AI CULTURA 2024 Central America & Colombia: DAYS 30-31 (4-5 February 2024) GUATEMALA SPECIAL POST: Climbing to the Summit of Acatenango Volcano.

Our climb to the summit of Acatenango Volcano just outside Antigua was easily the highlight of our journey to date…

It all began with high drama. 830am and no van. Antonia was frantic. This climb was her dream. I found Aquilino and he called the tour company. Turns out the driver went to the wrong hotel. There are two hotels called La Baritos. I even sent them the correct address. But this is Golfin luck. Lucky for us the van was still in town and rerouted to pick us up. Antonia was happy again. We met Maria, Cherry and Tracey from Costa Rica on the van. We hit it off immediately. Cherry spoke English so it was game on. The trailhead for this climb is in a little village called La Soledad, 31km from our hotel. We arrived 10am and the place was crawling with climbers. Most were returning from the day before. We met our guide Saul at his home near the trailhead. He gave us jackets, gloves and bennies and I also upgraded to larger backpack to fit everything for Antonia and myself.

Our climb began at 1030am. The first 1km was straight uphill. Steep and only course basalt sand. At this point I realised two things. I should have brought my hiking boots and there were too many other hikers. I was wearing my runners, which have no tread – they are designed for maximum cushion and roads only. I did not bring my boots because this was the only climb in 2.5mths and I was out of room so I would have to sling them on my backpack. I would pay dearly for this decision on later on… The high number and age gap of climbers told me that this climb was not going to be that hard. On this point I was right. I normally pick hard climbs because I like to be isolated with no other people at the summit. This was not to be but we made it work.

Cherry was not feeling well suspecting food poisoning the night before so our ascent to base camp was slow. No worries because I had not set out to break records on this climb – I wanted Antonia to make it and be happy. She trekked in Nepal to heights around 2500m and a volcano climb in Bali with her day to 1500m so this was going to be her first serious climb to a serious altitude. Lucky for her, the trailhead started at 2450m and our overnight base camp was at 3500m, so the first day would see us climb 1050m. Our target was 7km to base camp. The weather was terrific. Sunny and warm with a slight breeze and no wind. That first kilometre turned out to be the steepest to base camp. We ate it up thanks to the Cliff Gels I brought – same ones as the New York Marathon, packed with Caffeine, Carbs and Amino Acids. The second and third kilometres were undercover through bush and trees with lots of curves but the ground was less sandy with more tree roots. Antonia was doing well. We reached the halfway point 3 elapsed hours after leaving with 1.5hrs of actual trekking time. There were more breaks than usual to give Cherry a chance to deal with her illness. We were given lunch at the guides house – a delicious burrito filled with everything a climber needs – chicken, veggies and corn with salsa. Hit the spot. We followed with desert – a chocolate and peppermint Cliff Bar. The fourth kilometre left the pine forest and cloud line behind. Terrific views of Agua Volcano and the surrounding villages. At the end of the fourth kilometre we were greeted by our destination and the reason we had come – FUEGO VOLCANO. It was close. You can see it from Antigua but here it was just a few kilometres away and gigantic. Just seconds after laying eyes on it, Fuego erupted !!! Just a pile of smoke but we could actually hear it !!! At this point we got so excited that the fifth kilometre just flew by despite its steepness. By this stage I was working twice as hard as my fellow climbers because I had no grip. My fault. I simply explained it away as a handicap so I could stay level with my fellow climbers. Truth is, if I had brought my hikers, I would be miles ahead and this would be no fund for Antonia. Excuses. The final two kilometres were dead easy since they were level at 3500m – same height as our base camp – the idea was to take us from the front of Acatenango around to its side along a ridgeline.

Our base camp was a dream. Unreal. It is not a single camp but a hill with lots of terraces and each one has separate cabins with outside loos. Ours was well away from the others with clear uninterrupted (no trees) views of the entire front face of Fuego Volcano, which was now level with us. We arrived at our overnight home at 1530, exactly 5 elapsed hours after starting but with 2.5hrs of actual trekking giving us an average trekking time of 2.8km/h, which is slow. No matter. Antonia was overwhelmed with making it this far and with the super clear weather and views of an erupting volcano just in front of us. And I mean erupting. As soon as we arrived and downed our packs we hear a boom and a hiss. We turn around and there is a big plume of dark great smoke emerging from the top of Fuego and starting to spread into the clouds. What a sight. The pictures below tell it all. After a quick unpack we sat for the next three hours on our private terrace watching the clouds pass by an erupting Fuego. Amazing. We could even see it from inside our cabin, which was sized to fit 10 sleeping bags, sided by side on mattresses for maximum warmth. Wooden walls, colourbond steel roof and a long one-way tinted window. Quite modern. The loo was a few metres away with proper toilet seat above a huge hole.

