Acatenango and Fuego Volcano 🇬🇹

After diligently sitting in school and sitting on our white asses, it was time for a physical and mental challenge. We longed for an adventure. It should be the 3rd largest volcano 🌋 in Guatemala. The Acatenango is just under 4,000 meters high and can be climbed with an overnight stay. We left behind about 2,000 meters of altitude. From Antigua you could see it wonderfully. Behind the Acatenango is the Fuego. This volcano is still very active and you can even see it erupting from our hostel in Antigua.

We chose the most reliable organization Wicho & Charlie's. This was a vegan and sustainable tour, which was a bit more expensive than the others, but should also be well organized. I cannot judge whether this was only marketing. In any case, we had more shepherds, as many tops to borrow as we wanted, no tents but so-called cabins, and thicker sleeping bags. We felt very comfortable with our decision when booking.

We were kind enough to leave our backpacks / stuff in our hostel, so we only had 4 liters of water (one was for cooking) and a few change of clothes in the morning at 7 o'clock with our tour guide.

My anticipation increased even more on the way there. An active volcano, where is something like this possible, when will I ever experience something like this again, will it even happen again, how strenuous will it be? All questions that went through my head. Furthermore, my plan was to hike in my sneakers and jeans. Does this work?

When we arrived at Wicho & Charlie's, we were first sobered up. Unfortunately, we didn't have a confirmed booking, so we only had the option to book the private cabin for an additional charge of 25€ each. We quickly decided on it because we were already ready to go and the weather conditions were perfect. Now there was a small breakfast for strength, we received our lunch, and we could fill a bag with nuts and snacks. Then the doors for the clothing distribution were opened and it was a matter of quickly finding something suitable and warm. There was a feeling of fear in the air that you wouldn't get enough. That's why everyone stormed in like the Germans in front of Aldi in the morning when there's something cool in the flyer. I was right there at the front. 😂

At the top, it's supposed to be very windy and cold, up to minus 10 degrees. Now I was torn. On the one hand, I know that I don't get cold quickly and I want to take as little luggage as possible. On the other hand, you don't want to freeze up there either. I still had a long-sleeved lycra, sweatpants, the shirt I was wearing, and my jeans with me. I decided to put on a thick hat, neck scarf, gloves, fleece sweater, and a windbreaker. All of these parts were free. I briefly considered whether I should borrow running poles or proper hiking pants. I decided against it.

Now we were loaded into a shuttle bus and taken to the entrance of the national park in about 1.5 hours. Quick trip to the toilet and off we go. I estimate that my backpack weighed just under 10 kilos.

The ascent took 4.5 hours. Thank God we had nice weather and no rain until the base camp. It got cloudy in between, but that wasn't a problem. During the ascent, the vegetation kept changing. You could really perceive the different zones. Down below, it felt more like being in the jungle. Further up, I felt like I was in the Fangorn forest. Gray veils hung from the trees, catching the mist. It was a mystical feeling that overwhelmed me. Even higher up, the plants and trees got smaller or there were more shrubs, but this was almost at the top. In between, you could see the black volcanic stone everywhere.

Every now and then, it felt like there was thunder in the distance. I realized relatively early on that it wasn't thunder, but eruptions of the Fuego. I had never felt anything like this before in my life. The power of nature, the exposure, the involuntary time intervals between each eruption.

This feeling drove me on to see the Fuego from the base camp of the Acatenango.

I was always at the front and we had a very good speed. So we arrived at the camp tired but still within a reasonable range. We still had a great view of the erupting Fuego. We always saw the plumes of smoke, heard the bubbling, and slowly but surely the mist solidified.

We quickly set up our sleeping arrangements and noticed that it started to rain. Since the plan was to climb to the top of the Fuego at 6 p.m., we decided to bridge the rain with a power nap. After 20 minutes, we unfortunately had to realize that it was still raining. We gathered in the kitchen tent and talked actively with the other hikers. We all gathered from all walks of life in a yellow tent decorated with countless national flags, drinking hot chocolate, eating marshmallows, surrounded by mist and rain. Unfortunately, the bad weather accompanied us the whole night and the next morning, so we couldn't hike to the top of the Acatenango or the Fuego. In the night, we all woke up as the eruptions of the neighboring volcano shook our ground from time to time. Despite the fog, we could see the eruption relatively well at night and we saw lava rocks shooting into the air. However, since we wanted to go to the Fuego as close to the crater as possible, we decided to stay on the volcano for another day and night, hoping for a favorable time slot to see, smell, feel, and hear the forces of nature up close. The entire next day was also foggy, so we occupied ourselves with meditation, Jenga, deep conversations, fears, push-ups, and many other distractions.

At 12 o'clock, a mountain guide came and brought us food. The same meal as the day before. We all devoured it immediately. Our bodies still had to compensate for the hike of the previous day. I was glad that I didn't have any muscle soreness. However, we all vegetated in our worn clothes and I seriously considered whether I should treat myself to a shower at the next opportunity. In the end, I decided against it. It was cold and I didn't have a towel to dry myself with.

The tour for the next day reached us at 3:30 p.m. The day should repeat itself just like the previous one. We had little hope left to be able to climb the Fuego and went to bed. We set an alarm for 2:45 a.m. and hoped that we could tackle the hike at the break of day. And indeed, the mountain guides agreed and everyone put on all the clothes they had with great anticipation in the deepest night and in light fog. The hike took about 1.5 hours in complete darkness, which we illuminated with our headlamps. The path led us over narrow hiking trails past deep ravines, over makeshift wooden bridges from the base camp downhill and then uphill again to the side volcano. When we were only 300 meters away from the active volcano crater, we stayed there for a good half hour. In freezing wind without moving, we realized how cold it was and why we had dressed so warmly. I was very pleased with my choice and enjoyed the silence, the unreal ambiance, and the fresh breeze. Since the clouds move relatively quickly up there at icy heights, our guide hoped for a short clearing of the weather conditions. Unfortunately, this was not granted to us, so we were satisfied with the hike and the physical experience and hiked back to the base camp. When we arrived there, the weather suddenly cleared up and we could at least see the volcano in its full size again. After a burrito for breakfast, we headed down. Laura, one of the fellow sufferers who also stayed another night, and I practically ran down the volcano, so our shepherd had to run after us to slow us down so that we could wait for the rest. After about two hours of descent, we reached the entrance or exit of the national park, sweaty and satisfied. Even in the following days, we raved about this incredible experience over and over again and were completely satisfied with the events. This painfully reminded us of our muscle soreness, which accompanied us for three more days. Through this experience, both Tino and I have developed a real desire for the next hike.

A big thanks goes out to Clara. Here you can see a few pictures when the view is perfect. One week later, this was taken by a friend.