EAT IN ASIA / Destinations / Other destinations / Central america / Guatemala
2 Days & 1 Night Acatenango and Fuego Volcano trekking menu in Guatemala
Excited? Sure, you are. Who would not be? Climbing an active volcano and observing its fumes is something you have to experience. Apart from that, observing lava and fire from the very near distance is exceptional!
But to achieve it, you will have to prepare yourself. Apart from doing some exercises, stretching and packing your backpack according to the travel company advices, you should also do something for your stomach so that you have enough energy to do the whole, relatively strenuous hike! (we also wrote about it in the post from Costa Rica - What to pack for a trekking in National Parks in Costa Rica?)
A good diet is really crucial and I would not exaggerate if I say that only thanks to it, you will reach the summit.
While choosing your tour agency and tour duration do not forget to ask for a menu during the trekking. That is a great option to have what you like and what makes you feel the best. Remember that you can almost always ask for a vegan, vegetarian or even gluten-free or lactose-free meals. Just ask them and they will be more than happy to help you and provide you with an appropriate menu.
So saying that, you will probably be curious how such a menu might look like. It is not surprising.
In the trekking we chose, we had four menu options. As mentioned above, one of them was a regular set that included meat, meat products and generally speaking had no limits regarding the ingredients’ list.
The second one that was available was a vegetarian one. The third one was a vegan option. The main difference between these two menu sets was the dairy ingredient. In one of them it was included - in the vegetarian one, and in the vegan one, it was of course excluded. Finally, we had an option to choose a gluten free set. Unfortunately, during that trekking a lactose free menu was not available, but probably if we had asked about it, they will do their best to satisfy our needs.
However, we chose a regular menu and a vegan one to be able to try two different sets. For us it is always exciting to try something else and to taste as many things as we can.
A sample menu on a 2 Days & 1 Night Acatenango and Fuego Volcano trekking tour
2 Days & 1 Night Acatenango and Fuego Volcano trekking - Regular menu
Lunch
Chicken with rice served with fried vegetables and bread
Snack
Banana and apple
Dinner
Fried noodles with mozzarella served with bread and tea or hot chocolate
Breakfast
Scrambled eggs with bread and served with coffee
2 Days & 1 Night Acatenango and Fuego Volcano trekking - Vegetarian menu
Lunch
Boiled zucchini, pumpkin, potato, carrot and corn served with rice and bread
Snack
Banana and apple
Dinner
Fried noodles with mozzarella served with bread and tea or hot chocolate
Breakfast
Scrambled eggs with bread and served with coffee
2 Days & 1 Night Acatenango and Fuego Volcano trekking - Vegan menu
Lunch
Boiled zucchini, pumpkin, potato, carrot and corn served with rice and bread
Snack
Banana and apple
Dinner
Fried noodles with an Italian style sauce served with bread and tea or hot chocolate
Breakfast
Corn flakes served with an almond milk and coffee
2 Days & 1 Night Acatenango and Fuego Volcano trekking - Gluten-free menu
Lunch
Boiled zucchini, pumpkin, potato, carrot and corn served with rice and bread
Snack
Banana and apple
Dinner
Corn tortillas with red beans served with tea or hot chocolate
Breakfast
Corn flakes served with an almond milk and coffee
So that is how it looked liked from the menu perspective and what we expect to eat during the trekking. But before we started our hike, we had a rich breakfast. And that is what you should do to - just start your day with a nutritional breakfast so that your body has plenty of energy.
Ideas for a breakfast before doing a 2 Days & 1 Night Acatenango and Fuego Volcano trekking tour
Start with a traditional Guatemalan breakfast - desayuno chapin (read more about what is a Guatemalan breakfast AKA Desayuno Chapín) or have a nutritional one at the hostel. This day skip a regular strong coffee giving you a kick and replace it with a Guatemalan organic hot chocolate that has a lot of energy, is good source of minerals and will give you a good backup of magnesium that is so needed during the trekking.
