explore with juniper

It’s been a long time since I’ve last made a blog post, but today I will be talking about my experience in Guatemala as a solo female traveler. I visited this country in February of 2024 and spent 3 weeks there.

I flew into Guatemala City and got an uber for $40 from the airport to Antigua (a 2 hour drive!!). Chicken buses are one of the main and affordable ways to get around, but I did not use them as I heard safety can sometimes be an issue due to robbery. I stayed at Selina Hostel, and the highlight of my trip was hiking the Acatenango Volcano. I did the hike with Soy Tours. The tour starts at about 7am with hotel pickup. Then you are given a briefing and the option to store your luggage at their office and rent things such as hiking poles. The tour is family run and a lunch is packed for you and warm clothes are provided. Then we drove to the volcano and it took me about 8 hours to hike up. The hike is quite steep, but doable. I did not get altitude sickness, but a girl in my group did, and the guides were prepared with medicine. They didn’t speak much English though.

Then, we camped at the top of the volcano. We were above the clouds and had a great view of Mount Fuego erupting every 15 or so minutes! The guides cooked us dinner over a fire. We had noodles and hot chocolate and I can’t remember what else.

I went to bed at 8pm as I was exhausted from the hike up. There was an option to get up at 4am and hike to the summit of Mount Fuego but 1. I forgot to rent a head torch and didn’t feel comfortable hiking in the dark and 2. I was too tired, but I did wake up at 6am to see a stunning sunrise.

After a breakfast of pancakes and bananas, it was time to hike down. For me it was actually harder to hike down as I kept slipping and nearly falling off the side of the mountain. It was kinda scary and I was the last one to make it down. We all got down by maybe 10 or 11am and headed back to the office to get our stuff, and then back to Antigua.

After Antigua, I took a night bus to Lanquin. I would have probably skipped this location. There was some cool natural pools, but not much else in town. I then took another bus to Flores. I really liked this “island”. All the homes were so colorful. The main reason I went was to go to Tikal. I did the sunrise tour to avoid the crowds. I booked with an office in Flores. I had to get up at 3am and walk through the dark streets, but no one was out and I did not feel unsafe.

While in the park, I saw toucans and coati. I was also able to walk up one of the ancient ruins and get an amazing view of the jungle surrounding them.

After Flores, I took ANOTHER night bus to Lake Atitlan. I had gotten food poisoning while in Flores from eating some street burritos, and spent the whole night in the bathroom. I was glad there was a bathroom on the bus at least. Lake Atitlan was my favorite place in Guatemala. I spent a week there. I started my time in Panajachel staying at Selina Hostel. Free yoga was offered every morning with an amazing view of the lake. The whole lake had such a serene vibe.

You can get between the different towns on the lake using the water taxi. It’s very affordable at about a dollar per ride. I did day trip to different towns such as San Juan and San Marcos. While in San Marcos, I cliff jumped and explored the hippie market.

I then switched hostels and towns, and stayed in San Pedro to hike the Indian Nose. This was another sunset hike, but took less then an hour and had stunning stargazing and views of the whole lake. I got food poisoning again. I have heard from many other travelers that they have gotten food poisoning in Lake Atitlan, so keep this in mind. Overall, I felt sooo safe in Lake Atitlan and would love to go back.

After Lake Atitlan, I took a shuttle to El Paredon, my last destination in Guatemala. There wasn’t much to do in El Paredon, as it’s just a small beach town, but I did try out surfing.

Thats all on my experiences in Guatemala, but before I end this blog, let me leave you with some tips in case you are planning a trip here. Uber is only available in Guatemala City, but you can use tuktuks in all the towns. Roads are very winding, so take dramamine to prevent car sickness. Knowing basic spanish is very helpful.