Volcán Acatenango & Fuego: Guatemala

When I’m asked what the highlight of my Central America trip was, I always give the same answer: Acatenango.

The overnight hike to Acatenango Volcano in Guatemala is truly one of the most difficult and rewarding hikes I’ve ever embarked on. Acatenango towers above the surrounding landscape at 3976m (13,041ft) and gives a birds eye view of the nearby (and extremely active) Fuego Volcano. All of the tours offer the hike to Acatenango; but if you want an extra challenge and an even closer view of the lava, you can pay extra to climb Fuego.

There are plenty of Antigua based tour companies to choose from and they all offer the same relative experience with a few differences in accommodation, food, and price. I chose to go with Wicho and Charlie’s; although slightly more expensive, they’re environmentally focused with vegetarian meals and reusable cutlery. I did have friends who went with other companies such as CA Travelers or Tropicana, and they had no complaints. I paid 75 dollars which includes the hike, transportation, 4 meals, snacks, guides, shared cabin, and essential gear. The optional Fuego hike is an extra $40.

All tours offer gear rentals that you can pick out the morning of. The summit of both Acatenango and Fuego are frigidly cold with high wind speeds, so I recommend double layering pants and jackets. Wicho and Charlie’s includes essential gear in the tour price but any add-ons were a surcharge. Jackets, hats, scarves, buffs, and gloves are all included but pants, trekking poles, backpacks, and headlamps were roughly 2-5 dollars each. I was hesitant to take the trekking poles because of my inflated superiority complex but they ended up saving my life a number of times, so I highly recommend them! Keep in mind that you carry all your gear, food, and water yourself, so try to pack light.

After picking out gear, everyone piles into a mini bus from Antigua and drives around an hour to the base of Acatenango. Right off the bat, the hike begins with a steep incline and never really seems to stop. The trail winds its way up through four distinct microclimates and offers incredible views of the high-alpine cloud forests. The guides give plenty of breaks as the altitude can make breathing quite difficult. We climbed 1500m (5,150ft) in elevation to base camp and it took roughly 6 hours including breaks/ lunch. It’s common to get altitude sickness so make sure to take care of yourself and ask for extra breaks if needed. There is a guide in both the front and back of the group, so no (wo)man left behind!

Once we finally reached basecamp, we were met with stunning views of Fuego. Fuego is an extremely active volcano, erupting roughly every 20 minutes. Since we arrived during the daylight, we could only see huge clouds of ash erupting from the crater; the magical view of molten lava isn’t revealed until the night.

Fuego did have a deadly eruption in 2018 that killed 62 people and injured dozens more, which is why this hike is not for the faint of heart. Nothing like the thrill of potential imminent death to get your adrenaline pumping, right mom? So all who were up for the extra challenge, opted to hike Fuego for sunset.

I didn’t particularly care for the physical challenge, but I definitely wanted to see the spewing lava up close. So once we climbed 1500m (5,150ft) in elevation gain to basecamp, we rested for about 20 minutes before starting on Fuego. Since we wanted to catch sunset, there wasn’t much time to regain our strength from the 6 hour hike up. Only 7 people from our group of 30 decided to join, including myself. I was also the only woman… #represent.

We had to descend Acatenango until we reach the bottom of Fuego, and then climb all the way up to the freezing summit. The wind at the top of Fuego nearly blew me off the edge; it was so cold I couldn’t even bare to take out my phone for a picture. All the footage I have from Fuego was sent to me by my group, so photo credit to them!

The sunset from Fuego was arguably the best sunset I have ever seen (just take a peek at the pictures below). Once we were satisfied with enough ground shaking eruptions, we strapped on our headlamps and climbed down Fuego and back up Acatenango in the dark. So in one day I climbed up a volcano 3 times, and down twice. My body was pushed to its physical limit and I genuinely thought I couldn’t go on at one point. The guide kept encouraging me with his hand on my back nudging me up the hill. I had my trekking poles to keep me steady but I kept dropping them because my hands had simply lost the energy to hold on. I was (clearly) in the back of the group trying to keep up with these expert Dutch hikers who seemed to be having no trouble at all.

When we arrived back at basecamp around 10pm, we finally ate our dinner with shaking hands and frost-bit noses. Ok, maybe not frostbite, but it was very VERY cold. The rest of the tour group sat around the campfire and watched Fuego erupting from a distance. They seemed perfectly happy to not have done the hike after hearing how difficult it was; but I am so proud of pushing myself because the views from Fuego were unlike anything I have ever seen. 360 degree views of 8 other stratovolcanoes peeking above the pink and orange clouds. An image seared into my mind that I’ll never ever forget.

We all roasted marshmallows, sat by the fire, and watched the stars and lava until it was time for bed. I thought our sleeping arrangements were quite decent as we had sleeping pads, sleeping bags, extra blankets, and pillows. There were 8 people to each cabin which made for a very snug fit, but hey more people= more warmth.

I don’t know if it was the adrenaline coursing through my body or the altitude but I barely slept a wink. My body was so exhausted but my mind couldn’t shut off. So when it was time for the sunrise hike to the summit of Acatenango, every cell in my body told me no. So I honored what my body was telling me and I chose not to climb 45 mins to the summit. Instead I watched sunrise from base camp and was perfectly content with my hot tea and breakfast burrito.

Once the rest of the group returned and ate breakfast, we began our descent. The way down was way more fun than the way up as the slippery rocks made it easier to just run down. At one point I was going too fast and fully flipped over, but luckily I landed on my pack. I still slipped and fell around 5 more times after that, but I just really wanted to be done with the hike at that point. We made it down in 3 hours and waited for the bus to pick us up. After arriving in Antigua around 11am, I promptly checked-in to the hostel and went the heck to sleep. I was sore for a full week after but it was so so so worth it.

Below are the tired, cold, and unattractive pics that should have been deleted but will now remain on this blog forever…enjoy!