1 Desayuno chapin consisting of fried beans, eggs – scrambled or fried, platans, fresh cheese and/or cream and tortillas
served with traditional Guatemalan tortillas:
2 Semi-traditional Guatemalan breakfast – fried beans with scrambled eggs, bread and fruits like papaya, mango, pineapple or watermelon
served with bread:
3 Vegetarian nutritive breakfast – scrambled eggs with fresh tomatoes that are rich in potassium, bread and energetic fruits like avocado or mango
4 Continental breakfast – croissant with fresh, juicy fruits – melon, watermelon, papaya and pineapple
What to pack for eating during the 2 Days & 1 Night Acatenango and Fuego Volcano trekking?
Lunch boxes
Although lunch boxes are provided on the trekking by the tour company, sometimes it is good to take something with you too. You know, just in case the food is not meeting your tastes or it is not in the expected amount. The best option will be to take with you something that is well packed, easy to be eaten without plates, cutlery and something with little sauce so that it does not seep into your backpack. (read more about some lunch ideas in the post - Best Guatemalan lunch ideas)
Local lunch boxes
Local lunch boxes are always the most liked by us. They are always fresh, tasty and unique. That is why we start our list with them.
Burrito
About different burritos we wrote in another post, so if you want to know more about them, just jump to it - The best burrito in Flores, Guatemala. Just shortly. Burritos are more or less tortilla like wraps filled with meat, guacamole, fried beans, some vegetables and salsas. (here you can find a recipe from Mexico for an easy guacamole) They are delicious and each place makes it according to its own recipe so they are never the same. Finally, burritos are very often topped with some sauce or mayonnaise and sprinkled with grated hard Guatemalan cheese and parsley. This time skip extra sauces or ask to put them inside the roll.
Dobladas
Dobladas are like empanadas. These quick bites are deep fried and usually come in two versions - a vegetarian one and a regular, meat one. Vegetarian dobladas have a stuffing made from potatoes, fried red beans or a combination of both of. Sometimes, some other vegetables are added to the filling too.
Meat dobladas are either with minced pork or with chicken. Both types of meat are usually mixed with vegetables.
None of these versions is spicy. As in case of burritos, dobladas are topped with guacamole, fried red beans, some onion, parsley and grated hard cheese. On top of it come a set of salsas - tomato sauce, mayonnaise and chili.
Tamales
Tamales are very popular in Guatemala. I might say they are sold the whole day long. Starting from the breakfast time and ending late in the evening. However, most of them disappear from stalls quickly after being prepared and delivered.
Tamales are very common in small, local markets, wide roads or just at corners close to the most vivid places. No matter where they are, they are sold from big baskets or bags and covered with a lot of clothes. Thanks to that, tamales stay warm for a long time and have a fresh taste.
Tamales are prepared from corn dough that is usually filled with meat. They have a roll or an oval shape and are wrapped either in a banana leaf or in a corn husk. Finally, tamales are steamed and sold in their wrapper.
Inside tamales are meat parts and sometimes vegetables. The most popular filling includes pulled chicken meat in a tomato salsa, chicken chunks or minced pork with vegetables.
When served, tamales are put on a plate and reachly topped with salsas (both spicy and mild), some onion, parsley and guacamole or fried red beans. The set of garnishes that is available is also dependant on the seller.
Chuchitos
Chuchitos are somehow similar to tamales, however their shape and size is slightly different. Chuchitos are smaller and have a more triangular shape.
Apart from that, they are sold during the morning time and hardly ever available starting from the afternoon. However, that might happen too. Similarly to tamales, chuchitos are made from a corn dough, wrapped in a corn husk and when served topped with salsas and other garnishes - the list of them is almost the same as the one for tamales.
Shukos and tortas mexicanas
Shukos are generally speaking Guatemalan hot-dogs. The main difference between two of them is the set of additional ingredients that come with the sausage. Shukos are more local. Include guacamole or fried red beans and a set of salsas that is typical for Guatemala.
On the other hand, tortas mexicanas, that are nothing more than a regular sandwich, are an example of a dish that is the most similar to any western-style, well-known sandwich. Although they are also having local ingredients and sauces like chimichurri, they often come with cheese, some kind of a meat and with a lot of vegetables.
