Above the Clouds

Now that my body is less sore I can share our story of climbing a 4,000 meter volcano!!!

When we first arrived here in Antigua I had no idea that this climbing adventure was even a thing. But as the guest trickled in and out of the hostel we heard the stories of the "most difficult thing I've done in my life, but it was totally worth it" trip up Acatenango. Antigua has three volcanos surrounding it's city center, Acatenango, Fugoe, and Agua, the latter being active. The idea of the climb is to hike up Acatenango and look down onto Fugoe as it errupts. Fun yeah?!?!

For starters we got on our bus and I was the only girl. There also happened to be a few ex army guys on the trip that were itching to do the climb quickly. If you know me I'm not really the athletic type, so I was pretty nervous of bringing the team climb time down by a few hours.... but my personal coach said he'd stick at the back with me. What a guy! Anyway we arrived at the base greeted by chilly winds and locals awaiting to sell hats, gloves, and alcohol! All bundled up we started the trek, straight up. Literally straight up, there was no break in this seemingly never ending loose dirt hill. 10 minutes into the 5-6 hour hike I was ready to throw in the towel, but my trusty coach wouldn't let me! I'd like to say that the climb got easier but it really didn't. When we got to the easiest most flat spot, the weather turned and we got proper soaked in a chilly rain storm. Imagine scrambling up a dirt path with a waterfall a muddy water rushing underneath you. That was us! Don't get me wrong the hike up was beautiful, but the rain storm was rather discouraging. But hey we had a warm cozy tent and fire to look forward to at base camp right? WRONG!!!!

The team reached base camp in a record breaking four hour time! The fastest time our guide had ever done. Woooooo go Lily! I didnt even cry! Thanks coach Lewis! But once again we were greeted with the threatening sound of thunder. We all hurried to set up our tents. But Lewis and I quickly learned that we were missing a key ingredient, the third supporting pole to our tent. After our guide said, sorry there's nothing I can do to help you, we had a laugh at our situation and made the best of our slowly collapsing home. Overall our guide was pretty worthless. He never managed to make a fire for the group and in the morning left a majority of the team behind!!!! But on a better note we watched a few good eruptions that night and we didn't freeze to death.

3:30 in the morning our guide starts to whistle at the team to wake up and shout words in Spanish. Giving us about a 10 minute window to wake up and follow him into the darkness of the last 500 meter steep steep steep climb to the top. So yeah he left more than half of the group asleep in their tents.  It was dark, cold, and windy. But Fugoe put on a great show as we climbed to the summit. We were lucky to see about five eruptions on the way up, and we caught a beautiful sunrise 100 meters from the top. But in those last 100 meters our guide turned around and said we could do the rest if we wanted, but he was going back to camp!!!!!!! I struggled HARD to reach the top. I've never felt wind so strong and my feet slipped in the loose rock. But after some strong words of encouragement from my coach we made it!!!!!!!! We were on top of the world and above the clouds. We could even see the lake we had visited the week before. After we took in the views and hung out with another tour guide's dog that completed the climb, we "skied" to the base camp. That loose rock I despised on the way up, I loved on the way down. 

Our untrusty guide did welcome us back with hot chocolate, which was exactly what I needed! The hike down was extra beautiful because we could actually see how high we were. Since there was only blue skies and no rain clouds!!!! With sore bodies we made it to the bottom, headed back in town and treated ourselves to boozy drinks and Guatemalan Thai food.

This hike was definitely the most difficult thing I've ever done, but it was totally worth it.

Lago de Atitlan

Back "home" in Antigua. I've written about this feeling before on past adventures, but it's such a wonderful feeling when your new surroundings turn into a place that you feel totally comfortable with, and become somewhat "your's". Lewis and I both didn't want to say goodbye to the beautiful Lake Atitlan, but pulling into the city gave us both a feeling of home. But you probably want to here more about the lake!

Well for staters the journey there was an adventure of its own. The estimated 2.5 hour journey turned into 6. It seemed like everyone in Antigua was trying to get out of the city at the same time! Once we managed to escape the traffic our mini bus climbed the steep surrounding hills, then curved us back down, only to go up another slop! The drive felt a bit like a roller coaster ride, but the views were breath taking!!!! I really enjoyed watching all of the big, but little towns zoom by. It seemed  like every inch of land is being used by Guatemalans, they even make us of the steep hills for farming. We climbed one last hill to see the lake waaaaaaaaay below us. It was a gloomy day, as the afternoon rains had just ended, but the clouds and fog added extra charm to the picturesque lake, surrounded by three volcanos and hills. Once we reached the bottom we jumped onto a speed boat to cross the turquoise lake to our paradise village San Marcos La Laguna.

