Category: Guatemala

Just like that, it’s time to say goodbye to Guatemala, country number eight (we’re not counting passing through El Salvador or Honduras!). We’re heading scarily close to the end of our Latin-American adventures, and the half-way point of our whole trip. This has meant having to speed our way through this wonderful country, but we think we’ve made a good go of it with the time we had left.

Guatemala has been an absolute delight and surprise for us both. Sure, the shuttles have been painful and long, but what’s rewarded us after each stop has been totally worth it. The prices here have met our expectations and have seemed fair, sometimes on the more expensive side in the most touristy of locations, but that’s to be expected. We’ve managed to stay on budget with a balance of a meals out and a few meals of super-noodles. There’s still plenty more we could have enjoyed here, and it’s the first country since Argentina that we’ve felt we could happily come back to and spend more time in.

You’ll no doubt be pleased to read there’s no ‘how the USA screwed up Guatemala’ post. However, that’s not because they didn’t (they really, really did!), it’s just because we didn’t have the time to get more exposure to the political history of the country like we have elsewhere. You’re off the hook!

Instead we get to enjoy the Guatemala of today. Beautiful, unbelievably friendly, green, majestic, safe (at least on the gringo trail), still battling its past demons, but embracing their culture and everything this wonderful country has to offer with pride.

Rule of Three

Highlights (Alex) – Antigua, all of it (especially the chocolate making!), just loved this beautiful city, clean, friendly, safe, easy, calm, bliss. Semuc Champey, beautiful and relaxing to just explore as you please, bopping in and out of the water pools. Tikal, wandering and clambering around this largely-still-undiscovered site but still relatively in tact.

Highlights (James) – Volcano hike, the views, the hike itself and campfire dinner. The chocolate making experience, I didn’t know I would enjoy it so much! Semuc Champey, swimming in those natural pools.

Lowlights (Alex) – Such long shuttle rides, the long bus-cama rides of South America now seem like a dream! Having to book and plan so much in advance that meant not being able to fully absorb the present, everywhere in Central has required so much more pre-booking than we had to do in South, it’s exhausting. Being harassed and felt like we were getting scammed in Lanquin (even though we weren’t).

Lowlights (James) – sickness – health – sickness again. Long and uncomfortable shuttles. Admin and planning feeling like it was taking over the enjoyment in some parts.

Takeaways (Alex) – I can’t believe how wonderful Guatemala is and it was totally off my radar, I wonder how many other countries are too! Planning sucks, so I’m really grateful to share that with James to half the burden. The realisation we’re leaving Latin America soon has made me realise how sad I’ll be to leave it.

Takeaways (James) – So much litter, it’s sad that some humans care so little for the environment they can’t even be bothered not to litter. What I imagined Central America to be like, hot, green, beautiful ruins and friendly people. Don’t take everyone’s opinions as fact, we loved some places others seemed really disappointed by such as Rainbow mountain back in Peru; some warned us that Lake Atitlán was full of trash and sewage which was not true at all in our experience.

Description (Alex) – Beautiful. Historical (the Maya culture is still beautifully alive and well). Green.

Description (James) – Fun, lots to do. Worth the money. Chilled out.

Entertainment

TV & Film: All Quiet On the Western Front, Justified – Primeval, Geography Now (YouTube channel, brilliant!)

Books: Red Dragon

Podcasts: Off-Menu, More Or Less, A Short History Of…, Today Explained, The World Wanderers, Many Roads Travelled (a solo female traveller in her 50s with bad knees and a blood disease charming her way across Central), Song Exploder, The Infinite Monkey Cage, Criminal, This Is Love

Where We Stayed

Hostel Antigueño (Antigua): 4.5 ⭐️, fantastic communal areas, big enough kitchen, lovely staff, just needed an extra sink.

Base Camp (Acatenango volcano): 2 ⭐️, campfire, thick mats, warmth and a toilet seat on the side of a volcano were surprising and appreciated. Tents squashed so close together I was touching the man (not James) next to me was not. Also, no view from the hut and nowhere to sit without being smoked out, plus balancing on rocks to be able to sit on said toilet.

Hostel Antigueño (Antigua): 4 ⭐️, super thin walls on our second stay taking off some points.

Casa Tribu (Lake Atitlan): 4 ⭐️, lovely room, amazing setting, I kind of wanted to help tidy up the garden haha, but no fridge meant dealing with flies a lot

Casa Esperanza (Panajachel): 3 ⭐️, decent room for the price and kitchen a bonus, but no windows in room so quite dark

Vista Verde (Lanquin): 3 ⭐️, amazing setting and facilities, but overpriced breakfasts, our room having no privacy and sounding like it was going to collapse every time someone walked around, took points off, that and the dreaded green walls that plague my Latin America stays

Hostel Macarena (Flores): 4 ⭐️ cute hostel, dorm beds all with privacy curtains and own lamp and shelf, bathroom with hot water, and nice communal areas. Points off for the lamps being too bright so anyone staying up illuminated the whole room rather than just their bed, and them also forgetting to book our tour.

