IMMERSIVE Episode – Hiking Acatenango Volcano: A Brutal Hike to See Erupting Fuego in Guatemala

Holy moly! was the Atifuego volcano in Guatemala and this is the hike up to Acatenango volcano near Antigua in Guatemala.

Every 10 minutes there is an eruption and it's absolutely sensational but my word this hike is tough. I'm not a great hiker so I'm questioning how hard is this hike? Am I gonna like it? Is it worth it for the views? What's the group gonna be like that I'm going with? What about the tour group? The accommodation? Is it fun?

safe to say judging from that intro we're in for a treat so let's get stuck in

It's the day of the volcano and it's a beautiful day. Clear blue skies, it's going to be mid-20s today, which is good going up because it'll get colder as we go up. I'm slightly nervous, can't consume breakfast. I just need to get there, meet the group, get to the start point and get going. I've been thinking about this for three or four days now. Probably even the whole trip I knew to this point, this is going be the main challenge. So I'm looking forward to getting up there, seeing the views, getting it done.

I'm looking forward to seeing some awesome volcanic action. I mean, where can you see that in the world? This won't be the first one I've done. I did hike up the Yasa volcano in Tana in Vanuatu. So that's the first one we did. That was a bit hairy. More for safety concerns, not for the hike up. This will be a much tougher task going up.

The shuttle bus was quiet. We've all been picked up from our hostels, gathered together on this shuttle bus and headed towards the start point, which is an hour away by road.

The Akitanango Volcano hike is a challenging trek to the summit of 13,000 feet or just under 4,000 meters to Akitanango Volcano from where you can watch the active Fuego volcano in the distance. The hike will take 4 to 6 hours and it'll be overnight so we will be staying in huts and then hiking back down the next day. The cost is around 40 US dollars that includes everything from transport there, back and food with water but I'll come back to that in a second.

We are nervous but looking forward to the views.

Our tour company is called Barco Expeditions and we arrived to their base camp. They strangely gave us a 3 litre bottle of water. I had no space to fit it in my bag. I had to pay to borrow a bigger bag. And after repacking my own bag with the 3 litre bottle of water and our lunch and some warm clothes, we gathered to start the hike.

This was our first break after the first initial climb. It was already tough. If it's not a hike, I'll do as I go, recording video myself, but I can't do it with this hike. This will be a brutal five or six hour climb and after 30 minutes, but already out of breath.

The ground was soft, volcanic-like, so it's really tough on the knees. One step after the other, it sinks into the volcanic ash on the ground. It was quite tough. This is our first big break and the first bit of proper food. Unfortunately, I left my bread beside me and a dog ran up and nicked it. Annoying.

After what seems like five minutes, we're back up and hiking uphill and this bit is really steep. My word.

After a few hours, it's lunch. I was already over it. It doesn't matter if you're slow, the group will wait for you at the next stop. I was at the back because I can't do uphill very well.

people chanted to get through it.

There is no break in the uphill climb. It is one step after the other. On some hikes you have flat bits and you can rest and recuperate before going up again. This is constantly uphill on the volcanic ash. It was absolutely brutal. I'm breathing heavily here and my head is in my hands as I try to recover from the last uphill section.

I'm not the only one struggling but we made it to the flat bit. Relief, happiness and getting closer to the end goal. Finally some flat bit. When you get near to the camp there's a 45 minute walk along the edge of the volcano and the views start to appear around the corner and it's absolutely sensational.

You can hear little rumblings. It took five hours to get uphill and there is not a cloud in sight. It's cooler and Fuego is in the distance.

can't wait to sit down with a cup of coffee and watch the views.

There is one final push up the rocks to the camp but just round the corner before that is a sneak peek of the volcano and she is majestic. I dig the walking poles in to the volcanic ash to pull myself up. You can hear the rest of the group in the background who have already made it. I can't wait to stop. I'm minutes away from base camp.

And that is view behind me, that is the volcano. Wow, what a view. Smoke will come out of that during the night, so I'm looking forward to the night time views. I am done. That was a brutal hike, but I'm looking forward to getting to the camp, put my feet up and have a Coke. Vamos.

one last push.

Finally, I've made it. It's quiet, it's 13,000 feet up, it's cold, but we have uninterrupted views of Fuego Volcano and I can't wait to settle in. First we have to pick our bed. There is over 15 people sharing one room and one bed. It's pretty crazy.

The first rumbles and the first sighting of smoke coming out of Fuego Volcano. We don't quite see the lava yet because it's not nightfall but it is coming. You can actually go and climb up Fuego Volcano for an extra 200 quetzales and some on a group did. I didn't but you'll hear more about that on the next episode with my friend Nick. A lot of information to share but for now

I'm sitting with my new friends on a seat with a cup of tea with the views straight ahead. It's dreamy.

My friend Nick on the hike has just told us he's gonna climb Fuego and it should take them three hours. I don't think we're convinced and we think they're crazy. It's beautiful. I'm sure you're crazy. It's three hours right? It's three hours. I can't do three hours. It's five minutes down, probably five minutes after and it's just the same again. It's easy. Three hours. get our first taste of a bigger option.

It was breathtaking and more kept coming.

I'm on my way to the church.

Let me try to explain what I'm seeing. Straight ahead there is a volcano whose rumble will come first and then about a second or two after it would erupt in smoke and at night you get to see the lava come over the top and of course during the day there is lava but you don't see it because of the daylight. It truly is spectacular and it happens every 10 minutes.

You can feel the force in your headphones. It's remarkable. And now we're entering into night and the views just get even better.

They just kept on coming.

Holy moly.

The voices in the distance are the other campsites beneath us and above us and they see the same thing as us. Equally amazed, stunned and just can't quite believe every 10 minutes what we're seeing.

I'm sorry.

This happened all night as we slept but let's move on to the next morning.

It was so quiet and peaceful. I didn't sleep that well and I was up at 5.30 for sunrise. I got some cool time lapses with the sun coming over the horizon. Magical.

The sound of the volcano is never too far away.

One eruption was so powerful it blew the door open in our accommodation. Crazy.

I soaked in the views, got as many photos and videos as possible and waited for breakfast. It was nearly time to leave to head back down.

It was time for coffee and porridge before we packed up our gear, got ready, grabbed our walking poles and said goodbye one last time to Akitanango and Fuego volcano.

We are off back down the same way as yesterday and it should take in theory half the time. Unbelievably there are offers on the way up all the way down to get a lift in a truck. We all said no yesterday and we all said no today. It will cost you about 65 to 70 US dollars. If you want to lift down there that is £50 for that truck.

I find downhill much easier and the pace was quick and this time I'm at the front. Just like that we're back down to the first stop yesterday which was the first big stop. The knees were hurting because the volcanic ash is tough on your feet when you're going downhill and just before the stop people fell over you can't quite get your grip someone cut their hand on some barbed wire on a fence.

It was chaos, but we made it back. One last walk into town, back to base camp, and it's time to head back to Antigua.

There is so much to tell from this hike, but that will be covered with my friend Nick in the next episode. And it's not all good, but some great tips if you plan to do this hike in the future. But now it's time to get back to Antigua, rest the legs, get some food, recover and look back on an amazing hike in terms of the scenery and the scenes.

It truly was remarkable. It's also worth noting that right now, Fuego is not erupting, so you might have to wait your turn into the future. Thanks for checking out the podcast today. If you like these immersive audio episodes, I do have a few more on San Salvador, in El Salvador, Bangalore and more. Just head to the Wind It Travel podcast on Apple Podcasts or Spotify where you can find those episodes. Don't forget to leave a five star review and I'll see you next time.