Silly Boys

Acatenango and Fuego Volcanos, Antigua, Guatemala

Well, that was fun! And inspiring. And challenging. And tiring. 

Diana booked us on a two-day volcano tour. Not usually the kind of thing that we do, but reader Torry K’s sister and brother-in-law, who lived in Guatemala for fifteen years, recommended we think about it. 

Boy, are we glad that we did. First off, it was really nice to have a bit of a Gilligan’s Island type experience – trapped on a deserted volcano for two days with ten other touristicas, our captain, Willie, and his assistant, eighteen year old Edwin. 

Well, not exactly deserted. There were probably around 400 other souls up on the volcano with us – but they weren’t part of our group and, therefore, didn’t really count. (Isn’t it amazing how quickly humans can form a clan?)

It was wonderful for Diana and I to have two days of hiking with folks to talk to, to chat with, and to share our short-term volcano mission with. 

The whole experience was a bit crazy from the perspective of U.S. safety and environmental standards. Everyone – like all 400 people who do the tour each day – is hiking up the mountain on the same paths. Erosion is rampant. Loose dirt and rock everywhere. Basically no stairs. No signage. No guardrails. No warnings. No waivers. Just start marching and hope for the best. But kind of refreshing really. Rather than spoon feed us rules and regulations, I guess the tour companies just rely upon everyone to be accountable for themselves.

I think we started at around 8,000 feet and walked up to “base camp” – at about 12,000 feet, I think. That took around five or six hours. Super steep and, with the loose rock and soil, pretty difficult.

Once at base camp we were about 1,100 feet below the top of Acatenango – a dormant volcano – and probably at about the same height as Fuego – a very much living volcano that was right next door. Every few minutes you could hear the volcano rumble and see big puffs of smoke come out of the crater at the top. It’s as if Mother Earth is a big cigar smoker and she’s puffing her ringlets into the atmosphere. 

From base camp you can do an additional hike – about 1,100 feet back down Acatenango onto a saddle leading to Fuego and then back up onto a ridge immediately adjacent to the boiling crater – where you can enjoy the sunset and, once the light has faded, see the lava spewing out and rolling down the sides of the volcano (the lava happens during the day as well – but it is only after nightfall that you see how cool it really is). 

If, like us, you have never really seen volcanos and lava other than in National Geographic photos or something – let me just tell you that they are something to behold. Active volcanoes like Fuego are not fooling around. Our planet is still alive and powerful and capable of messing up the best laid plans of mice and men at any time . . .

I guess it’s “not legal” to hike to Fuego – and, because of that (?), the tour charges a bit extra if you want to go . . . Diana chose to enjoy the camp and the very good view from there, but of course I couldn’t resist. Me and three other guys – Nico from Greece, and Jairo and Chase, who didn’t know each other beforehand, but are both from the same small town in Georgia. Edwin showed the way.

As expected, the bonus Fuego hike was difficult – VERY cold once you reached the exposed ridge near Fuego – and very rewarding. Wow!

Meanwhile, Diana adds that she, and the other more sensible adventurers enjoyed a much more humane sunrise hike towards Fuego, followed by dinner, hot chocolate, roasting marshmallows and lots of chatting by a warm fire at base camp. (I should note that when we arrived at base camp Captain Willie informed us that there were no toilets – but it would be a good idea to find a discrete spot to go. Which is maybe easier said than done because we’re on a mountain where one false step can lead to a pretty Humpty Dumpty like fall . . .)

Before we left, Ellie, a brilliant young woman (we talked about how we loved the idioms that the British come up with) from London, dubbed us the “silly boys’ (must be said in a posh British accent) and that became the tagline for the trip . . . (Really, Ellie was part of a brilliant couple – her boyfriend Ethan – a very good bloke himself – even explained some of the very extensive rules of cricket to me as we hiked).

I must admit that this extra portion of the journey was a bit of a death march. Went from about 4 – 8 p.m. – with dinner after we returned. If you know me well, you know that skipping dinner is not really a thing that I do. But I had a few snacks and we managed to make it work. 