Cutting Room Floor

• Driving passed wildfires on our way to Antigua, James totally missing it at first captivated by his phone, until I realised the glowing and twinkling orange in the dark wasn’t leftover Christmas lights but the smouldering embers of the shrubbery next to us
• Pines next to palms, so weird! Never thought these plants would grow in the same climate but it seems they do
• People carrying furniture on their backs, including up the dusty, sandy route up the side of Acatenango. Could use mules, but again, is this a way for them to make money they wouldn’t otherwise?
• Our first negative Australians, with negative comments of places we loved, critical of everything, had a drone (that we thankfully never saw), getting the impression they were just trying to one-up others on tik-tok (maybe why they didn’t enjoy places as much!)
• Liability Man from the USA who showed up to this incredibly hard two-day hike hungover from tequila the night before, wearing casual clothes and flat-soled sneakers that meant he couldn’t control himself going up or down the sandy/gravelly/rocky terrain, almost wiping James out because of it, and being a pretty obnoxious personality to boot where he would just talk at you
• Who is littering? Someone on our tour said he saw the porters doing it, and I saw a local just throw his wrapper out the back of the truck. In all the countries we’ve been, this has been the saddest amount in such beautiful surroundings. It’s hard to understand how and why anyone do such a thing, especially if your culture is to respect pachamama, so who is doing it and why?
• Antigua reminded us a lot of a nicer Arequipa, and we really liked Arequipa
• Very impressive chicken buses with lights like a christmas fair, just called camionetas in spanish
• Lots of yellow buildings because of the importance of this colour maya culture in honouring/resembling corn
• Kids driving tuk-tuks and motorbikes
• There’s no mail system here, if you want to post something, you have to use something like UPS
• The various styling of the mayan fashion. I loved the straight-down wrap-around skirts in Lake Atitlan, but then the more we went east, the more they resembled the skirts in the altiplano, big and puffy and layered. I assume the colours and styles indicate which community you are from and would love to have learnt more about them
• Comments that lake atitlan would be full of rubbish to the point we considered cancelling, but it was actually fine where we were. Perhaps in other villages but thankfully not where we were
• Apparently this is because the state choses to no longer collect rubbish so it just gets thrown and dumped in the river (citation needed)
• Lisa, the lovely lady in San Antonio who got chatting to us and telling us to tell our friends and family to come to San Antonio and buy their traditional pottery (each village around the lake has its own speciality)
• Staying somewhere without a fridge, food did survive fairly well and made us question how dependent we are on these giant energy-sappers, but it did mean adjusting cooking plans and dealing with swarms of tiny flies whenever the ‘coolbox’ was opened
• Our hosts Miki and Javi having a fairly idyllic life of just chilling out at the house, keeping it going and managing changeover days but getting to live in a relative paradise
• Seeing people running around lake atitlan, not gringos, and those hills were STEEP! Not sure if they were locals or what but fair play to them!
• Seeing some people on bikes trying to get around lake atitlan and looking up to the hill we’d just ourselves tried to run/walk up and them turning back
• Eduardo sorting out our transport in Lanquin, wandering around as we wait, keeping us on our toes, but eventually we do make it onto a van
• Kids, maybe no bigger than Mattie, carrying breeze blocks one at a time, with the strap around their foreheads like many of the older people we’ve seen
• Instead of cockerels or dogs serenading us to sleep, it was a cow in Vista Verde
• So many kids not in school, but does school even matter out here when you work on the farm and sell your wares within your own community?

The Photos

Not my picture, but the fashion around Lake Atitlan:

What I thought were some kind of plastic-chili-style-Christmas lights until one fell off and James pointed out they were actually flowers:

Our view from our room in Casa Tribu:

Some of the ridiculously huge and adorned lake-side houses with no way to get there than by boat:

Soot sprites on cables:

A McDonalds in a huge old casona with a lovely garden that you’d never know that’s what it was were it not for the golden arches:

James with his favourite volcano:

A coffee tree in the beer garden in Antigua showing all the different stages of the bean:

A beautiful rose in the same garden:

Shots from the road, seen through the most smashed windscreen ever that brought out Final Destination thoughts:

No minimum speed for cows on the carriageway:

Bus boat. Standard. This time we stayed on the shuttle as we boated across:

This was in a petrol station/rest stop, I would love to know what transpired from the games of whatever Naipe is to warrant banning a card game!:

Does exactly what it says on the tin. Although we were in the literal middle of nowhere, so I can only imagine the pool of “sexi ladies” to choose from:

So many little piglets in a tiny pen for sale, sadness:

A tapir in the Tapir National Park (that is where all the Tikal monuments are):

The Tikal temple map showing all there was to see, huge site:

Friendly hostel doggy:

Catering to a certain audience:

Although it takes another energy sapping day sitting in an uncomfortable minibus, we arrive in the beautiful town of Flores a couple of hours before the sun goes down.

Alex stocking up on sweet supplies during our latest road trip:

We get settled into our latest hostel. Accommodation choices were expensive in Flores so we’re in a six bed dormitory. The “deluxe” moniker means we get air con, large lockers, privacy curtains, personal lamps and an ensuite bathroom so it’s not too shabby. We book ourselves onto a tour of the Tikal ruins, which our hostel forgot to do despite communicating on WhatsApp (good job we checked) and again we’ll be up at 4am!

For the evening, we get our bearings of the small island and head to dinner at the highly rated Tikal Café. On our way there we pass a basketball court and sports pitch at the pinnacle of the island perched next to the large church. Many locals join in with the various exercise regimes going on in the cool evening air. The cafe has a bizarre menu system where you scan a QR code that sends you to their Facebook page and you have to find the menu buried on there. It’s not an ideal system, especially as I assume the menu on their Google maps listing is correct… it is not. Regardless we both end up ordering burgers, chips and a cocktail we assume was renamed from a White Russian to something about a pretty cat. Take that Putin.

Tomb Raiding in Tikal

After around three hours sleep, we’re up at 4am and ready to go and see the UNESCO heritage site that is the Tikal ruins. It’s a good hour away from town so Alex and I doze in the transportation to try and claw back some sleep. We’re rudely awoken by the bright lights and the shouting instructions to go and buy our entrance tickets. It’s a bit of a stupid system, we could have bought the tickets online but wanting to avoid the card surcharge, we queue with the other frugal gringos at 6am. The next stop is the entrance area, full of shops, a replica model of the ruins and a restaurant. We take the opportunity to order some breakfast and coffee. Alex’s American breakfast (with proper bacon!) arrives promptly. My French toast seems to take forever and arrives just as our group sets off. It’s man vs food speedrun time, with a little help from Alex I manage to inhale my breakfast in around a minute. Another queue to get in and we’re finally in the park around 8am.

Our group is nearly forty strong and our tour guide isn’t one for waiting around. The pace for the day is a quick march. If you don’t keep up, you’ll miss some of the information about the area and possibly get lost in this huge twenty-two acre jungle. We pass a giant tree where the Spanish group get to hear about it, no time for that in our group, onwards.

Eventually we do slow down as we are lucky to see a troop of spider monkeys searching for their breakfast in the trees above us. This is the first time we’ve got a good look at spider monkeys on this trip, known by this name as they use their tail like a limb so it almost looks like a giant furry spider when they use all limbs at the same time.

We stop for breath infront of the first set of ruins we see, here our guide goes into detail about his heritage and the Mayan culture that built this incredible area we’re in. 65% of Guatemalans are descended from Mayans, 85% of the country was converted to Christianity but the Mayan culture has found a way to survive and maintain its roots. The pyramid structure we are stood next to is built to perfectly align shadows with the adjacent structures, depending on the time of year and the position of the sun. The equinoxes throughout the year are markers for when the shadow will essentially point at pyramids to our right and to our left, similar to how sundials work. It’s not fully understood how Mayans were able to create and replicate this impressive feat here and in other sites across Latin America. Their understanding and interest in astrology is fascinating to say the least.

At the base of the pyramid we’re stood in front of are several tombstone like structures called “stelae”. These were actually slabs of limestone covered in a red dye where inscriptions would be made to note history, news and other important information. Similar to a modern day whiteboard.

The next piece of information we’re told is the famous Mayan blood-letting. As an offering to the gods, men and women would cut or sometimes use a rope of thorns to blood let from their ear lobes, tongue, lip, nipple or genitals. Ouch.

