You can’t leave Antigua without taking a trek up one of the volcanoes and there are tour operators on every corner trying to sell you some sort of deal. We had heard through other travellers that the Acatenango two day sunrise trek was the best and naively did very little research before booking the trip. We saw the trip advertised all over the city with prices ranging from US$90 to as little at 200Q. We ended up booking through our hotel with a tour company called Sin Limitless Travel for 300Q per person. Our advice if you are planning on doing this trip is to do research beforehand as you will see from our experience this can dramatically affect your experience of the trip.
It was 8pm on the night before we were due to begin the trek and we were getting our things prepared. We had no idea what to expect as the guy we booked the tour through spoke very little English. Luckily for us Karl decided to look on the internet to see what we needed to bring. The reviews shocked us. We had packed small day bags expecting our ‘all inclusive’ trip to include food water and all the camping gear. It turns out that not all the tours are the same and on most you are expected to bring your own water and are expected to carry your own camping gear. After a painful telephone conversation with the tour operator we found that this was indeed the case. We needed to bring four liters of water and a bag big enough to carry a sleeping bag, tent and mat. It was a good job we found this out as we were about to turn up with a small day bag and no water.
As we boarded the bus in the morning it soon became apparent that the other people on the trip had not been given the message. We watched people board with small day packs, sandshoes, and with little or no water. Another important factor which the tour operator fails to brief people on is the fact the volcano reaches a height of 3,976m at a height when it will be both freezing cold and the altitude can have severe effects on people. Instead they hand out bottles of rum for us to drink at the top!
I’m begining to get slightly concerned, a lot of the people in our group are young travellers, they don’t seem to have been given any information, they have little clothes, and they are being sent up to almost 4000m with a bottle of rum. This does not seem sensible.
I try to reassure myself that people do this every day, it can’t be that bad. The other people on the bus begin to realise they may be in the shit as they begin handing out huge sleeping bags, tents and mats. One girl had actually brought a shoulder bag and hula hoops on the trek, I’m not sure where she thought she was going. With no way of fitting these additional items into most people’s bags the guides conveniently offer to sell people bigger bags if they need them, but as our group consists of over 30 people they soon run out of these so people are forced to attach the items to their small bags using pieces of string.
We were lucky that we had done some research and brought our bigger bags on the trip which could fit everything in. The problem I had was that, along with 4 litres of water, food and several layers of clothes I couldn’t actually lift my bag and only just about managed to hurl it onto my back as we began to hike.
The walk is relentlessly uphill, as you would expect from a volcano trek, but the first section is particularly steep. I struggle as each step on the rocky ground takes me two steps up and one step down. Within 10 minutes I realise there is no way I can carry this bag to the top. I spot that one of the girls doesn’t have a bag. It turns out there is an option to pay to put the bag onto a horse for an additional 200Q. This may seem an obscene amount of money considering the whole trip cost 300Q but it is the best £18 I have spent. Although I later realise this is only for one way and have to pay again to have the bag taken back down.
Free of my 7 stone load I am able to enjoy the walk which is still strenuous even without carrying anything. I watch as people struggle up the path, dragging tents along the ground beside them. It seems some people have just now realised what they have signed themselves up for.
The guides that take us up the mountain are friendly enough but they don’t speak any English and I’m pretty sure they aren’t first aid trained. Thankfully we all make it safely to camp. Although as Karl powered up with his huge bag the altitude had started to effect his head and make him nauseous.
We arrive at camp just below the summit in the middle of a cloud so we weren’t even rewarded with a view. The sun goes down and the temperature is beginning to drop. We are well over 3000m and it’s getting chilly. This becomes more of an issue for the two German guys who have only brought shorts, t-shits, a light jacket and a thin blanket. They are forced to wear their sleeping bags as they huddle by the fire.
We crack on with making our tents. On the bus we had been told we were given a four man tent to share with another couple from Holland. When we begin to unfold the tent it quickly becomes obvious that this is a two man tent and instead of a rain cover they have provided us with a sheet of tarpaulin. I’m less than impressed. But apparently shouting and swearing in English to the Spanish speaking guides will get you nowhere. As I being moving mine and Karl’s stuff in the tent claiming it for ourselves, Karl and the guy from Holland manage to inform the guides that we have a problem. The result is one of the guides has to forfeit his bed for the night and we are left with the tarpaulin tent.
Other peoples tents are just as bad providing no protection if it begins to rain. Some people tell horror stories of other groups whose tents flooded and all their clothes were soaked. This would have been extremely dangerous considering the freezing temperatures outside.
Thankfully the clouds cleared and we were able to catch a glimpse of the breathtakingly beautiful views of the volcanoes with Antigua and Guatemala City nestled below. Once clear you can see for miles. We can also now appreciate how close we are to the active volcano Fuego which looks a stone's throw away. It provides us with an awesome show of lava being thrown into the air and then gushing down the side solidifying as the roaring sounds echo through the hills making us fully appreciate the power of the earth on which we stand.
We eat our noodles by the fire watching other groups dine on tortillas, salad and meat but manage to make the best of the situation by roasting marshmallows. A lot of the group drink the rum. We are clearly getting sensible in our old age as we stick to the hot chocolate.
In our tent I wear all the clothes I have brought and get into the sleeping bag and I am still cold. I can only imagine what the others, which have a lot less than me, be must be feeling. The best quote of the trip comes from a guy who shouts “do you think we can ask the guides if we can move the tents closer to the lava?”
I sleep surprisingly well only waking up a few times in a panic thinking I could hear it rain. Thankfully it didn’t. Karl on the other hand has a sleepless night and looks unimpressed when the guides get us up at 4.30am to hike to the top for sunrise.
As we get up it seems the lack of clothes and possibly the effect of the rum is preventing some of the group even attempting the top. One guy who began the hike in a second hand pair of Oasis trainers is forced to say at the camp as the sole of his shoe has fell off, another is using a towel as a make shift skirt as he only has shorts.
In the last of the night’s shadow, guided by torch light we begin storming up the mountain and I struggle to catch my breath and begin to feel sick. The path is steep, its dark and the ground is like sand. Picture walking up sand dunes at altitude and you will get an idea of how hard it is..
After an hour the sun begins to rise over Guatemala City, clouds patiently wait below us clinging to the volcano and the first glimpses of the new day colour the sky an awesome orange.
It is a strenuous 90 minute hike to the top. Some people don’t make it and at some points I don’t think I can either but with Karl’s words of encouragement we reach the summit. Tears being to well up as I take in the spectacular view. This only lasts a second as the clouds soon come in and the icy winds cause my fingers to throb painfully. This soon becomes too much to bear and although I would have loved to stay to see an eruption from the top I am forced to go back down.
Going back down is easier although the ground is extremely slippery. After we pack up camp we begin the decent. It is on the way down that we can truly appreciate the height we have reached as we passed through four micro ecosystems including alpine and cloud forests.
After falling over several times on the way down we reach the bottom, battered and bruised but glad to be in one piece. Apart from the fact we could well have died on the volcano, the experience was truly spectacular and the views were undoubtably some of the best we will ever see. It was a shame that the lack of information and preparation meant the trip was more difficult that it needed to be as well as potentially being dangerous.
Our advice to any other people doing the trip would be to do plenty of research beforehand. It may well pay off to go for a more expensive tour. Make sure you pack plenty of warm clothes, water and snacks. Wear sensible comfortable shoes and check the tents you are provided with are adequate before you begin. Other than that, it is a hard hike, but well worth the effort for this once in a lifetime experience.
