Volcan de Agua

At the weekend a group of us hiked up the highest volcano in the area, Agua. I organised a group of people from a few language schools in Antigua and we ended up with a nice mixed group of two Americans, two Germans, one Swiss and an Australian. Most hikes up the volcano are done in one day in this season because there are frequent rains however we wanted to camp in the volcano crater and watch the sunrise from the top.

Jose, our guide met us in the central square of Antigua and took us to the small village where we began our hike. It is a small place inhabited by Mayan peoples and it was market day on Saturday. We walked past the stalls and piles of fruits up a street which gradually became a dusty path up the mountain. The mountain didn't seem that big but we would climb up 2,000m that day.

Jose walked fast and we had to ask him frequently to slow down. We were told that the hike would take 5 hours but some hikers we met on their way down took 7. They also had all their belongings stolen by robbers in balaclavas who had jumped out of the bushes waving machetes. It was not the sort of story we wanted to hear.

The hike is pretty steep up rocky paths which were still muddy from the rain. There were some interesting passes and occasionally we would share the tiny path with a Mayan and his horse. The views were extraordinary as the volcano towers 2000m above the plains to the North. We could clearly see Antigua, Guatemala city and the volcanoes and lakes of the area.

At the top there is a refuge in which we camped and warmed ourselves on a small stove. We arrived too late for the spectacular view of the Pacific and the Atlantic but managed some fairly magnificent sunset photos.

We had hoped to see the sunrise and set our alarms for 5am. In the morning however the top was covered in cloud and it was still dark. We checked periodically to see if the cloud had cleared but as the sun came up the visibility did not improve. It can happen but we were disspointed not to experience the spectacular views we had been described. Of course every day since then the volcano, which I see every day as I step out of the house, has been clear.