As we continue around the site we pass by Temple 1, at a height of 46 meters, this is the most uncovered pyramid in the area but not the tallest. It’s the one you’ll see most on postcards or pictures of Tikal. An American expedition here to find the tomb buried within the pyramid contains an important lesson. The project ran for six years without success and funding was running out. The American leader of the expedition decided to ask the local people what they thought. “You are in charge, we don’t have any thoughts, what do you think?” Came the reply. The leader saw an opportunity and put the local people in charge. They knew the way things worked and weren’t going to give it up to the interlopers taking charge. Once the locals took over they found the tomb within a few months. The tomb contained the remains of a King known as the Lord of cacao or the Lord of chocolate, our guide appropriately nicknames him Mr. M&M. Buried in his tomb along with jade, ceramics, jewellery and face masks/head dresses. What happened to the treasure found within said tomb was not explained, hopefully at worst it’s in a museum somewhere.

Further on, we are stood in the main square of this historic center. Our guide explains if you clap your hands right in the middle of the square, exactly between the two large temples, the echoing noise sounds like the noise a quetzal bird makes. On one side of us is a huge pyramid built to honour Mr. M&M. At the opposite end is an even bigger pyramid built for his son. They were always trying to one up each other!

Mr. M&M’s pyramid/tomb:

His son’s:

We have a bit of free time to wander around the heart of Tikal. On the temples and within the grounds we can see huge faces carved into the soft limestone.

There is plenty of ongoing archeological activity within this area. For the most part it is restoration, using the existing stones that are often damaged or displaced by weather or tree roots. It is not reconstruction, they are using the original materials. In another section there is an active dig going on to find another tomb buried beneath an even bigger pyramid. With a wink and a nod, our guide informs us that as the dig is being controlled by local people, they may never find the tomb (as they don’t want them to ship the findings off to some museum on the other side of the world).

We climb up a couple of temples for fantastic views over the surrounding jungle, with the occasional spike of stonework sticking out of the canopy. We’re told that Mayans would build buildings on top of buildings, temples on top of temples. Every 20 years or so at first, later becoming every 52 years, some believe this is every generation of Mayans.

After a good explore of the temple grounds we’re informed we’ll now do a jungle trek. Not to sound privileged and ungrateful but we’ve already done quite a few jungle treks so another hour of tripping up on tree roots and cautious of creepy crawlies is not quite what we expected.

It’s also impossible to hear anything the guide is saying when we’re towards the back of our large group in a single file line through the undergrowth. To be fair, towards the end we do stop to enter an ancient Mayan household. It’s a squeeze to get in as nature fights to claim back the land but we wiggle our way in and admire the impressive structure that has withstood the test of time. Alex goes explore a dark side room but soon comes shrieking back out claiming a bat flew at her. “A bat?” The guide says confused “oh no, it will just be a large moth”.

Our final stop on the tour is to interact with the local wildlife once more. It’s time for more eight legged freaks as our guide prods a stick into the home of a local tarantula. Alex and I are already stood well back as the group trips over one another trying to escape as it comes scurrying out of its nest. Time for a photo opportunity as gringos nervously line up to hold the furry beast on their arm or for the extra brave, the face. Having watched a dozen others do it without flinching I figure I’ll give it a go. Though I’m terrified of them in the house, they’re not so scary when out in their natural habitat. It’s super soft and almost oddly therapeutic as it gently crawls up my arm. I’m not sure I’d want it on my face though, maybe next time. I do feel slightly sorry for the arachnid as it’s passed from tourist to tourist, blown on and squeezed by our guide in order for it to show us it’s fangs.

We take a shortcut back to the main entrance/car park down what our guide calls “crocodile canal” ending abruptly in a swamp like area where we get a final look at Howler Monkeys resting in the trees above us. One of the group is unlucky enough to discover they don’t like tourists as they rain poo down on her from above.

We’re dropped off back on the isle of Flores and head straight for a street food truck that Alex has found on Google. Slightly put off by the server sneezing all over the bread basket before we order, we go for it anyway and load up on burritos, tostadas, tacos and bread, plus drinks for all less than a fiver in total.

It’s well above thirty degrees in the afternoon heat so we decide to cool off in the hostel ‘pool’. In truth it’s more like an adult sized paddling pool but it is certainly cool and in the shade so helps us regulate our body temperature back down to comfortable.

In the evening we have a gentle humble around the island and watch the colourful sunset over the lake. Circling the island to find the cheapest offer of super noodles (we are backpackers after all) we head back to the hostel to enjoy our gourmet meal. Going up to the hostel bar to ask for hot water I’m immediately pounced upon by a guy from the States. Clearly in desperate need of someone new to talk to, he makes small talk with me for a bit while Alex sensibly keeps her distance. I’m not sure how much he’s had to drink but an hour later he’s howling along to Blues music at the top of his lungs. The poor barmaid he’s had cornered for hours does not look impressed. After our Michelin star meal we head to bed, exhausted from our lack of sleep and 4am start. Funnily enough, a couple we met on the volcano hike back in Antigua are also staying in our dorm and we chat to them about past experiences and future plans. We will probably bump into them again on Caye Caulker in a few days time.

Jorge of the jungle

Surprised to have a free day on our hands without transport or a tour booked, we ponder what to do with our spare time. The most common option amongst tourists is to visit Jorge’s rope swing. A place to chill out, swim in the lake and enjoy a beer in a hammock. Doesn’t sound bad does it. Now to decide on how to get there. A motor boat seems too easy for us, so how about a kayak? We hunt around the small island trying to find the best deal. Our first option is a very good quality double kayak for the high price of £36 for the day. Tracking down Los Amigos hostel, renowned for their low prices, we can get a lower quality kayak for £10 for the day, decision made. After grabbing a couple of snacks we turn down the opportunity to take life jackets (this isn’t white water rafting) and set sail. We attempt to circle the island but realising we’re going against the current we give up halfway around and head for Jorge’s.

Upon arrival, Jorge and his family are enjoying watching a La Liga match on a giant TV. We pay the entrance fee and settle into hammocks overlooking the lake. Despite the occasional grunt or shout at the football it is a beautiful and peaceful spot. We haven’t planned very well and have forgotten to bring any books, games or even headphones. We chat for a while and figure it’s time to treat ourselves to a cocktail of sorts. Alex has a Cuba Libre while I try rum and this ‘Jamaica’ juice we have seen multiple times. I was hoping it would be similar to Jamaica Dry Ginger Ale but truth be told it is more like watered down cranberry juice.