San Marcos is a refuge for yogis and the more low key vacationer. It only took us about five minutes to walk the entirety of the town. A few hostels surrounded by lush gardens, plenty of yoga studios/health spas, and about four restaurants all boasting their vegetarian menus. Lewis and I had hit the jackpot of serenity we were looking for!  We ended up staying at a lovely hotel made up of small bungalows run by a rather spacey man from Sweden. I loved looking at all of the plants and drove Lewis crazy stopping to examine each one! That night we enjoyed some yummy wine and veggie curries, and the sound of no sounds!

Our full day on the lake was an exploring day. After a fresh breakfast on the waterfront we caught a water taxi to the next town over to start an hour hike along the hills to the next town over. Overall it was just nice to be outside and take in different views of the lake. When we reached the town of San Pedro we were greeted with a totally different atmosphere from our sleepy village across the water. There were people, cars, and shops everywhere. The afternoon rain was on its way so we settled in with some nachos and beers to watch the rain. Later on it was more wine and more enjoying the silence watching the full moon.

In the morning it was time to leave, but first we had to wait for an extra hour for our bus to arrive! We should have anticipated this, but still enjoyed watching the little town start its day. Back on the bus we had to climb up the hills again, but this time with an even better view. The road seemed even more like a roller coaster and the driver had to honk his horn every time we approached a curve so we wouldn't hit an on coming car! ( Heather if you're reading this, it reminded me of our Blue Mountains trip in Irvan!) At the top we were literally in the clouds. I'm not really sure how to explain this feeling. But I was higher than other areas and could see the pockets of clouds nestled into the other high hills.

We had planned on skipping this trip, but I think it's safe to say that we are both very glad that we did go!

Antics in Antigua

We had a big weekend in the Jungle!!!


Friday: "Olymic" Beer Pong Tournament


As designated party promoters here at the hostel, Friday night was our first big night to show off our party skills. With the opening ceremonies of the olymics showing we thought what better excuse to have a beer pong tournament! Do to lack of correct HDMI cord we were unable to stream the opening ceremony, but the crowd didn't care. Our first event was a success, beer pong from all nationalities was played from 4-9, then we went out to discotheque for a dance to celebrate the champions. I wasn't really sure what to expect of the bar scene here, but it didn't disappoint. Lucky Rabbit is probably one of the biggest bars I've ever been in. The gang made good use of the dance floor and stayed till it shut down. Then we headed to a bit of a speak easy bar. During the day you wouldn't guess that Chaplin's was any kind of business, because it is just a door on an empty street. But when we got there, there was already about 100 people in the streets waiting to get in. Once the doors opened, we were pushed into a tiny room that would comfortably fit 40 people but around 200 people crammed onto the dance floor! Due to lack of elbow room I wanted to get out, but word has it the bar was shut down shortly after. This was our first big night out in weeks and Saturday had just begun!!!


Saturday: BBQ & "Pool" Party


Recovered from the night before, we headed out to the local markets with volunteer Richard from Colombia. This afternoon was extra special because Lewis and I were thrown into non stop Spanish. We got to listen to Richard haggle in Spanish and he taught us words along the way. With enough food to feed 30 people we headed back to the hostel to cook on the rooftop with views off all the surrounding volcanoes. Richard continued to speak only Spanish to us and he taught us how to make pico de gallo and chimmy churro sauces. Yum! The BBQ was a huge hit, I'm already looking forward to next weekends! But the night had yet to begin. We still had to make our way out to the pool party...


Every Saturday for the last year there has been a rave party hosted in an abandoned swimming pool outside of the city. In the deep in a DJ had his table set up, while the shallows had a bar and a lounge for sore feet from too much dancing. From 12-5 we danced our booties off. I was ready for a sit down  so we climbed out of the pool for a dance break and was greeted with a wonderful surprise. The volcanoe had erupted!!!! We watched the sunrise and the ash drift, while the thump thump of the party continued on. With the sun out it was time to head back in to town and what better way of doing this was to hitchhiking, accompanied by Palu our Polish/Irish hitchhiker/hostel barman we easily returned home, but not to crawl back into bed.

Technically Sunday

Back at the hostel it was time to continue the party! The group had a few beers, swapped a few stories, and watched the volcano erupt three more times!!!! By 10 I was ready for a sleep, but since we live in an attic it was too hot to lay down. With our second wind Lewis and I decided to climb a local hill, with amazing views of Antigua. Very pleasant way to end a big weekend. :)