(It turned out that Diana and I were the elder statesmen on this trip. With the exception of two people in their 30s everyone else was in their 20s. But it also turned out that all of our daily biking means that we’re pretty fit. When the four of us “Silly Boys” went on our extra hike it was a pretty big challenge for all of us – but particularly for Chase and Jairo – who I think were a little dehydrated and hungry. We had Jairo ask Edwin how the hike was for him. Edwin’s response? It was a 1 on a scale of 1-to-10. Pretty deflating, really . . . I guess they need to teach Edwin some PR skills: don’t make your clients feel worse than they already do . . .) 

But it was all so worth it. 

Oh, by the way, we figured out that the tour company rented hiking boots and I ended up taking that option. They were super expensive by any standards, but especially for Guatemala – like $35. Wouldn’t be that bad, except these hiking boots were horrible. Think the tour company’s collection of boots was obtained at a Salvation Army someplace . . . I have terrible blisters now, but at least I’m alive. Pretty sure I would have fallen off the mountain completely had I been wearing crocs. At least blisters heal . . .

Meals. We were each given two Tupperware containers – containing our lunch and dinner. And then Willie and Edwin used a cook stove to warm things up a bit. All good – and we actually received lots of veggies. Good too. But poor Abbie, another young woman from London, is trying to stay kosher and I’m not sure the Guatemalans understand either vegetarianism or kosher. So she struggled to eat anything – which is a challenge when you’re doing something this strenuous…

Sleeping. They had three tiny A-frame type structures for us. Four people to an A-frame – which, it should be noted, were not tall enough to stand up in. But you couldn’t stand up anyway because the floor space was 100% covered with the four small mattresses. We shared the place with Adam and Sofia – a nice young couple from Toronto. We told them about last year’s prep trip to that fair city and shared stories of how nice the place is.

Did I mention that it was cold up on the mountain? There was hoar frost around this morning – which would tend to indicate that it got down below zero Celsius (32 F). These A-frames are not insulated – and we were freezing! We “slept” – if you can call it sleeping – with all of our clothes on – but we were still cold. (They provided sleeping bags but, again, maybe not the best sleeping bags I’ve ever seen . . .)

I suppose it didn’t matter much anyway – because we were up at 4 a.m. for yet another hike. This one up to the top of Acatenango – in the pitch darkness, where we enjoyed a 360 degree view of Guatemala. Pretty spectacular. I think we could see about seven volcanoes from there, along with Antigua, Guatemala City, Lake Atitlin, and the sunset. Again – absolutely freezing. Howling winds. The whole Silly Boys group – which had by this time morphed into the name for the whole 12-person clan – huddled together like penguins – trying desperately to stay warm.

On the cold front, Captain Willy told me that it used to be a lot colder at the top – but climate change has had a big effect. I should mention that Willy is a lot like so many of our friends from Mexico and Central America. He lived and worked up in the States (Delaware I think) for seven years before he was deported because he did not have legal status. He’s been doing the tour guiding work ever since – having climbed to the top of Acatenango for the first time when he was eleven. 

The trip back down to base camp? Basically “skiing” through scree fields of lava rock. One false move and you could get down real quick . . . if you know what I mean . . . Fortunately, everyone made it just fine. 

Hoping we see some of these folks again soon. Jairo and Chase are talking about going on a running and biking regiment and then meeting us for a few days of our journey – maybe in South America. Would be particularly great to have Jairo along – because he has language superpowers; he can go back and forth between English and Spanish without even thinking . . . Jairo’s parents are both of Mexican descent, and he spent his summers when he was growing up with his extended family in Jalisco, near Guadalajara. Such a pleasure to get to know Jairo and the whole group. 

Thinking that maybe we connect with Ellie and Ethan in London, and Nico in Greece before we’re all done . . . We’ll see!

Okay, that’s all you get – because 1) it’s Thanksgiving, and 2) I am so beat tired after all of this . . .

Pending our soreness from hiking holding us back we’re planning to head through Guatemala City and then toward Honduras and the Copan Ruinas – suggested by our loyal readers Karen and Bill B.

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving – with no family “volcanoes” . . . 🙂