You can’t kayak all this way out to Jorge’s rope swing and not use the damn rope so it’s time I gave that a go. For some reason it seems to be taking me longer to build up the courage to do these white-knuckle experiences lately. Perhaps it’s the sight of solid rocks to slam my legs into if I slip or let go too early. Or Alex’s warnings about rope burn. Anyway after a bit of plucking up courage I hold on and swing out above the water for what feels like a good ride. Letting go as the pendulum swing reaches it’s crux and dropping down into the refreshing lake water. Of course I immediately want to do it again so I have 3 or 4 more rides on the rope.

The other thrill seeking way into the water is the 5m tall diving board, for “back-flipping” apparently. Flip that, the one time walk along the plank and freefall drop is enough for me thank you. I much prefer the rope option so have one last ride to finish on a high.

Returning to the mainland, we’re devastated to find the burrito stall we got lunch from yesterday is boarded up closed. Starving and gone 3pm, we jump into the first viable option we find and I finally have quesadillas for the first time on this trip. Alex has loaded fries with some devilishly hot jalapeno peppers which are immediately transferred onto my plate. They’re a bit too hot even for me!On our way back to the hostel we pop into Getaway Tours that we booked Tikal with. Our man Mario is there to sort us out with a transfer to San Ignacio. Not only that but we end up booking from San Ignacio to Caye Caulker Island, back to the mainland and onto Mexico in a few days time. It’s nice to get it all sorted in one go and feels like hopefully we’ve got a good deal here.

Everything seems to have taken longer than planned today and I’m desperately running out of time to sneak off and get a Valentine’s Day card for Alex. In my panic I blurt out some nonsense about needing to look around the shops for Birthday present inspiration. It doesn’t go to plan as nowhere seems to sell cards around here and my last minute change of plans and rushing off has irritated Alex somewhat. I confess I was out on a secret romantic mission which has been a failure. My confession makes Alex laugh (and perhaps feel slightly guilty?) and we enjoy a beer on the island wall while watching the sun go down, back to our usual selves.

Alex spotted a sign at the hostel that somewhat cheekily offers a free beer in return for a Google review. Seems like a decent deal to me as we have both enjoyed the hostel anyway so we’re not selling a lie here. We gulp down an ice-cold Gallo beer and make our way over to dinner at Maple & Tocina. Over dishes of waffles, chicken, maple syrup and curly fries we discuss what our meal would be in the ‘dream restaurant ‘ a la the Off Menu podcast. It’s the best time to talk about dreamy food while enjoying delicious food at the same time. For desert we share apple crumble with vanilla ice cream and chocolate brownie, pretzels, more ice cream and caramel sauce. Yum.

Our final mission is to find a fridge magnet from Guatemala. We should have a nice collection of these when we get home as the chosen mementos to remember this epic journey. Another early start awaits us tomorrow as we head to Belize, the ninth country so far. We’re almost into double figures for new countries I’ll have visited on this trip!

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Adventure – Holding a tarantula for the first time since I was a schoolboy. Navigating the lake by kayak. Exploring the jungle enveloped ruins of Tikal.

Excitement – Rope swinging. Enjoying a proper treat meal with desert at Maple & Tocina. Bumping into fellow Brits from a previous tour.

Trauma – Finding it hard to sleep in the dorms.

Time for our next hefty shuttle bus. Every blog I read assures that Semuc Champey is the best thing to do in Guatemala. Descriptions are of a limestone bridge with pools to bathe in. Doesn’t sound like much, but how can we miss the thing to do in Guatemala!? Unfortunately, to get there you have to do a hefty dog-leg off-route to our next stop Flores, making what would be a straight 12 hour journey from Antigua to Flores, an 18 hour one broken up into two parts. It’s definitely not something we’ll be doing if we came back out here on a holiday, so if not now, then when? It better be worth it!

We’re luckily first on the shuttle bus out of Panajachel and pick the prime seats for the (apparently) 8-hour journey ahead. Many a podcast is listened to as we shuffle and adjust ourselves in our chairs over the next 10 hours to alleviate soreness from sitting in minibus seats akin in comfort to a Ryan Air flight. Although these pick-ups will certainly be giving Michael O’Leary a run for his money:

Thankfully, the shuttles do stop for breaks, and I’m still pleasantly surprised by how good the facilities have been along the way. We treat ourselves to some empanadas (the bread kind, not the corn kind!), and a muffin on the way. Nutritious.

As we unfold ourselves and clamber out the shuttle in Lanquin, the nearest town to Semuc, locals clamber at the emerging gringos and ask what hostel we’re going to. This feels like the usual taxi scam, but actually we’re pleasantly surprised to find out our hostel provides a free transfer. Thankfully somewhat less busy that the ones we saw en route!

Our next accommodation is in the mountains, earning its “vista verde” name. We get settled and explore the beautiful grounds and admire the wonderful rolling green hills around us.

James is unfortunately feeling rather worse for wear. We suspect we’ve both been fighting Covid, as after the volcano I felt like I was still at altitude and was struggling with catching my breath in a way I haven’t before. What lingered for me was a rather pesky headache, but James seems to have been hit hard as he follows the worse-before-better route. We’re actually surprised we haven’t been ill more on this trip considering the amount of new people we’re around and not eating as healthily as we would like. James also points out that at least with a cold/Covid he can take some painkillers and power through, compared to getting hit with a stomach bug that means not going anywhere until fully recovered. So, we count our chickens, and have a meal of chicken at the hostel saving our energy for tomorrow.

The next day we decide to go it alone to Semuc to save some pennies. It should be easy enough, according to the blogs, you just get in a pick-up. We’re skilled at this now after Lake Atitlan, no problem! We head to the corner where the pick-ups start and are immediately accosted by a tuk-tuk driver and his ‘friend’. Responding to a barrage of comments in Spanish, “Yes, we are going to Semuc”, “no, your tuk-tuk price is too much”, “yes, we know we’re gringos and we have to pay more”, “yes, we know the pick-up will stop all along the way”… and so on and so on as I frantically try and look up how much the pick-up will cost us when it arrives. A quick Google suggests they might only be over-charging us by £1, and considering James isn’t feeling great and they are right there, we give in. I don’t know if it’s an intentional tactic, but I find it really hard to think straight when being talked at. Funnily enough, despite their best efforts to give the impression they are scamming us, I find out later they actually charged us the going rate!

Despite the promise to take us “straight there” there’s a detour to the petrol station out of town and back while trying to lure more gringos into our tiny vehicle along the way. Cheeky! The tuk-tuk struggles up the steepest of inclines, and bombs down the other sides as we wind our way up into the forest.

We get to Semuc and again are accosted by a lady asking if we want food. It’s been a while since we’ve felt like money bags to locals, and it’s not one we’ve missed. We’re glad to make it through the entrance to peace and quiet.

