La Antigua Guatemala

It was clear that I would stay in Antigua a little longer, because my bank had to send me a new debit card since the old one was blocked due to skimming (which I didn't know anything about). It took eight days, but it was fine because constantly moving and sleeping in different places can be exhausting over time. Besides, the city is beautiful and there is a lot to do here. For example, climbing volcanoes...

In Guatemala, there are three active volcanoes. I already saw the Santiaguito in Xela, and the other two, Pacaya and Fuego, are in the vicinity of Antigua. Fuego erupted in June, causing over 160 people to lose their lives in a lava and debris avalanche, and many are still missing. That's why it wasn't clear if I could even come here. However, the city itself was only marginally affected (by ash) and people are happy when tourists return because many depend on them.

The first few days, I explored the city. It is a very well-preserved colonial city. Located at the foot of the Agua volcano, it was once the capital of Central America for the Spaniards. But because it was destroyed multiple times by volcanic eruptions and especially earthquakes, it was decided to relocate the capital to present-day Guatemala City. Nevertheless, the city was repeatedly rebuilt. Today, however, there are still several church ruins throughout the city that testify to the disasters. One of them is the ruins of the San Francisco monastery, the headquarters of the Franciscans. Beautiful flower gardens were created among the ruins.

The first excursion took place early in the morning to the Pacaya volcano, which is currently erupting, but without major eruptions, just with lava flowing out and down the slopes. However, not much happened that morning. Some lava blocks rolled down the mountain, and there were some spots where the lava emerged on the mountain's flanks. But for most of the tourists, this didn't matter. The highlight of the tour for them was roasting marshmallows over the hot lava flows. Not completely satisfied, I returned to Antigua.

But the next highlight was already coming up, namely the ascent of the 3975m high Acatenango volcano, right next to Fuego. Since this is the main attraction of the area and is often fully booked, the tents for overnight stays are already permanently installed at around 3500m above sea level. We were lucky, the ascent took place in the clouds, which usually form here in the afternoon. As soon as we arrived at the camp, it started raining.
The weather improved for the sunset, and we had a wonderful view of the neighboring volcanoes Fuego and Agua in the evening sky. Before the major eruption in June, Fuego practically shot lava into the night sky every night, but since then the pressure has subsided and there are only occasional smaller eruptions of smoke and ash. We went to bed early because we wanted to be on the summit for sunrise.
We started at 4:00 AM and arrived at the summit an hour later. Unfortunately, there were some clouds on the horizon, but the sunrise with the conical-shaped Agua volcano in the foreground was still very beautiful. And other travelers have reported that it was completely cloudy for them. So we were lucky 😄 After the descent and breakfast at the base camp, I returned to Antigua, where I used the next few days for rest and further city exploration.

However, since my debit card still hadn't arrived and I wasn't completely satisfied with my expedition to Pacaya, I decided to do the tour again. It was also not expensive, only about 12 Swiss francs. And it was worth it. in the late afternoon and with darkness falling, the lava flows, which were now much stronger, were wonderful to see. Unfortunately, it started raining heavily, which motivated the majority of the group to start the descent again. That's the problem when you're with a bunch of weaklings. Nevertheless, the sight was fantastic. When we arrived back in the village, the flows were clearly visible in the dark, and the lava in the crater illuminated the clouds. So I was able to cross off Pacaya in a positive way.

And finally, the bank card arrived with the courier, and I was able to make my way to the coast to ride some waves 🏄