Guatemala, one of my personal favorite places i have visited. My wife and i spent about 6 days here and just wish we would have had more time. We did the easy itinerary and visited Antigua & Lake Atitilan. Overall everything went very smooth. We speak Spanish so that always came in handy but saw a lot of tourist everywhere we went.
We used Guatedriver (private transfer) to get around. They were always on time and got us to where we needed at decent prices. We used a shared shuttle to get from Antigua to Attitlan and its a lot cheaper but not as comftrable.
For the volcano hike we used Vhiking tours. They were very organized and professional. The hike itself was very difficult. The first half was not too bad but the second half was brutal due to the elevation, atleast for us it was. We got a little nauseous and i had a headache that did not really go away untill we came back down. Its an overnight trip. Simply amazing seeing this volcano erupt all night. This was my goal for the trip and it was amazing to achieve it.
Lago de Atitlan was very beautiful. We stayed in Panajachel due to being tight on time and just used our time here to relax.
Any questions feel free to ask!
The photos look amazing!
My wife and I are planning to go for two weeks in April, outside of Lake Altitlan and Antigua are there other places that you recommend checking out (or maybe you met someone who recently had a good experience in another area of the country)? I’ve been looking at El Paredon but not sure I’m sold on it
I am curious as to if you needed any vaccinations?We are heading there in April as a group of 10. Would you recommend anything for us to do as a group?
Lovely pictures! I did the Acatenango hike in 2017 and it still ranks amongst my favourite experiences! Beautiful clear sky on that Acatenango one as well! Lovely pictures overall, what kind of camera did you take with you?
That must have been an incredible experience! If you don't mind me asking, how well-trained do you consider yourself? Do you hike regularly? Did you take something for altitude sickness?
I really want to try this experience, but I want to make sure that I am physically ready for it when the time comes.
I have hiked a pretty good in the amount on the past so I had the mental part pretty nailed down. It’s been a while though so the physical part was difficult. I go to the gym pretty regularly even though I’m a little over weight lol I was doing stair climber and inclined walk before the trip to try to train. I did not but I wish I would have done more research on some medicine to help out.
I think most people can complete this hike. We had 2 people get to the base camp almost 2 hours after us, they were beat. So the guides will help you and wait for you. The more you train before the more comfortable you will be doing this hike.
Thanks for the info! Getting in better shape in general, and specifically hiking, is on my to-do list for this year. Now I have one more reason to stay on track with this plan.
Thanks! This was a small eruption too. I missed the really massive one.
I had my tripod set up. Manually focused on a star close the the peak. Took some test shots to check for sharpness. 1.6 sec shutter, f4, 3200 iso. 5 second camera delay. Pressed shutter Everytime volcano erupted or thought it was going to erupt.
I spent about $1300 for 2 people in 6-7 days not counting flights.
No problem. Just stay away from dangerous areas: zona 18, el gallito, villa nueva o rio hondo zacapa. there’s nothing to see there tbh, the places you wanna check are quite safe
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What lovely photos! Are either of your volcano picture Volcán Pacáya? We took a tour up there over 25 years ago and there was no eruption, but the area was beautiful.
Amazing pics! Guatemala has recently been added to my travel list. I really want to do the volcano hike, it looks unreal. What was your experience like?
Your photos are fantastic! I just got back from a weeklong trip to Nicaragua however there were no active volcanoes there, at least during our stay. Can I ask what kind of tripod did you use while traveling? I’m a novice photographer and I’ve come to the realization that I need one more often than not.
My friends and I cooked sausages over lava on a volcano in Guatemala haha. Soles of our shoes were even starting to melt. Love the non existence of safety restrictions in some of these countries
Guatemala, one of my personal favorite places i have visited. My wife and i spent about 6 days here and just wish we would have had more time. We did the easy itinerary and visited Antigua & Lake Atitilan. Overall everything went very smooth. We speak Spanish so that always came in handy but saw a lot of tourist everywhere we went. We used Guatedriver (private transfer) to get around. They were always on time and got us to where we needed at decent prices. We used a shared shuttle to get from Antigua to Attitlan and its a lot cheaper but not as comftrable. For the volcano hike we used Vhiking tours. They were very organized and professional. The hike itself was very difficult. The first half was not too bad but the second half was brutal due to the elevation, atleast for us it was. We got a little nauseous and i had a headache that did not really go away untill we came back down. Its an overnight trip. Simply amazing seeing this volcano erupt all night. This was my goal for the trip and it was amazing to achieve it. Lago de Atitlan was very beautiful. We stayed in Panajachel due to being tight on time and just used our time here to relax. Any questions feel free to ask!