Considering James’ illness, I was fully expecting to leave him in a shady pool to do nothing whilst I went to explore, which just shows how much I still don’t know about him! There’s a mirador (viewpoint) walk, straight up, 500m, it takes 30 minutes, it’s meant to be incredibly hard, even in full health. “Let’s do it!” he says.

The route is stairs straight up, a viewpoint, and then straight back down. It’s not easy by any means, but it really was nothing as bad as it was made out to be, thankfully. In fact we make it to the viewpoint and assume there must be more because we do it too quickly. As we descend we realise we smashed it without even meaning to.

Now there’s nothing to do but paddle and bathe and wallow about like hippos in the stunning limestone pools of Semuc Champey. The main river cuts under the limestone creating a waterfall as the earth swallows the river right up. The limestone remains atop creating a “bridge”, that has formed stunning pools where water playfully flows down and through like a majestic water feature. This whole spectacle is made even more so by the vibrant colours of the water.

The water is not warm, but it’s also not so cold that you can’t enjoy having a splash about. Gringos and Guatemalans play and loll about.

James and I manage to recreate our cliff jump as I push myself once again to get more comfortable jumping into water. This time he doesn’t let go 😉.

It’s a lovely relaxing day, and definitely one we’re glad to have fitted into the trip.

On our way out, we are again accosted as a local man Eduardo asks if we’re looking for transport out of the area. I figure it doesn’t hurt to ask how much cheaper we can get to Flores. He confirms he can do it for £5 cheaper, he doesn’t have a phone number I can reach him on so we can think it over, he reassures we’ll be in the same bus as the rest of the gringos, it’s just a competing company. What the hell, we agree. When has a tourist story that started with “I agreed with a random man on the street” ever gone wrong? We hand over nothing but a handshake and a promise that he’ll pick us up at 7:30 the next day.

We stop off at a cafe on the way and enjoy a really tasty frappe and James tries and loves a coffee, kahlua, cacao and cinnamon concoction, before heading back to the hostel for a swim.

At the pool we meet our younger counterparts. They are a couple travelling for a year, one from Manchester, the other from the South in Brighton. The Mancunian has moved down to Brighton, and whilst she’s allowed to jest about the weather there, the Brighton lad is not. They’re travelling the Americas too, but are doing it in the opposite direction to us. It’s nice to meet some others and have a chat, but soon enough it’s dark and dinner is calling.

We head back to the cafe for our meals before we get another early night for the next long shuttle tomorrow.

My night is plagued by worries that our man Eduardo won’t be there in the morning and we’ll be stuck in Lanquin another night (the bus only runs at 8am). I needn’t have worried, he’s there early. As we jump in the tuk-tuk with his mate, and hand over the money for the journey, I realise they could easily drive us anywhere and rob us, not helped by him elaborating a few minutes into the journey… “there’s been a change of plan…”. He explains that in order to get the cheap price he offered us, we have to pick up the bus down from the pick-up point, so the agency doesn’t notice. But not to worry, we definitely have two seats. We drive passed all the other gringos dutifully and safely waiting at the agency pick-up point as we look on longingly. Shit.

We pull in at a hotel down the road. The tuk-tuk driver goes on his way and it’s just us and Eduardo. Except Eduardo needs to stand on the other side of the road to flag down the transport, we must wait with all of our stuff hidden away. It’s a long thirty minutes as Eduardo casually says hello to every person who passes, and sits himself down at various points along the road. At one point I instigate a chat with him in a hope to endear him to us and not con us. He’s friendly enough and says how the road here was only finished a year and a half ago. A bit like with Toro Toro in Bolivia, we can only imagine how much more popular this place now is with this new ease of access. He then returns back to the other side of the road as the shuttle buses full of gringos start to pass by. It’s now definitely after 8am. Double shit.

One thing I haven’t mentioned about Eduardo is he has a rather impeding limp… But does he…? Maybe he’s actually Keiser Soze, and he’s just waiting to run and jump into a passing tuk-tuk leaving us for dust with our money… Maybe. Of course, my mind is never more imaginative than when I’m imagining all the things that can go wrong, and after a fraught 40 minutes of James and I agreeing no saving is worth this worry, our transport finally arrives. We are quickly hustled into the bus, I shake Eduardo’s hand in desperate relief and gratitude, and take the prime seat at the front of the bus.

We’re off! Just another 8 hour journey until our next stop, Flores.

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Adventure – Seeing a huge gushing river disappear underneath the earth and coming out the other side some 400m further down.

Excitement – Dodging the nibbling fish in the pools of Semuc. Delicious coffee/chocolate concoction. “Chip shop” style chips from a street vendor, delicious. Jumping into the turquoise pools together.

Trauma – Wolf-whistles from a group of workmen holding machetes whilst James is literally walking next to me, he prepares to go full John Wick on them but mercifully spares them this time. Constant fear of being over-charged or robbed entirely. People behaving like they were scamming us, when they actually weren’t!

It’s another early start to fit in our supermarket sweep before we jump in a shuttle (minibus) to Lake Atitlan from Antigua, laden with two extra bags full of food, on top of our regular five.

Lake Atitlan was ‘famously’ described by Aldous Huxley to be “[Lake] Como with additional embellishments of several immense volcanoes. It really is too much of a good thing”. So, we’ve picked a room in a remote lake house to relax in and enjoy the lake views. Many reviews mention how difficult it is to get to, but when have we ever let something challenging get in our way!?

The first part by shuttle is once more slowed down by the road we need to go on being built as we drive on it. It’s really quite impressive the amount of roads being built as we travel! We jump out of the shuttle a few hours later, and stand at the side of the road. Instructions are to get in the back of a pick-up. Not at all sure what kind of pick-up we should be jumping into the back of, whether we’re meant to be hitching a ride or this is a genuine mode of public transport, we wave down everything and anything pick-up-esque to no avail. A locally-dressed lady asks us where we’re going and tells us the pick-ups actually pick people up around the corner. So close! She escorts us round and thankfully the pick-up sets off with us, our array of bags, and a few other people in it. One of which being an elderly lady with a box full of chirping chicks sitting next to me! The road climbs and the view opens up of the lake. It’s pretty misty so we can’t see the full extent, just a glimpse of the picturesque Huxley has alluded to.