So, take one of them. Choose either a Guatemalan style hot-dog - shuko or a sandwich known here, in Guatemala as a torta mexicana with you. Choose between different filling option - vegetarian one or go with a meat version. Choosing a meat sandwich will give you an option to select one of the most popular fillings like - minced pork or minced beef meat mixed with herbs and vegetables, pulled chicken meat with no sauces or spices, pulled chicken meat in a tomato salsa, chicken mayonnaise paste or fried pancake like breaded cutlet with minced pork, vegetables and eggs.
If you select a vegetarian shuko, then you will probably get a sandwich with fried noodles with vegetables.
All of them are served with lettuce, guacamole or fried red beans' paste. Apart from that, tortas mexicanas are stuffed with vegetables like cabbage or a salad prepared of radish with tomatoes and herbs. On top of it comes tomato or chili salsa and optionally mayonnaise.
Fast food international lunch boxes
Here comes a list of the most popular and the most liked fast food options in Guatemala. As usually, the list includes such staples like fried chicken and burgers.
Both of them are very often sold with crispy fries, that are slightly different from these typical for Mc Donald’s or Burger King. These Guatemalan fries are usually home-made and are real potatoes stripes fried in oil. They are crispy, have a golden color and their texture is more tough. Eating them, you can really taste and feel the potato flavor and consistence.
Chicken set from Pollo Express
Pollo Express chain is a poorer daughter of KFC. It offers different parts of chicken served alone or in sets with fries, coleslaw like salad and some drink. Of course there is a huge difference between an original KFC style chicken and this one, but still, it is worth trying. Apart from that, it is much more cheap. That is really important for people living here, in Guatemala, .
This brand offers mainly take-away sets but sometimes it has a little space to sit down in the bar. However, do not expect anything posh, elegant and so on. Just basic tables, if any, simple chairs and hardly ever any toilet.
The chicken is always fresh, has a crispy skin and is well prepared. The meat is delicate, has no spicy condiments and has a nice, golden color.
Chicken parts are also of a good quality. Depending on your choice you might get a chicken leg, thigh, wing, hindquarter, drumstick, hind or ham.
Fries are delicate but usually not as good as these from street food stalls.
Finally, the coleslaw like salad is a nice hint of KFC. However this from Pollo Express has much more mayonnaise and is more bland.
Chicken with fries
Another alternative is to have a simple set of some chicken part with fries from a street stall. Comparing it to the one from Pollo Express, the price is almost the same, but what you have to remember about is, that these stalls are mainly available during the evening time, or at least in the afternoon. Of course, it does not mean that earlier it is completely unavailable, however it is much more hard to find it somewhere.
These sets are, as almost everything here, in Guatemala, fresh and prepared at least the same day. I would say that fries are better than in the Pollo Express set. They are crispier and better fried.
Burgers
Who does not like them? A nice bun with meat, some vegetables, salsas and cheese? Sounds good, doesn’t it?
Basic options are nothing really special, but that is alway the case if choosing the basic version. This simple option contains only a burger bun, minced pork or beef cutlet, some cabbage, tomato sauce, mayonnaise and eventually mustard.
However, if you choose any that is more than that, you will definitively not be disappointed. These burgers are not only served in a really nice way – on a wooden board, with a stick inside, steak knife and of course with ingredients that are of a much better quality. The cutlet is usually not only bigger but also better fried and has more flavor. Very often, both the bun and the meat, are grilled and have a nice grilling aroma. Inside the burger, the list of ingredients is also wider. Here you might get tomato slices, fresh onion slices, some cabbage and lettuce. Some locals and restaurants will give you an opportunity to add an extra cheese or a bacon slice inside.
All these above mentioned proposals are available in a delivery form so they would be well packed and ready to be taken with you for a trekking. As they are grilled, fried or mainly pre-processed, they will last longer in your backpack and will not spoil just in a couple of hours.
Snacks
Healthy snacks
After the list of all these unhealthy fast food options it is good to pack with you something energetic and nutritive. Go with these that are the most local and unique for Guatemala.
