Antigua in Guatemala really is a gorgeous city. The entire place is UNESCO protected, it has been really well restored, and although it is very touristy – it actually works (this coming from a person who doesn’t generally go in for really touristy places – hello Granada, Nicaragua). It also has a really lovely climate (I escaped the heat finally!) and is surrounded by 3 amazing volcanoes.
The most photographed of the three would have to be Volcán de Agua, simply because the city sits right at its base and you can get a shot like this through the Arch – one of the most famous landmarks in Antigua.
The other two volcanos are Volcán Acatenango (right) and Volcán de Fuego (left).
Acatenango is the most popular volcano hike in the area (no, I have stopped climbing volcanos for the moment because the views are not great at this time of year during the rainy season) as it has the best view of the very active Volcán de Fuego next to it. When I come back to Guatemala (hopefully next year) I’ll come at a different time of year and do the overnight camping trip to Acatenango.
A couple of days after I took the above image, the view looked more like this:
Yes, Volcán de Fuego had put on a spectacular show the night before, gushing fresh lava, ash and sundry. As luck would have it – that was the night I decided to hang out on the rooftop terrace of the Airbnb I was staying at (highly recommend staying with Evelyn at Taanah) – and I even captured a lightning strike to top it all off 🙂
