We broke up the 2 day trek back to Antigua by stopping for two nights at a little eco lodge along the Rio Dulce – it’s only possible to get a boat there so we left Pepe at the dock and took a (somewhat wet) journey to a lovely lodge an hour down the river. We celebrated New Years Eve with a family-style dinner with the other guests and a hilarious game of charades. It was very clear that when playing charades with an international bunch that one man’s famous is another man’s extremely obscure (how do people not know who Enid Blyton is?).
Relaxing next to Rio Dulce
The next day we took out some canoes for a canoe and hike to a waterfall. It was beautiful but unfortunately, one of the people at the lodge told us they’d seen a snake on this walk last time they did it which made the walk part of the trek a little less enjoyable for the ophidiophobic (yes, I just looked that up) amongst us especially as we waded barefoot through the jungle in 10cm deep mud to get there. We couldn’t help feeling, a little bit like pansies flailing around in the mud as a local mother of two glided past us with a baby on her back and another on her hip as if it was a walk in the park.
There wasn’t much else to do at Rio Dulce so 2 days was perfect – a peaceful place with delicious food, run by lovely people with a passion for interesting sitting spots, creative light fixtures & the most amazing lush tropical garden.
Shivering on top of Acatenango
After our 2 days, we headed back to Antigua a little sad that the time with family would soon be coming to an end. We bid farewell to Mike the next day after a final coffee at Refugio and headed off with Cath to do an overnight hike to the top of Volcano Acatenango. It was meant to be a hike to see the neighbouring (active) Volcano Fuego from above spewing up lava at night. It didn’t quite turn out to be that… it was a long, tough ,sandy slog up to the top which took most of the day only to arrive in freezing cold and complete cloud cover that lifted for only a few moments at sunset.
Looking down on the active Volcano Fuego from on top on Acatenango
Meanwhile, the wind howled and the random assortment of food that had been quite literally chucked at us as we started our hike by our ‘fully catered hike’ organisers didn’t have anything to be assembled or cooked in. So it was squished bread with boiled egg and pasta sauce sandwiches with a side serving of baby corn. Delish. And, yes it was windy. Our ‘quality comfortable tents’ didn’t quite match up to the wind as the wet sides caved in around the three of us huddling together with our sleeping bags slowing getting wetter. But we ate cold banana bread (we brought that) and laughed, a lot. We awoke (not sure we ever really got to sleep) cold and wet to… more clouds, more wind… and got out of there. A bit of a shame but we did catch some beautiful glimpses, had many bonding-moment laughs and learnt some new culinary skills so of course, it was worth it.
A rare glimpse… the clouds on Acatenango parted briefly for a spectacular view
A long hot shower at the Yellow House later and we were fully recovered – ready for a final meal at our favourite spot Toko Barru.
Cath left (more tears) the next day and we stayed for another 2, catching up with friends Rachel, Lauren and Peter again (lots of garlic, too much wine) one night and Mira and Ahmet (with red wine in their beautiful camper ‘Mogli’) the next.
And then it was time, sadly, to leave our beloved Guatemala. It is a country that is hard to sum up, but one that has to be experienced. The prevalent Mayan culture that permeates every corner of the county is intoxicating.
The spectacular natural sights will, of course, remain in our memories forever but so much of the love we felt for Guatemala came from the people & their peacefulness. If you have ever seen a a Guatemalan smile, you will know what we mean by this. Their peacefulness is all the more remarkable considering the recent history of a bloody 36 year civil war in which a US-backed military dictatorship undertook a genocidal campaign against the local indigenous Mayans and 200,000 were killed. Thankfully, the county has found peace, despite it still having its many social & economic problems.
Cath reflected that she couldn’t believe that Guatemala contained one of the most dangerous cities in the world – ‘the people are just so chilled’ she said ‘You go to the markets, no one ever hassles you to buy anything, you walk past a building site, no one ever wolf whistles, people just smile and welcome you to their beautiful country.’
Antigua by night
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