Guatemala

The Vibrancy of Guatemala

This is a country full of life and vivid colour. When deciding on a new country to travel to Guatemala is rarely mentioned as a destination. As with a lot of Latin American countries the popular question is: Is it safe to travel there? Well, it is, just like anywhere else as long as you are smart, take precautions, and stay up to date on the local news (just make sure there are no major conflicts in the country). That being said, we did go as a heterosexual couple which adds a net of safety when it comes to travelling.

We only had one week there to explore as much as we could in the country. At the beginning we decided that we would leave Guatemala City out of the trip, mainly because we were made aware of the fantastic natural beauty of the rest of the country, and the city just didn’t hold many options for us. 

Guatemala City

However, our flight from Vancouver did land in Guatemala City in the evening so we spent one night there. The weather in December is not too hot, a bit chilly in the morning and warmer in the afternoon. Before our second smaller flight to take us to Flores, we decided to walk around Guatemala City to see the main sites. The Airbnb  was in the heart of the financial district, zone 15. It was part of a cafe called El Mercadito de Lola, which we heard was a great place to eat. Unfortunately the morning we were there, the cafe was closed. 

The neighborhood has many cafes and restaurants. We found a cafe near us for some breakfast and coffee. Nothing special or oriented to the local cuisine, but a simple western-style sandwich with ham, cheese and veggies. Afterwards we went into town to see the National Palace, and the Cathedral of Guatemala City. The town seemed quaint, even though there are about 2.4 million people living there. Of course, we were only there for a short time.

Flores

In the late afternoon we flew to Flores, north of the country where it is very tropical. It is situated in the northern Petén region, where you will also find the protected national parks, such as Tikal, home to many types of wildlife. The first night we took a tuk tuk to our Airbnb. The cost of the tuk tuk was pretty cheap, around 10 quetzals from the island to the mainland. 

Our Airbnb was a bit outside of the main Flores town, which was an island connected by a long bridge to the mainland. In the dead of night we would be woken up by roosters from the nearby homes and farmland. The neighborhood is surrounded by luscious green trees, banana leaves, forested areas, and small mountains.

Lago Petén Itzá

The tuk tuk’s are cheap and easy to take to the island. We looked around for a breakfast place and found Restaurante Doña Goya. The restaurant looks over lake Petén Itzá. Our breakfast consisted of coffee, tortillas, eggs, beans and rice, and salsa. The restaurant was connected to a stationary dock where boats came in and out to bring supplies. From the dock you could see the mountains sitting at the edge of the vast lake, and the calm waters twinkling under the sun. If I was a painter, I would have set up my easel right on that rickety dock and spread my paint brush with gusto all over the canvas. It looked unreal!

The small island of Flores is a quaint hilly village. There are cafes, restaurants, shops selling wonderfully colorful artifacts, tour shops, small churches and parks. The buildings are lively, each painted a different color. The vibrancy of the buildings among the bountiful greenery is a magical sight to see.

It was apparent that the island of Flores is very popular among tourists because we stumbled upon many backpackers who were staying in the many hostels on the island. 

While exploring the island we found narrow passageways in between buildings which led us to shallow docks made of thin planks, with boats moored.

During the evenings the island pulsated with energy. There were people out and about sharing drinks, food, conversation. It almost looked like a small party island. Other than a drunk Guatemalan man who mocked me for not knowing Spanish, the party-goers were all pleasant and in merry spirits.

El Mirador del Rey Canek

We hired one of the boats on the island to take us across lake Petén Itzá, north to the other side of the mainland, to visit the lookout called El Mirador del Rey Canek. It was a very quick trip. 

You will need to walk through a mild forest and climb some wooden steps to the lookout, but it is not a hard climb. At the top of the lookout point you could see Flores island, the small wonder. 

Flores Street Food

Inexpensive street food is very common in Guatemala. You will find families setting up tables with umbrellas selling an assortment of dishes. You can find tostadas, small disc-shaped flour tortillas with various toppings, and beautifully decorated cakes. We tried some tostadas, which are crispy fried tacos wrapped into a flute with veggies, beans, salsa and guacamole.

Mayan Ruins

One of the many reasons for travelling to Flores is to visit the ancient pre-columbian Mayan ruins of Tikal. We decided to join a tour guide since the park is really big and there would be a lot of ground to cover. We saw chicken buses while on the road to Tikal, decked out in hypnotizing colors and full of life. 

Tikal is surrounded by jungle where archaeologists have excavated Mayan temples – tall structures, each a different size, with steep large steps. The tallest temple is 230 feet high. Tikal was the capital of a state during the Mayan civilization and dates back to the 4th century BC. In the park you also see excavations of ancient hieroglyphic text etched into stone tablets. They are symbols representing life and the beliefs dominant at the time of the civilization. While walking around and craning our necks upwards to see the temples, we heard cries which sounded like a frightened human, but learned that they were actually howler monkeys.

We also saw these raccoon-like creatures walking around the park among the visitors. They resembled a pack of miniature Brontosaurus’s from a distance. There were families of them, meeting and greeting people who crouched down to say hello.

Once you climb up the steep limestone steps, the view is breathtaking. We watched the sunset from the temple facing west. The view looks over a sea of trees and a faraway sky.

