Early rise for a Pacaya volcano hike in Guatemala, marshmallow roasting at the top, discovering Antigua’s delights, and acclimating our baby to new sleeping arrangements.
Today we got up at 5 AM to head up to one of 37 active volcanoes in Guatemala! Pacaya is one of three that are in constant activity, and we got to go see it!
Most visitors to Guatemala will hike Acatenango to see Fuego erupt, which we definitely would have done if we didn’t have a baby to carry, but that hike was going to be a little too much for us so we chose the next best thing!
The Pacaya hike was a 3.5 mile loop, and took us about 3 hours from start to finish. At the top, we got to roast marshmallows over a heat vent from the volcanic activity below. If you plan to do this hike, you should know that the way up (if you do the full loop) is quite steep. We were all huffing and puffing on the way up. The great thing is, it doesn’t last too long. 1,100ft gain in 1.5 miles only took us less than 2 hours. There is a lot of tree cover so you have plenty of shade, and the horses follow you the whole way up in case you decide you want a taxi to the top 😂🐴 I believe horses were 200 Quetzals one way or 300 Quetzals for the whole trip ($25-38USD). Because this was a loop hike, the way down was a bit different. After walking through the field of hardened lava rock, you walk down an extremely dusty slope that overlooks the valley below.
We started the hike at 8:30am and made it down by 11:30! The drive back on the shuttle was a winding road, and took us about an hour to get back to Antigua.
After that, our first order of business was finding some mango with lime and tajín! 🤤🥭 We went back to the room with it to let baby get covered in mango pulp while she played with the pits, got all cleaned up (we were covered in dust from the hike) then went back into town to see the full scale of the local market. Since we are heading to a huge market tomorrow and the hanging meats and organs were far from appetizing, we didn’t stay at the market long. Instead, went to find some food!
Lo and behold, the best burger ever at Madre Tierra. It comes with red onion, cheese, lettuce, guac, and chimichurri. It’s a 10/10 on the BBS (Bloomquist Burger Scale) and 11/10 if you consider the fact that it was only $8USD.
After a quick couple of stops to get diapers and cash, we spent the rest of the evening relaxing at our place. We’ve discovered that Antigua is a very walkable town. Nice and flat, sidewalks almost everywhere, and the location of our hostel was perfect.
Through the entire day, the only naps Robin got were in her carrier—and she did great!! She was able to fall asleep tonight but was still pretty worked up at first just like last night, we think she may be still adjusting to sleeping in her little baby tent at night. We got her a little baby-sized tent to be able to sleep on the floor without crawling away or letting spiders crawl on her. She’s still a bit confused about where her crib is!
Follow along for updates on our entire trip to Guatemala with our 11-month-old daughter!
If you’re like me and you read travel blogs wondering, “Should I use this itinerary?” – because how do you know if the blogger would do it the same way a second time? I’ll just say, I highly recommend this route! Our original plan included some beach time down on the Pacific Coast, but you’ll see we changed our plans mid-trip. I’m so glad we did!