Nuts
The selection of different nuts is very big. Starting with these the most popular – peanuts, through almonds and finishing on cashew nuts and macadamia nuts.
Peanuts are, as usually, the cheapest ones and are prepared in different forms. They can be plain, salted, salted and enrolled in chili, sweet or have a colorful, usually sweet, topping. Toppings on peanuts include sesame seeds, chocolate, caramel and a fruit, red one.
Almonds, cashew and macadamia nuts are usually plain and have neither salt nor any sweet topping. That is the best option to take with you. Not only they are the healthiest one, but they are also the most convenient for packing. You will not have to take care about the topping that might melt during the trekking in your backpack.
Another good option is to select these salted peanuts that will provide you with some extra salt that might be helpful on the way.
Skip all these sweet versions, as more or less, they do not give you anything more than just a pleasure. Here, during the hike, you need food that is rich, valuable from the nutritive point of view and that is a source of energy from good calories and not from a junk food.
Chocolate bars
This proposal is for all these of you that cannot go without chocolate during the exercise and some effort. And here, in Guatemala, it is good to try it and take with you. Of course, as long as the weather allows it. I mean, as long as it is not too hot and the chocolate bar would not melt in your backpack or in your pocket.
Cocoa plantations and the whole chocolate industry is well developed in Guatemala. That is why the selection of different chocolates is so wide here.
That means not only a wide list of flavors like almond, peppermint, cinnamon or vanilla, but also the cocoa powder percentage in the chocolate. Some of them have pure cocoa with no additional sugar, milk or fat. However, these 100% cocoa chocolates are bitter and most people do not like them. But as the selection is really wide, you can try some milder versions like these with a 60%, 70%, 80% or even 90% content of the cocoa. Do it step by step and increase the cocoa percentage ratio slowly.
If you are looking for any more unique flavor, try these with chili, cardamon or nutmeg. Many of these chocolates are produced in small factories and base on organic ingredients.
Nougats
This sweet delight is well known for us from other countries too. Especially nougats in different form and made of different nuts were extremely popular in Middle East countries. Lebanon and Turkey had plenty of them, and as these nougats were prepared with local nuts, they were delicious. In many places nougats based on a wonderful, natural honey that greatly replaced a regular white sugar.
Here, in Guatemala, there is a lot of nuts too. Cashew nuts, macadamia nuts, almonds and of course peanuts are the most popular and famous. Depending on the set of nuts that are used for the nougat, the price of the delight is different. Starting with the cheapest one for only peanuts versions and increasing the price for almost any other.
However, Guatemalans nougats base on sugar and not on honey. Of course that is not a general rule, but in 99,9% cases that is it. Sometimes white sugar is replaced with sugar cane or with brown sugar.
For some nougats additional flavors are added too. So for example you might get these with vanilla or cinnamon. Apart from that, some nougats come in a caramel syrup or are with chocolate.
This is a good option for all of you who cannot go without sweets but still want something healthy and nutrient-dense. Remember, nuts give a lot of good energy and are packed with healthy fats!
Fruits
Fruits are juicy, aromatic, energetic and thirst quenching. Apart from that, they are sources of minerals and vitamins. Although they are not very energetic, they are always a nice snack. Choose these that you like the most, but remember that there is still a compromise between their weight, their durability and that what you love. We also wrote about ideas for fruits to take with you in the post - TOP 10 Guatemalan fruits for visiting Tikal and Uaxactun Mayan ruins).
Bananas
Guatemalan bananas are aromatic and energetic. Apart from that, they are a good source of minerals and vitamins. Although bananas are not very thirst quenching, they are always a nice snack.
Choose these that you like the most, but remember that there is still a compromise between the weight, their durability and your love.
Apples
Another good idea is to take an apple or a couple of them with you. They are also durable, not so easy to be smashed during the trekking as bananas are, and what is good about them, they are juicy and hydrating.
Sweets
Although I never recommend taking sweets with you, I know that some people cannot go without them. Apart from being tasty and giving a lot of pleasure, sweets also give you a lot of energy needed during the hike. Of course there are always better substitutes for them, but if you cannot imagine trekking without them, at least choose something local.