We drive through the cramped and small town of Santa Catalina, and end up getting all hauled out in the smaller town of San Antonio. As we try and unload all our bags, a fellow pick-up drives onto our food bag that we’ve just brought all this way! Thankfully, it stopped just in time to only roll over the rice. (If it had crushed Alex’s beloved watermelon there would have been Hell to pay – James)

Next part of the journey is to try and get a boat. I said it was remote! After picking up a bag of eggs (the usual mode of transport for eggs unless you buy the usual carton of 30!), we find ourselves once more standing around laden with now eight bags looking around lost and confused. Another local lady asks where we’re from and where we’re going. She tells us that we just missed the boat (literally), and the next one won’t be for an hour. We can get a private boat though. As we’re just eager to get there, we agree, and she sets off to find us someone. Based on our experiences to this point, we wonder whether we will need to tip her for this help, and as we clamber into the boat with eggs carefully in tow, she wishes us well on our journey and walks off. Not expectant of anything, just helping people out to help them. The wonderful kindness of strangers. Something to think about next time we see someone lost in London!

And so we finally make it to our accommodation for the next few days, Casa Tribu. It’s got the feel of a swiss chalet, with stone walls and wood accents. It also has a huge garden with hammocks, hanging egg chair, and a jetty for us to relax and recover in after a whirlwind few days.

We get to grips with our new space, including having to earn our filtered water by way of pump, washing up with a trickle of water out the tap, hopping over a channel of waste-water to make it up to the road, and navigating barking dogs baring their teeth each time we do so. Thankfully, a small girl is often on hand to help protect us!

A glimpse of the less glamorous route in and out when not going by private boat:

But stunning surroundings on the property itself:

Our days here are mostly spent planning our last leg of latin-america, catching up with family and friends back home, eating our way through the supplies we’ve lugged over from Antigua (including some amazing fajita spreads made by James), sipping rum and coke on the lake-shore watching the sun go down, and going out for the odd walk or run. It’s a lovely spot to recover from the volcano hike and lengthy shuttle bus over to Guatemala, and catch up on admin. There’s definitely a lot more to explore here, and I’d definitely go back for a holiday!

Panajachel

Our journey from Lake Atitlan to our next stop, Lanquin, to see the limestone bridge of Semuc Champey, requires another lengthy shuttle bus ride, that starts at 7:30am from the main town Panajachel. Rather than navigate the boat + pick-up situation so early in the morning (and not able to ensure the little girl can protect us from the dogs), we decide to cut our stay at Casa Tribu short by a night and spend one in Panajachel itself instead. The hosts at Casa Tribu are nice enough to let us make the most of our last day on the property, before making our way back the way we came to Panajachel.

Expecting very little from the main town of Lake Atitlan, we are pleasantly surprised. Sure, it’s fairly built up compared to where we were before, but it’s got all the colour and vibrancy of a typical latin-american town full of locals, with some tourist markets, restaurants and fancy accommodations to boot. We enjoy having a wander around and once more sitting on a jetty watching the sun set behind the clouds across the lake.

Dinner tonight is a meal out at a local taco-joint playfully called Taquero Mucho (‘te quiero’ means I love you in Spanish), before another early night in preparation for another early morning.

We go again!

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Adventure – clambering our way in and out of Casa Tribu each time. Exploring the area by walk and run. Pick-up taxis.

Excitement – when the clouds cleared and we could see the full extent of the lake and surrounding crater. Meeting people just looking to help us for nothing in return. The ‘fashion’ of the local women here, really loved their skirts!

Trauma – A church blasting out some horrendous tune and sermon at 6am on our first morning there, desperately in need of sleep. The dogs, the damn dogs. Life admin, so much life admin. The start of feeling a bit rotten (James)

We’re dropped off from our epic volcano hike around midday in the colourful and rustic city of Antigua. First thing on the agenda… find somewhere to eat. We’ve been up since 4am and have only had a light breakfast so far. I quickly find a nearby restaurant serving Mexican inspired food. Alex has a burrito while I have something called ‘gringas’.

Alex and her famous T-Rex pose:

Having been on the go so much the last few days, we need to spend an afternoon doing life admin. Not much to report here but I will give a shout out to Alex for making a tasty and colourful vegetable omelette for our evening meal 👩‍🍳

Oompah Lumpa Didgerie Doo

In the midst of the admin session, I manage to convince Alex she should do the chocolate making class. It’s the same company that offers highly rated experiences across latin america. It feels like it’s now or never, so she books the last remaining spot through their website. Though I initially think it’s a fruitless endeavour, Alex suggests I come with her in case an extra space opens up on the tour… Indeed it does and I’m able to join the class!

I won’t go into much detail on the history of chocolate, we wanted to enjoy the moment without worrying about remembering it all for the blog. I’m sure Google will help if you want to know more, but essentially it started with the Mayans using cacao and over time the process was altered and refined to give us all of the ways we love eating or drinking chocolate today. The first task is to create our chocolate bar masterpieces so they’ll have time to cool and set for the end of the session. I have three sections on mine, chilli and salt; marshmallows, nuts and sprinkles; coffee and cranberry. Alex uses cacao nibs, coffee, cranberry, macademia, and marshmallows.

The class is really fun and interactive, much more practical than theory, with a bit of history thrown in now and then. We’re educated on the five stages of cacao, often eating the cacao bean to witness how the taste changes during the process. The initial raw bean is slimy, sour and bitter. As the stages progress, it becomes sweeter and richer, starting to taste more like chocolate. At one stage we are required to roast the beans while talking about ourselves for 90 seconds. An ice-breaker I was unprepared for but everyone says a little bit about themselves and their travels. Including a woman from Levenshume who also ran her first marathon (Manchester) last year.

After roasting the beans, we need to peel off the outer husk. We use these skins to make a tea by just adding water and honey and leaving it for a while. Whilst that steeps, we need to bash and grind the un-skinned beans up into a paste. It’s competition time and with a prize promised for the winners, Alex insists with a serious tone that we must be the winners! After thirty seconds of grinding cocao beans like my life depends on it, we win! Our reward is a delicious chunk of white chocolate, yum yum.

In the next round of games. We must guess what the secret Mayan ingredient is to make choco-hah. As suggestions of “ginger”, “cinnamon”, “pepper” and various others are batted away, I joke to Alex it must be a child sacrifice. Turns out I was not far off! The secret ingredient is human blood, often from a sacrifice of the mightiest warrior in the community. It seems there is a price to pay for our earlier triumph, as the strongest team, we are on the chopping block. They only need one of us though so I bravely nominate Alex. She gracefully donates her left arm to blood letting. Not really! She adds a few drops of a red cochineal (the small cactus beetle we learnt about in Arequipa five months ago!) liquid, cloves, sugar, cinnamon and pepper, and the mix is ready to be shaken. In traditional Mayan style, this involves pouring the liquid from a jar at eye level to another jar at waist level to make as much froth as possible. Alex expertly pours from jug to jug without spilling a drop…

The final round involves the infamous “Bate, bate, chocolate” song that has haunted us since Granada. It translates to “stir, stir the chocolate” and that’s exactly what various members of our group have to do while performing a questionable dance while the rest of us sing along manically. I’m very happy to sit out this round!

