I climbed a volcano - part one

I climbed a volcano! My Guatemalan adventure - part one

There are not that many active volcanoes in the world, however, in Gutemala, there is not only one but many. I left for Guatemala in June 2019 (this summer) and I spent my time there mostly working. Although, there was also some free time and days off, which I used for doing different things. Sometimes I just stayed in a village which became my new home for some time but I also wanted to get to know different parts of the country.

I was living by a large lake which was surrounded by many volcanoes. I told my boss I would like to climb some. I was responded that the closest area (where also the volcano San Pedro is) was not safe and so it got closed (I mean it was not allowed to climb it anymore).

Picture: Beautiful Lake Atitlán

Two main volcanoes

When people travel to Guatemala, they can easily read about two main volcanoes which are very close to each other and are still active.

There is one which is called Acatenango and when you want to climb it, you have to walk with a guide and a group of tourists for two days. It actuality leads you to a spot from which you can observe the volcano and its eruptions or a smoke coming out.

I cannot talk about this volcano more because I have not climbed that. Though, you will probably hear about it a lot and you can also read many articles on the Internet or in a guide books.

The volcano I have climbed was the Pacaya volcano.  This volcano is 2 552 metres high and it is one of the most active volcanoes in Guatemala. Even though it seem like a very high volcano for which you have to keep at least two days as well to get to “the top”, it is not like this. To climb this one, you actually need less than two hours.

Pacaya with a special guide

It is forbidden to climb (active) volcanoes in Guatemala on your own risk – I mean without a certified guide. I got in touch with a guide called Neri because I have got positive references on his volcano tour. Some acquaintances who were also from Europe but they were living in Santiago (Guatemala) by that time as well gave me his phone number and said they did a “private tour” with him. So there were only two of them plus Neri and he took them there at night.

I liked that idea of getting to know Pacaya while walking up in a complete darkness. I knew all eruptions and lava would be more visible and it would be more adventurous.

When I got in touch with Neri for the first time, he seemed to be very nice and he was willing to do the tour anytime. However, when he told me the price, I was considering whether to do it “privately” or in a common schedule with other maybe 15 people.

Picture: Less people means that you can take it easy and really enjoy a trip.

Looking for others

Well, as a part of the trip I was also visiting a well-known town Antigua. I was supposed to stay in one female’s house through Couchsurfing. (Couchsurfing is an amazing platform/a website/an app for travellers who can stay with locals or they can host travellers themselves. It is also possible to meet a person just for some time of the day and then leave each other.)

My Couchsurfer host’s name was Jennifer and she accepted not only me but also another girl Kiki. Kiki is an Asian traveller who is about to spend her year travelling solo through Latin and South America. So, what I did was that I got in touch with Kiki as well and told her about the possibility of climbing the volcano together (and so that would be cheaper). She was opened to almost anything, so when we finally met in person, we called Neri and made a plan of climbing Pacaya the very next day.

After midnight activity

As Neri is very experienced, he proposed leaving “our house” at 2:45 in the morning. He organized everything – the pick up service (a private taxi which was officially not a taxi but his friend and his own car – that meant a better price for us as well) and he provided us with some more pieces of informationabout what to expect.

Picture: The best place from where to go to volcanoes is probably an antique town Antigua.

So we prepared everything like clothes, shoes, a snack, water the night before going to the bed and when we woke up, we were ready to leave the house within ten minutes. The car was really waiting for us right in front of the house and the driver was very nice. We did not talk much, though. The journey too one hour (more or less), so we used that time for sleeping. On the way, we stopped to let Neri in and then it took just few minutes to reach our destination.

Before entering the park, there was a possibility of using a bathroom, which is always good and comfortable. Then we had to pay the entrance fee (to get into the park) which cost 50 Quetzales (150 Kč or 6 EUR).

Climbing it itself

I have realized too much information is less effective. I really want you to enjoy reading of my articles. So in I climbed a volcano - part two I will bring you the experience itself in a written form. For sure, with some beautiful pictures.

Picture: Guatemala has much to offer!

Believe me - climbing Pacaya was really worth all money I paid for it and all "lost hours" of sleep because of the night/morning start.

I look forward to sharing the second part with you!

Photo gallery