Guatemala: The journey begins...

... in Guatemala, more specifically in Antigua, a quaint, historic town surrounded by volcanoes.

After our relaxed arrival (surprisingly fit after 28 hours of travel time) and the long-awaited reunion with Matze and Mario, we couldn't sit still for long. Exploring the city, enjoying the first beer in the sun, and off we went, starting our journey with the first two volcanoes. After the warm-up tour on the first (smaller) volcano, we ventured, with full family power, to the highest volcano in the area, the Acatenango. With the overzealous 'vamos amigos' from the tour guide (it was an ascent of 1,600 meters), a hefty nighttime thunderstorm in the soon-to-be-soaked tent at 3,600 meters above sea level, and temperatures near 0 °C, we really didn't expect that at the start of our 2-day tour. However, the phenomenal view of the spewing volcano opposite with the glowing red lava at night and the beautiful landscape more than made up for all the hardships... Even getting up at 03:30 am to climb the 3,900 meter summit in time for the sunrise (in zero visibility and cold due to the thunderstorm) somehow belonged to the experience.

After these exciting 4 days, we were looking forward to our new destination, Lake Atitlan, where the paths of the initial crew unfortunately separated again.