At the end of our lesson our chocolate masterpieces are cooled and set, ready to eat. We say goodbye to our wonderful group and just have time to pop back to the hostel for lunch. Of course making time for a taste of our sweet creations before heading out for our next activity, a walking tour of the city.

A brief history of Antigua

• Antigua was the main capital during Colonial times, covering territory from Mexico, all the way down to Costa Rica, called Guatemala City
• The name Guatemala is a Mexican name, meaning place of many trees
• The country flag is a white column sandwiched between two blue columns representing the sea. The emblem has a resplendent quetzal (also the name of their currency, quetzales) and a scroll bearing the date of independence from Spain along with rifles, a crown and swords
• The local flag, green to represent the jungle with a white center. On the emblem here is Santiago (Saint James) on horseback and 3 volcanoes underneath: Agua, Acatenango and Fuego
• Agua volcano is named due to a lake within the crater
• This crater collapsed and the water flooded the Spanish capital meaning they had to move the city to where Antigua now lies
• A 1773 earthquake destroyed the city again
• They started anew in Guatemala where the new capital exists Guatemala City and thankfully remains to this day
• Antigua means ‘old’ and so refers to the old Guatemala City
• There are 20 million people in Guatemala, 4 million in the new capital while only 60k in Antigua
• On the edge of the town square is a Catholic Cathedral. Most of it was destroyed by an earthquake and now sits in ruin
• The site (along with other ruins in the city) are protected by Unesco and therefore cannot be restored even if they wanted to
• They apparently provide beautiful wedding locations though!
• Opposite the cathedral is a University, in the style of a Spanish courtyard with moorish influence. This courtyard is featured on the 100 quetzal bank note
• There is a hospital with free / volunteer health care staffed by Medicine Sans Frontier as health care is expensive for local people so they rely on the help of volunteers
• We move onto Plaza de San Pedro where there is a water fountain for locals to wash clothes and plates, however this is rarely practised these days
• Finally, a Church and a convent either side of the road this is most unusual as they are normally joined, so they built an arch to physically link them

Hazy Days

After the tour has finished, we take a bit of time to wander the streets and take in the atmosphere. We deduce that if we want to see the sunset, we best find a good spot to do so sooner rather than later, as the volcanoes are starting to block the sun far before the official sunset time. We’ve been recommended the Antigua Brewing Co by various people so we head there and grab a table on the roof. We order our drinks and watch the sun disappear behind the shadows of Fuego and Acatenango, looking up to where we stood and watched the sunrise just yesterday morning, it’s unbelievable really.

By this point I’m quite a hangry bear. I convince Alex we should try the Guatemalan version of KFC, a rare chance to have some fast food. A giant basket of fried chicken, chips and bread fills us up nicely. That T-Rex is back…

With a quick pop back to the hostel to get changed, we head out once more for drinks at a garden brewery on the other side of town. I enjoy a beautiful hazy IPA while Alex goes for her for new favorite, a strong stout. We sit by the glorious fire and reminisce about our trip so far. Returning to the hostel we try in vain to catch a final glimpse of Fuego roaring lava into the night sky but it’s either obscured by clouds or simply isn’t playing ball. After trying a couple more streets we give up and head home, we’ll need our rest ahead of another day in a minibus tomorrow.

Super Market Sweep

Not much to report from our final morning as it’s a mad dash around town stocking up on supplies for the lake. Here’s a few pictures from the market though, this time we weren’t too scared to buy anything!

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Adventure – Exploring the colourful streets of Antigua. Watching the sunset with delicious beers in hand.

Excitement – Meeting some lovely folks from Manchester who were not complete nutters this time. Making and tasting our own chocolate concoctions. Winning a chocolate prize.

Trauma – The loud fireworks/explosions that went off almost every hour of the night for a local harvest festival. Other noises keeping us awake that are inappropriate to mention on this family-friendly blog.

After a long, arduous and at times dangerous transfer from León, Nicaragua; crossing three borders and passing straight through two countries; we finally reach Antigua, Guatemala. Arriving around 9pm, what else is there to do but sign up for a volcano tour starting tomorrow at 8am! Our brief stay in the Antigueño hostel (that we’ll return to after our volcano hike) is extra enjoyable as we’re given a free room upgrade. We should have had a shared bathroom but after the tedious journey in the minivan we’re delighted with our ensuite room and giant comfortable bed. We’re relieved to realise we no longer need air-con and enjoy putting our hoodies and jeans on for the first time in weeks.

Ascending Acatenango

We’re picked up just before 8am and are taken by minivan to the starting point of the hike where we’re given a detailed debriefing. There’s some humour and motivation thrown into the opening salvo. “This hike is hard, it’s not impossible! The only limit is the sky”. A nice touch from Soy Tours is providing free winter gear, at the top of the hike the temperature can reach below zero and according to the guide, it hailed last night. Alex and I pick out warm jackets, gloves, hats, thermal pants and scarves. We also buy a giant bottle of water each and a large Snickers we’ll save for a future reward. One of the tour guides helps us tie the warm jackets to our backpacks as we won’t be needing them for a while and before we know it, we’re off.

We will ascend the Acatenango volcano, a dormant 4,000 meter altitude monster that directly overlooks the active Fuego volcano next door. The ascent to base camp should take around 4.5/5 hours but this includes long (sometimes too long) breaks after hiking challenging uphill sections. There are three segments of forest on the way up, the first is oak forest perched above the farmland at the base of the ascent. The second section is cloud forest, where we stop for lunch along the pathway. The lunch boxes we’ve carried up with us are surprisingly generous and easily replenish the calories we burned on the way up. Even if they are troublesome to eat with just one plastic fork.

We’re about halfway to base camp and as we transition from cloud to pine forest, Alex and I note the depressing amount of litter along the trek. Although the intro guide claimed this side of the volcano is cleaner than the other side that most tour groups use, there is a disgusting amount of trash here. There are discarded plastic bottles, empty tuna tins, plastic bags, foil wrappers, crisp and sweet packets stuffed into gaps between the rocks or simply tossed on the floor. A small amount of litter can perhaps be forgiven as some items may have fallen out of pockets or bags or been blown away by the wind. But the sheer scale of it makes it obvious it’s a deliberate and common act of selfishness. It’s the one downside of this otherwise beautiful trek I thought was worth mentioning.

Eventually the path flattens out and we realise we’re closing in on base camp. Still no sign of the active Fuego volcano.

