Antigua to Atitlan Safari Trek
Our sister company Trek Guatemala has just
returned from its first customer trip, trekking from Antigua to Lake
Atitlan. A vision that was crafted from
a couple nights drinking bourbon around the campfire out in the back country,
brought the idea to connect the two tourist centers together via a well thought
out, carefully planned, community/culturally based trekking route. While the walking itself is pretty
spectacular the well-appointed safari style tent camps are down right mind
blowing. Trek Guatemala wanted to create a rewarding and engaging trekking
route while at the same time offering all the creature comforts that are
typically forgotten about on an ordinary trekking holiday. Think hot showers
and queen size beds with down duvets!
The current trek is a three day two night
experience starting just a few kilometers outside of Antigua. It was carefully hand crafted to combine
scenic trail passing through culturally interesting areas with rich community
interactions and stunning campsite placements.
Day one has the group cresting out high above the Antigua valley before
dropping in the Acatenango valley well known for its great coffee. The group
walks through working coffee farms and then climbs up to a seemingly forgotten Mayan
village at the end of a dirt road directly facing Acatenango and active Fuego
volcanoes. This is the “Fuego” camp,
fittingly named after one of the two volcanoes that dominate the view. With a little luck sipping wine around the
campfire you will get a front row seat to one of Fuego’s famous lava eruptions.
Employing locals from the villages along
the route ensures that there is always an opportunity to gain some insight into
the lives of those who live in the area but to also give back to the
communities in which they pass through.
The group is always accompanied by a local guide who along the trek can
point out and share their personal experiences in the area, be it the hardships
of 35 years of civil war to peasant subsistence farming life. They have also trained women and men from
neighboring villages at each campsite as cooks, guides and camp helpers.
Day two of the trek takes you through lush
cloud forest and up high on a ridge that separates the more arid highland
plateau and the lush Pacific slope.
Traversing the ridge there are amble opportunities to see bird life and
other animals. After a full day of
walking the group walks into the second overnight camp called the “Agua”, named
for its huge views over the distant Lake Atitlan, your next and final
objective. The campsite is nestled in a
hill top forest just outside a small village. Part of the philosophy with Trek
Guatemala’s vision was to create a rewarding cultural experience with the
people of Guatemala. In this village
there is a women’s weaving cooperative that create textiles on the centuries
old fashion back strap looms. These
textiles are then gathered together and taken to such places as Antigua or
Panajachel where they are sold to tourists.
Here you will be able to see first-hand how these wonderful textiles are
made and have an opportunity to buy direct from the weavers themselves leaving
a greater economic impact.
Leaving “Agua” camp on the morning of day
three, the trail dives down through beet, corn, broccoli and bean fields and
into shaded coffee and avocado farms on its way down to the Madre Vieja
river. It’s a steep climb up and out of
the river valley to the top of the shelf overlooking Lake Atitlan. The reward of nearly three full days of
walking is evident as the group crests out over the lake and starts making its
descent to the water’s edge. Moving now
through a distinctly different landscape the group drops steeply and steadily
on the rocky trails overlooking Lake Atitlan.
There is an opportunity for a stop off at a Mayan Altar in a cave above
the town of San Antonio. Continuing down
here the trail as it winds closer to town begins to weave through terraced onion
and flower fields where local farmers channel the limited water into their
terraces based on an age old water sharing practice.
Arriving to the lake trekkers can decide to
either pack it in the bus and head back to Antigua or stay out on the lake at
one of the many hotels there. Trek
Guatemala is in process to continue the trek from Atitlan across the altiplano
to Quetzaltenango locally known as Xela.
For now however, they are offering extensions to the Hotel La Casa del
Mundo in Jaibalito where trekkers can kayak or relax in a swinging in a hammock
lakeside.
For about $150 per person per day, the trek
is all inclusive. All you have to do is
show up, lace up the ole boots and take in the sites of the trail. The well-oiled machine of Trek Guatemala will
do all the heavy lifting and logistical planning from getting you in from the
airport to setting up the camps to keeping the beers cold.
Old Town Outfitters is excited to be
partnering with Trek Guatemala to help travelers find this unique, handcrafted
trekking one-of-a-kind cultural trekking experience.
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