Acatenango Glamping: Safari Tents at 3,750 m, Four Ecosystems on the Way Up

The camp is safari-style glamping: proper tents with cots and mattresses, pitched at 12,300 ft / 3,750 m on wind-swept volcanic ground, facing Fuego. The walk up crosses four kinds of country in a single afternoon. Farmland first, where the crops are corn and snow peas. Then tropical cloud forest, which shades the steepest part of the climb. Above that, high-alpine forest with six volcanoes in view, and the trail lunch is eaten there. Then the bare volcanic ground where the camp is. Dinner, coffee and tea are taken round the fire, with the Antigua valley below and Fuego erupting in front, and the stars over it once the light goes. The summit is an hour's climb from camp after an early breakfast: 13,041 ft / 3,976 m, 360 degrees of it, with Fuego, the Antigua valley and the Guatemalan highlands running as far as Mexico. About an hour up there, weather and timing allowing. The descent takes three hours to La Soledad, where the transport waits, and Antigua is reached by about 1:00 pm. Transport from Antigua, the meals and a pre-trip briefing are included. Cancellations need three full days' notice for a refund; inside that window nothing is returned.