There are dense clouds around us, about 3500m up that don’t show any sign of clearing soon. Alex and I debate whether it’s worth doing the extra hike to get as close as safely possible to Fuego. Despite having earlier agreed that we don’t always need to push ourselves to do everything possible on this trip, we figure it’s our best chance to see a natural fireworks show. Only twelve people from our group of forty are up for this extra leg. It’s not entirely clear how long it will take, rumours of anywhere between 2-4 hours depending on the speed of the group circulate. Alex and I are battling altitude sickness having gone from sea level to nearly 4000 meters up in just a couple of days. We both have headaches and take some paracetamol to fight it. No mercy from our small group as they set off at a blistering pace, literally running at some points as we descend down from base camp.

A dozen gringos pounding the dry dirt of the trail creates a blinding haze of dust and it’s hard to see where we’re going. After what feels like ten minutes, we reach the bottom of the rapid descent. Time to go back up the other side, our climb up an active volcano begins. Another exhausting 45 minute hike uphill. As the trail begins to flatten out, we notice we’re parallel to the clouds that have started to part, how majestic they look in the golden hour.

In the distance we can see the small city of Antigua, the Agua volcano towering next to it and even further away, the huge capital, Guatemala City. Another beautiful sunset, I’m running out of superlatives to describe so I’ll let the pictures do the talking.

Eventually we reach our lookout spot, around one mile away from the gushing maw of Fuego. A few puffs of smoke have bellowed out of this grumbling beast but we’re waiting for a spectacular show. It takes it’s time, after the sun has gone down, the sky has filled with stars and the temperature dropped dramatically, mother nature decides when it’s ready to act. First, a couple of warm ups, lava sparks and dances elegantly out of the sunken cone.

And then, the big one. Without any warning the night sky fills orange, a furious roar follows and fire erupts from within the earth’s belly. It only lasts ten seconds but what a performance. Raw power at it’s glorious best, it feels like watching a bomb going off before your eyes. Boiling rocks tumble down the sides and a tangerine coloured mushroom cloud fills the air. People almost burst into applause at this marvel of nature. Astounding.

After a rewarding Snickers and a few more eruptions I wanted to enjoy without pointing my phone at, we begin the journey back to camp. The wind howls over the ridge and it feels bitterly cold, we’re grateful for the winter gear we picked up this morning. There’s a lot of groups making their way down at the same time. Descending the steep rocks and loose surface in a slow moving line takes twice as long as coming up. We regroup at the flat section between the two volcanoes and are told it will take a further one hour twenty minutes to reach camp. Mood drop. Luckily on the way back up Acatenango, Fuego is still bellowing behind us and our guides shout “lava chicos, lava!” each time there is something worth looking at.

We feel every step of the ascent back up to camp. Almost twenty hours sat stationary in a minivan starting at 2am yesterday is beginning to catch up with us! A constant mix of “vamos Soy Tours” “vamos, vamos” and what seems to be pointless and overly long pauses on the way back do not help the mood. The rest of our group becomes grumpy and tired. At long last, as both of us ponder why we always push ourselves too much, we arrive back at camp. It’s 9.30pm and everyone else is sensibly sleeping in their tent ahead of the 4am wake up call tomorrow. We’re greeted with pots of hot chocolate, while the guides busy themselves serving us beans, noodles, rice, veg and tortillas until our bellies are full. Then there are the marshmallows and crisps for desert. We feel better now.

Sunrise above the clouds

After a late night of very little sleep, in a shelter full of snoring, snorting and sniggering hikers (plus the occasional thunderous roar from Fuego), we’re up at 4 o’clock in the morning. The only way is up, we must climb the Western face of Acatenango to see the sunrise on the other side. Another brutal climb up steep rocks and loose ground in the pre-dawn darkness. Our head torches provide the only light as we stumble and scramble up the path.

Near the top we wait for the rest of our forty strong group to catch up with us frontrunners, nervous we will miss the sunrise we came up here for. No need to panic. Although the pitch black sky has now illuminated into a dusky blue and a warm rainbow floats on the horizon, Helios and his sun chariot are still some way off Guatemala.

Fuego reluctantly performs tricks over to our right and after a long pause, blows out a stream of lava and ash into the morning sky. Oohs, aahs, whoops and cheers from the expectant crowd fill the air. Again I wanted to enjoy this moment without a lens, sorry! Helios arrives just before 6.30, his trailing chariot carries the sun above the Agua volcano down in the valley below.

After an hour sitting on the frost covered ground, it’s time to head back down for brekkie. We pass a small group of hikers who’ve decided to run around the crater up here, 4000m above sea level, rather them than me, it does not look fun.

Descending back to camp seems to take no time at all and after a quick visit to the sawdust toilet(!) we’re enjoying pancakes, syrup, coffee and a boiled egg next to the campfire.

We pack our belongings and trek all the way back down to where we began. On the way we speak to a guy from England who has volunteered to collect some litter along the way. It’s a kind gesture that won’t make a huge impact by itself but will hopefully encourage others to do the same and the guides to take note. Even if one person on each daily tour took this upon themselves it wouldn’t take too long to clean the trail up. Sadly though it seems to be fighting a losing battle at the moment judging by the sheer amount of plastic waste on our way down. By comparison, we didn’t see any litter at all on the W trek or the Inca Trail, so something can be done about it with the right attitude.

Towards the end we are practically running again as it’s the easiest way to get down without slipping on the loose dirt under foot. Dust and grit flies everywhere as everyone is so desperate to finish the trek by this point.

This poor doggo was injured and was being bullied and attacked by the other dogs, I immediately contemplated adopting the little guy:

As we return to the spot where we sat listening to the debrief barely 24 hours ago, we’re greeted with a cold beer to celebrate our latest achievement. Another nice touch from Soy Tours. As I gulp the refreshing liquid, I reflect on one of the most exciting and awe-inspiring hikes I’ve done in my life. That’s saying something considering the other things we’ve done on this world tour, it truly was that incredible.

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Adventure – Chatting with some lovely members of our group, especially the Brits. Dinner around the campfire, always a special experience for me. Trying to eat a chicken leg with a flimsy plastic fork. Finding balance on rocks while using the sawdust toilet. Hiking by torchlight.

Excitement – Lava explosions in the night sky! Beautiful sunset and sunrise. Being back in the cloud forest even for a short time. Being above the clouds like when you’re on an aeroplane but standing on solid ground.

Trauma – Some curious members of our group who were either incredibly negative about previous experiences we’d enjoyed (e.g Rainbow Mountain) or were simply weird and not our kind of people. One of which got hammered on tequila the night before and wore sneakers so slipped their way up and down the trek. “Vamos Soy Tours” on repeat. Lack of breath and sleep.