went to summit Acatenango. I’m happy I stayed back. It was early, it was cold, and some people said it was the most difficult part of the hike for them. A few hours later we started the hike back down, which was hard on my knees because it was so steep.
After the volcano, Dean drove us to Lake Atitlan. The area was beautiful. I was happy to be in a beautiful hotel with a king bed instead of sharing a twin in a communal living space.
The next day we explored Pijanchel, which was the most touristy part we had been in. I loved that they weren’t many tourists around compared to most places I’ve traveled. It was nice to be able to immerse ourselves in the culture as much as we could.
Guatemala has quickly become one of my favorite places I’ve ever been to. The people, the food, the different landscapes, all made for an incredible trip.