Treasures of Guatemala

Monday 26th September 2016 – We departed at 4:30am for Tikal, an ancient Mayan temple complex in the Guatemalan jungle. This was a totally different experience to Chichenitza; there were no crowds, the temples were spread over a much larger area and animals were everywhere. Walking down a muddy jungle path cris-crossed with huge tree roots then emerging into a clearing to see an overgrown Mayan temple in front of you was really cool. As we walked we saw spider and howler monkeys swinging through the trees above us, white nosed coatis snuffling through the leaf litter for insects and agoutis foraging for food on the forest floor. One of our favourite animals was an ocellated turkey with striking iridescent plumage and orange warts on its head which entertained us as it flapped, pecked and preened its way through the undergrowth. At one point we were startled by a quick movement near our feet, the elongated shape immediately recognisable as a snake. It was about four feet long with a green upper body that turned to orange-brown further down. We later identified it as a speckled racer, a non-venomous species that feeds on frogs and toads.

Tuesday 27th September 2016 – We woke early, took a tuk tuk to the bus station and boarded the next bus to Guatemala City, a journey of 8 hours or so. By the time we arrived it was getting dark. There were no buses onwards to Antigua at this station so we either needed to get to another bus station across town or take a taxi all the way to Antigua. We decided not to take our chances in the city and paid 250 quetzales for a taxi to Antigua. The taxi driver was a jolly fellow and the 2 hour journey passed quickly as we chatted about football, his family and Guatemalan life. After driving round the confusing one way cobbled streets for a while we eventually found our hotel. We wanted to fit as much as we could into our remaining time in Central America and tried to book a tour to Pacaya Volcano for the next day (an active volcano nearby where according to our guidebook you could poke lava with a stick). Unfortunately the tour was fully booked; we would have to wait.

Wednesday 28th September 2016 – Over breakfast we chatted with Nick, the British owner. He had worked for years in Belize running a sport fishing business that catered to wealthy American businessmen before settling down in Guatemala. He told us the best volcano trip was to Acatenango; from its summit you look down on the nearby Fuego Volcano which erupts several times a day sending molten lava down its slopes. It sounded fantastic and we booked immediately. It was only when we looked on Trip Advisor later that we realised what we had let ourselves in for. The volcano we were climbing was 3,900 metres high and all the reviews said how tough it was; a gruelling 6 hours uphill, followed by a freezing night under canvas and a 3.30am start the next morning in order to reach the top for sunrise. Alysa was terrified and I was a bit concerned too. We made the best preparations we could, buying a dozen bars of snickers, 6 bars of twix and about 10 litres of water. We packed every scrap of warm clothing we had, Alysa bought a new raincoat and I went to the market to get the gaping holes in my hiking shoes repaired. In addition we booked a porter to carry the tent and some of our provisions for us. We went to sleep feeling like we had an exam the next day.

Thursday 29th September 2016 – We had a good breakfast of pancakes with fruit, Nutella, maple syrup and cream cheese. We were the first to be picked up and Alysa watched with mounting horror as the minibus drove round Antigua picking up a procession of uber fit looking twenty year olds who proceeded to chat about all the treks they had done on their travels. On arriving at the base of the volcano we rented gloves and a couple of walking sticks. Our porter looked about fourteen and we felt really guilty as we handed over a big rucksack for him to carry. In fact the climb wasn’t anything like as bad as we had imagined and we arrived at camp less than five hours later. That evening we sat round a smoking fire exchanging travel stories and eating pot noodles. On the adjoining peak we could occasionally see the faint glow of lava from volcano Fuego although we weren’t lucky enough to see a full on eruption. Eventually, cocooned in about eight layers of clothing we climbed into our paper thin sleeping bags and slept till morning.