Guatemala has a lot of national cakes, pastries, candies, donuts, sweet snacks and ice-creams with unique regional flavors. However, for the trekking, the best option would be to take a creamless cake, donut or any bun. Not only will it be more durable, but also it would be easier for you to eat. Some good examples of these sweets will be local small donuts or empanadas with a caramel-like filling. These sweets are known as empanadas de manjar. Manjar is a Guatemalan filling very similar to dulce de leche (we wrote about it in our posts from Portugal and Costa Rica, where this type of filling was extremely popular). Manjar has a custard texture, is relatively sweet and has a slightly caramel taste. Its consistence is similar to the one of custard or of a dense chocolate or vanilla pudding, so it is not flowing out of the cake immediately after you bite it.
Sweet empanadas
Empanadas dulce de manjar – sweet empanadas with a caramel like filling – so called dulce de leche.
Empanadas dulce de manjar are mainly made of flour, sugar, eggs and milk. The filling basis on the milk too – mainly on an evaporated one.
Once prepared, empanadas are, here in Guatemala, usually deep-fried and either sprinkled with white sugar or topped with a chocolate sauce. Skip any topping if you plan to take them with you. Thanks to the frying process they will stay relatively fresh, although slightly soaked, for a long time.
Coconut cakes
Coconut cakes are easy to pack and very nutritive. They are very popular on street food stalls and especially during the Easter time. For Guatemalan they are not very sweet, however, I would say, yes, they are. True, these cakes are tasty and full of energy. Coconut flakes have a delicate texture but also a strong aroma that nicely goes with their creamy and crunchy, in the same time, structure. As they are deprived of chocolate and any foam or cream, they will be easy to eat during the trek.
After the trekking
After you finish your trekking, you will definitively need a good lunch or dinner and a hydrating drink. Choose local drinks instead of these bottled from stores. Take shakes or juices that are freshly prepared or squeezed. Choose these that are high in vitamins and minerals as that is what your organism needs and really do deserves.
Shakes
Shakes based on a yoghurt or milk are one of the proposal. Actually, due to their protein content, they can easily be treated as light snack on the way back. Here, you will have an option to choose either a regular milk or have an alternative one like soy milk or an almond one. Pair it with bananas, avocado, mango, papaya or pineapple and you will get a very nutritive drink that will satiate you.
Have a nutritional Strawberry yogurt shake
This composition of strawberries and yogurt is an ideal option for you. Fresh, Guatemalan strawberries mixed with milk or yogurt and with a little bit of sugar create a wonderful drink which taste is definitively something you will love.
Juices
Another option is to select a freshly squeezed juice.
Freshly squeezed orange juice
The most popular one is an orange juice that is prepared at place. Sometimes it is combined with ice or some water but usually it comes plain. Guatemalan oranges are juicy, and both sweet and sour. Their interesting taste, richness in vitamin C and a wonderful hydration capability make this juice one of my favorites.
Another good option is to pick a juice, or better to call it a drink, that is another extremely popular one in Guatemala, and that basis on tomatoes.
Tomato juice with powdered pumpkin seeds and spices
This proposal might not be for everyone. It has a very specific taste that might not suit all of you. Even though you might think you like tomato juices, this form of preparing it in Guatemala is completely different. First of all, the juice is spicy, or rather semi-spicy. It has some chili notes, it is salty and sour. When mixed with pumpkin seeds, it gets a nice, slightly powdery texture.
What is good about it, is the fact that tomatoes will provide you with a lot of potassium that is needed after a strenuous trekking. Apart from that, some saltiness will also allow you to easier hydrate yourself. Add to that pumpkin seeds that are full of minerals and are rich in beneficial oils. All that will definitively help you regain energy.
Hydration
Finally, hydrate yourself with coconut water and get some energy from its young meat. That is what I love the most. Super tasty, thirst quenching and very, very nutritive. And here, in Guatemala, you have an ideal option of buying fresh coconuts picked the same day!