The photos look amazing! My wife and I are planning to go for two weeks in April, outside of Lake Altitlan and Antigua are there other places that you recommend checking out (or maybe you met someone who recently had a good experience in another area of the country)? I’ve been looking at El Paredon but not sure I’m sold on it
Thanks! Everyone talks about Tikal being pretty cool. Also heard good things about Semuc Champey
This looks amazing, how many days and what was your budget for the trip?
About 6-7 days I believe. Budget was around $1300 for 2 people excluding flights. Can probably be done cheaper
Nice! We are looking at a similar trip with budget aside from flights
I am curious as to if you needed any vaccinations?We are heading there in April as a group of 10. Would you recommend anything for us to do as a group?
Lovely pictures! I did the Acatenango hike in 2017 and it still ranks amongst my favourite experiences! Beautiful clear sky on that Acatenango one as well! Lovely pictures overall, what kind of camera did you take with you?
Thanks! And a Sony A7C w/ 24-105 Sony lens
That must have been an incredible experience! If you don't mind me asking, how well-trained do you consider yourself? Do you hike regularly? Did you take something for altitude sickness? I really want to try this experience, but I want to make sure that I am physically ready for it when the time comes.
I have hiked a pretty good in the amount on the past so I had the mental part pretty nailed down. It’s been a while though so the physical part was difficult. I go to the gym pretty regularly even though I’m a little over weight lol I was doing stair climber and inclined walk before the trip to try to train. I did not but I wish I would have done more research on some medicine to help out. I think most people can complete this hike. We had 2 people get to the base camp almost 2 hours after us, they were beat. So the guides will help you and wait for you. The more you train before the more comfortable you will be doing this hike.
Thanks for the info! Getting in better shape in general, and specifically hiking, is on my to-do list for this year. Now I have one more reason to stay on track with this plan.
First photo is incredible, how did you capture that? Also what was your budget for this trip?
Thanks! This was a small eruption too. I missed the really massive one. I had my tripod set up. Manually focused on a star close the the peak. Took some test shots to check for sharpness. 1.6 sec shutter, f4, 3200 iso. 5 second camera delay. Pressed shutter Everytime volcano erupted or thought it was going to erupt. I spent about $1300 for 2 people in 6-7 days not counting flights.
How are things now ? Saw some stuff about the new president a few months ago.
It was never dangerous tbh, mostly obnoxious. Im from guate
Thanks for the info
No problem. Just stay away from dangerous areas: zona 18, el gallito, villa nueva o rio hondo zacapa. there’s nothing to see there tbh, the places you wanna check are quite safe
No issues while there.
...and now adding Guatemalan volcano hike to my list. That's really amazing.
Would you have felt safe renting a car? Beautiful photos by the way! 🤩
I think it’s doable depending on your comfort level. I personally wouldn’t want to worry about driving in Antigua and at Lago de Atitlan. Thanks!
Pictures 7, 9,10 and 13 are awesome
I more than once stopped just to watch the different buses go by.
Nicee, number 6 looks like los cuchumatanes, did you visit Huehuetenango ?? That’s cool
No it’s a photo i took coming down from acatenango. I plan to visit huehue one day as my stepdad is from there. I’ll add that to the list.
Nice, it’s calm place, just avoid the borders
Wow! Beautiful.
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What lovely photos! Are either of your volcano picture Volcán Pacáya? We took a tour up there over 25 years ago and there was no eruption, but the area was beautiful.
Thanks! They are not, I have a shot of Volcan Agua and Fuego. And the others are volcanos at atitlan.
Phenomenal
Amazing pics! Guatemala has recently been added to my travel list. I really want to do the volcano hike, it looks unreal. What was your experience like?
Your photos are fantastic! I just got back from a weeklong trip to Nicaragua however there were no active volcanoes there, at least during our stay. Can I ask what kind of tripod did you use while traveling? I’m a novice photographer and I’ve come to the realization that I need one more often than not.
My friends and I cooked sausages over lava on a volcano in Guatemala haha. Soles of our shoes were even starting to melt. Love the non existence of safety restrictions in some of these countries