Just after sunset at 630pm the temperature dropped to 10C and the REAL show started. Lava !!! It turns out that when Fuego erupts every 10-20 minutes there is lava expelled in most of the eruptions. You just can’t see it during the day but bloody hell – it is amazing at night !!! We noticed two types of eruption. Smaller ones that are more frequent – 10 to 15min apart and then the big ones that are 30-60min apart. These ones spew lave down both sides of the volcano giving it a fiery red outline at night. You can see the difference in the photos. There is no warning. The eruption is quick to start. The one thing that does give it away are the screams and cheers of the hundreds of gringo campers and then the loud crack and boom. Just like thunder and lightning. You see the flash of red lava first then hear its boom. At night when you sleep the big eruptions even send such a large soundwave boom that it rattles the door on our cabin. Amazing. Saul lit us a huge log fire just outside our cabins and cooked us dinner. Simple and typical climb/trek style. A round tupperware container full of tube pasta with veggies and tomato salsa. Tasty and filling with tea and coffee following. Just as we settled in to sleep the really big one blew. A big eruption that filled the sky with a ball of lava that splashed down both sides of the volcano – you could hear the screams and cheering of other climbers far and wide. You can actually hike 1.5hrs closer to Fuego for better sunset and evening views of the eruptions but we decided to invest this in dinner because we were starving and in extra sleep ahead of our 340am rise to summit the next day. As we lay to sleep the night outside was clear and full of stars. We were happy campers.

That 340am couldn’t have come soon enough. It was a freezing night with some rain around midnight. The temperature had dropped to -5C and most of us struggled to sleep. It was comfortable but cold. By 4am we were on our way brandishing mobile phone tortures. Summit time. It was terrible for me. Volcanic sand everywhere. Slipping and sliding everywhere. Then the horror came. There is a 300m section of 45 degrees of just volcanic sand from the summit to about 50m below. There is supposed to be a level path but this night, high winds had blown it away so we had to create one as we were the first to reach it. I was scared for the first time on a climb not because of the height or slope but because of my blood shoes and the fear of slipping and sliding down a 50m slope !!! Saul cam to the rescue. He placed me right behind him and dug a path with his stick and boot directing me feet into his holes. I was terrified for Antonia but she was OK and not scared. The more people that crossed, the better the footing. I was so relieved to get to the other side. The summit was 2km and 2hrs from camp. The last kilometre is breathtaking. Because there is no vegetation at this height all you see is view. View of Agua Volcano with the entire Antigua at its base and even Guatemala City over 200km away. It is simply spectacular. The night was totally clear. No clouds. Just stars and lights. We got to the summit at 6am – first light. We were literally in heaven. So happy. We made it. Even Cherry despite her illness. She pushed though. She proved that climbing is more mental than physical. She decided to summit and she did.

Thanks to Saul, we picked a terrific spot between the two summits of Acatenango with full views of Fuego and Agua Volcanoes. Because the summit of Acatenango sits at 3,976m and Fuego is 3,763m it means we were 213m above Fuego making for better views of the eruption. The combination of the sun rising and Fuego erupting is simply stunning - something that I have only seen once before on Tana Island in Vanuatu. The great feature of our viewpoint was that no other gringos were there making for gringo-free photos and film as you will see below. This was the finest moment of our trip to date. The only ask was to endure the minus 10C chill factor wind blowing at the time. Despite the gloves, our fingers were numb and it made photos and film hard but that view was worth it. Just spectacular. Enough said – let the photos below do the talking.

The descent back to base camp for brekkie was fast and ten times easier. That horror slope that scared the shit out of me, now had a well-defined lateral path chewed into it from the many gringo legs that had passed through it after us to the summit. Brekkie was simple. Instant coffee that tasted like dust with banana bread that actually tasted like bananas. Enough to get us down in double time. The descent from base camp to the start of the trailhead was very hard for me because of my bloody no-tread runners. I had to use a stick and relied a lot on Saul in some steep spots that had only sand. Once again I had to expend 2-3 times the energy of the others so I was bushed at the end. My knees felt swollen and quads were sore. Antonia did very well – her only take home was blisters on her heels, which recovered the following day. For me this was an easy climb comparing it to 2 other ascents to the same height of 4000m. Antonia also found the climb much easier than she expected and she did very well.

Suffice to say we celebrated heavily that night. I have never seen Antonia so happy and proud. Her dream had come true in every way.

Enjoy the dream below including the best eruption photo taken by Antonia…

(Please note that the full climb stats are at the very bottom of this post).