As you may have seen from my Antigua post, the active Fuego volcano is visible from the city on a clear day.

But the key activity in these parts is to get a lot closer by going up to the higher slopes of Acatenango and staying overnight at 3,600 metres above sea level to watch the lava spill from Fuego!

It’s a 4-6 hour hike up to basecamp, pretty tough especially given the altitude. We took the seniors route and jumped in the pick up truck that takes the supplies and rucksacks up to the end of the main trail. That’s a very bumpy 1.5hr ride but much easier on the legs!

From this point you collect your ruck sack containing your overnight clothes and 3-4 litres of water for the trek to basecamp. Our drive took us 80% of the way but we trekked the last 20% fully loaded. Personally, I found it pretty tough, given the altitude I was struggling for breath during parts of the final accent.

My wife, breezed along at pace though 😉 and as we ascended, the views of the Agua, Acatenango and Fuego volcanoes started to take centre stage.

On arriving at base camp we had time to settle into our home for the next 24hrs. It’s a fairly basic set up, at around 3,600 metres above sea level, that’s likely a necessity. But the views across to Fuego were just awesome.

Above is our private two person cabin, very basic, lots of ‘ventilation’ with two basic mattresses, two sleeping bags and a blanket each.

The view from the toilet was great, the experience of using it less than great!

Having bypassed the main trek up the mountain, we had the unexpected pleasure of sitting watching Fuego’s eruptions for a few hours before the earnest trekkers arrived to join us.

The show was outstanding, the peak of Fuego is about 3km away but it’s captivating. You wait, you watch and you see nature just do it’s thing!

Around every 5 minutes Fuego has an eruption, most are small to medium puffs of smoke. But every 30-50 minutes you get a big one. These you can hear, maybe also feel the rumble, the smokey plume is bigger and rises higher. You also see debris rolling down the sides of the peak.

We were captivated and didn’t leave the spot for hours!

As the afternoon progressed, the clouds started to gather. We had been tracking the weather for days before, hoping for clear skies to enjoy the views in the daytime and nighttime but at this altitude is very variable.

The trekkers arrived around 3pm, suitably exhausted but elated by their accomplishment. But soon after the weather started to turn very cloudy, hiding Fuego and even the louder eruptions could not be heard.

An evening fire, marshmallows and hot chocolate were welcomed by the group, as the sun went down, it was starting to get cold.

About half the group set off on an a 3-4 hour hike in the cloudy night to get closer to Fuego.

As they returned, the clouds receded and the stars coated the blackness of the sky. My poor star photo below is not a good reflection of the wonderful display that we were presented with I’m afraid, best you go there yourself and see!

It was very cold and in the dark night sky there was little to see but the stars, waiting for the big red lava explosions became an ask too far so we headed off to bed.

It was a very cold and uncomfortable night. Also a sleepless one for me at least, trying to sleep in a sleeping bag with 3 layers of clothes on was never going to be a dreamy moment!

Every 40-50 minutes or so there would be a big rumble as Fuego went large with a fiery eruption. The fear of missing out became too much so we got up at 4am to return to Volcano monitoring mode.

The sun rose around 6am, rising behind Agua, and slowly the light started to tune out the blackness of the clear night sky.

The city lights below laid out a carpet of human activity 1,000’s of feet below us.

You can see the twin peaks of the Pacaya Volcano sitting below and behind Agua.

Finally, the sun rose above the horizon, bringing the promise of light and warmth to us all on the mountain top.

The early light making the Fuego smoke plumes look even more dramatic.

With the light still low, the power of the Fuego eruptions can be seen more easily.

The hot rocks and lava can be seen spilling down the sides of the Volcano in the early morning light.

What an experience this was, all the more so as it was something we had looked forward to with some trepidation. We had checked the weather daily, we had read lots of blogs, but we had done it!

The morning sun on Fuego was dramatic, but our time was coming to an end on this wonderful experience.

So that’s the end of our time in Antigua and its surrounding volcanoes. Guatemala continues to literally blow us away!

Tomorrow we fly to Flores to see the Mayan ruins at Tikal, already loaded with memories to last a lifetime.