Volcano tours from Antigua
Volcán de Pacaya near Guatemala City is a spectacular and very active volcano that spews towering plumes of smoke and brilliant orange sludge – though such fire ‘n’ brimstone shows only happen sporadically. Gran Jaguar Tours offers basic, inexpensive trips for US$5–7/head, while adventure tour specialists charge from US$50 for a day hike.
Other cones to climb include volcanoes Agua and Acatenango, the toughest climb in this region, which gives a great view of the highly active neighbouring cone of Fuego.
Around Antigua
The countryside surrounding Antigua is superbly fertile and breathtakingly beautiful, peppered with olive-green coffee bushes and overshadowed by three volcanic cones. The valley is dotted with small villages, ranging from the traditional indigenous settlement of Santa María de Jesús to genteel San Juan del Obispo, which is dominated by a huge colonial palace. You’ll also find two excellent museums in Jocotenango, just north of Antigua. No place is more than thirty minutes away.
Jocotenango
The grimy suburb of Jocotenango, “place of bitter fruit”, is set around a huge, dusty plaza where there’s a weathered, dusty-pink Baroque church. In colonial times, Jocotenango was the gateway to Antigua, where official visitors would be met to be escorted into the city. Long notorious for its seedy bars, the town’s main industries are coffee production and woodcarving. There’s an excellent selection of bowls and fruits in the family-owned Artesanías Cardenas Barrios workshop on Calle San Felipe, where they have been working at the trade for five generations.
San Andrés Itzapa
About 10km north of Jocotenango, past Parramos, a side road branches to SAN ANDRÉS ITZAPA, famed as a base for the cult of San Simón, or Maximón. The so-called wicked saint’s abode is a short stroll from the central plaza, up a little hill – you should spot street vendors selling charms, incense and candles. If you get lost, ask for the Casa de San Simón. San Andrés’ Tuesday market is also worth a visit.
Volcán de Agua
Agua is the easiest and by far the most popular of Guatemala’s big cones to climb, and on Saturday nights dozens of people spend the night at the summit. It’s an exciting ascent with a fantastic view to reward you at the top. The trail starts in Santa María de Jesús: it’s a fairly simple climb on a clear (often garbage-strewn) path, taking five to six hours, and the peak, at 3766m, is always cold at night. There is shelter (though not always room) in a small chapel at the summit, and the views certainly make it worth the struggle.
As there have been (occasional) robberies reported on the outskirts of Santa María it’s best to team up with an Antigua adventure sports company (see Tourist crime in Antigua) and not attempt the hike on your own.
Volcán de Acatenango
Majestic Acatenango is the toughest volcano climb in the Antigua region, an exhausting but exhilarating six- to seven-hour hike. Its summit peaks at 3975m, making it the third largest cone in the country. The route is along a trail of slippery volcanic ash that rises with unrelenting steepness through thick forest. Only for the last 50m or so does it emerge above the tree line, before reaching the top of the lower cone. To the south, after another hour’s gruelling ascent, is the summit, accessed via a great grey bowl, from where there’s a magnificent view out across the valley below. On the opposite side is the Agua volcano and, to the right, the fire-scarred cone of Fuego. Looking west you can see the three volcanic peaks that surround Lake Atitlán and beyond them the Santa María volcano, high above Quetzaltenango.
Several agencies in Antigua run hiking trips, usually involving camping halfway up the cone and then an ascent in the early hours of the morning.
The wicked saint of San Andrés Itzapa
San Andrés shares with many other western-highland villages (including Zunil and Santiago Atitlán) the honour of revering San Simón, or Maximón, the wicked saint, whose image is housed in a pagan chapel in the village. His abode is home to drunken men, cigar-smoking women and hundreds of burning candles, each symbolizing a request. Curiously this San Simón attracts a largely ladino congregation and is particularly popular with prostitutes. Inside the dimly lit shrine, the walls are adorned with hundreds of plaques from all over Guatemala and Central America, thanking San Simón for his help. For a small fee, you may be offered a limpia, or soul cleansing, which involves one of the resident women workers beating you with a bushel of herbs, while you share a bottle of local firewater, aguardiente, with San Simón (it dribbles down his front) and the attendant will periodically spray you with alcohol from her mouth. If you are in the region, try to get to San Andrés on October 28 when San Simón is removed from his sanctuary and paraded through the town in a pagan celebration featuring much alcohol and dancing.