The Actún Can

For some this may not be a crazy adventure, but since we were not prepared, this particular activity terrified us. Near our Airbnb, within the hairs of the jungle, is the Actún Can, a natural limestone cave. It only cost us 25 quetzales each. There were few people at the cave daring to explore. We were given a hard hat with a small light, which seemed to light up well outside, but once we got inside the darkness swallowed the wimpy light emanating from the bulb. The cave is wet and dark, and smells of a damp oldness. We were given a paper map which shows up to which point we can go inside the cave, since it is much longer and unsafe to explore the whole way through. 

On our own, without any tour guides, we followed some people ahead of us. Combined with their head-lamps and our phones the cave seemed feasible. However, once we got deeper inside and the group ahead of us veered off in another direction we went blind and unfocused in the deep dark. There were no lights and no clear pathways. Even our phone lights were minimal, the cave was pitch black. We could pretty much only see up to the extension of our arms from the light. It became almost claustrophobic. We heard rustling, probably bats, but mostly quiet. Chris and I started to panic realizing that we couldn’t find the direction through which we came from. Each of us panicked in silence so we wouldn’t freak each other out. But somehow we managed to keep each other calm by reducing into rational robots and slowly eliminating each passageway we could’ve possibly come from, methodically moving from one to the next in a single direction. Finally, we deduced that the passageway with the shallow steps was where we stepped off from. We followed the path and we started to see the light. Relieved and ecstatic we quickly walked to the entrance and returned our helmets. It was surprising to us that there were others in there making their way seemingly easily. In total we spent about 30 minutes in the cave. I think we made it up to #4 or #5 on the map.

After our failed attempt at being modern explorers, we stumbled upon a market in Flores. This market is not set up for tourists, but a place for locals to get together. There was an area where a table and a cooking pot was set up where some women were making empanadas, and selling them for cheap. So we dove in. Delicious would be an understatement. They were filled with fried beans, and topped off with onions, salsa, and cheese.

We really enjoyed Flores even though we did not get much sleep in the Airbnb due to the howling of the roosters and no air conditioning. It had a general island-vibe, including the mainland. People are relaxed and friendly, the area is scenic and colorful, and because we were near farmland the town is abundant and lively with animals.

Antigua

Our next stop was Antigua, south of Guatemala, near Guatemala city and an hour and a half away from the airport. Antigua is not very big, it is a small town near many volcanoes. It used to be the capital of Guatemala when the Spanish colonized and settled down, hence the town’s beautiful Spanish colonial buildings. However it was replaced by Guatemala City as the new capital in 1776 when Antigua was mostly destroyed by earthquakes. 

The old town is a trendy tourist area with many bars and cafes, independent shops, some owned by expats. Just like in Flores, the colonial-style buildings are brightly colored in yellows, reds, pinks, and oranges, sitting underneath the backdrop of grand mountains.

Hobbitenango

On the day we were supposed to go on a volcanic hike, which we booked through TripAdvisor with the Marvelus Travel company, the tour company left us behind to wait for hours early in the morning. Since our plans were dashed, we were still able to get a refund and also find a local tour company to book the volcano tour with. This is a cheaper way to go. So, if you plan on taking tours simply explore your options once you get to the town. There are many tour shops offering tours for visitors. We accidentally found out about a hobbit town not too far from Antigua, called Hobbitenango, while waiting for our new volcano tour to begin. Since we had limited time and uber is a popular way to get around Guatemala, we decided to grab one to take us to Hobbitenango. 

The town is very small indeed. From the parking lot you could either hike up a steep hill for about 30 minutes or wait for a bus to take you up which comes every 15-30 minutes. The bus we hopped on was actually a truck with bars around the edges to keep you from falling off. It drove up the steep hill slowly, struggling from the weight and the uneven road. We bumped and bounced along. This was the view as we climbed. 

The houses really do look like hobbit houses!

There is not much to do up there except have some food, check out the hobbit houses, and drop your mouths drooling at the view. You can also keep hiking up past the main area where the houses are, or join in some activities such as archery and tree-top swinging. The entrance fee cost is 50 quetzales and included a free non-alcoholic drink which we got at one of the cafes. It is a dream-like and fantastical town in a real world!

Volcano Pacaya

The local tour bus drove us to the bottom of Volcano Pacaya. There were lots of kids in the small village below the volcano selling tall walking sticks for 5 quetzales. Since it helps them and costs us nothing we purchased one for the hike. Once again the view walking up the volcano was amazing. Guatemala is filled with endless eye-candy in the form of mountains and volcanoes. The walk was met with gravely roads and very few vegetation. Standing at 2,552 metres, Pacaya is an active volcano, but dormant and therefore safe to hike. We had a peek at the lava spewing out of the mouth of the volcano like lackluster fireworks. The guides brought marshmallows for us to toast in certain areas of the hike where you could feel the heat blazing out from underneath some of the rubble. 

The night had started to creep up on us quickly so the guide decided instead of walking down the mountain we would slide down the steep edge with our feet along the gravel and rubble. We slid down, our arms leaning backwards hanging loose, our knees suffering from the jolt of every drop, and the rubble collecting inside our shoes. It is the most fun I’ve had going down a mountain with my own two feet!

Lake Atitlán

I think the highlight of the trip for us was Lake Atitlán. Located north-west of Antigua it is a body of water surrounded by volcanoes and mountains, sitting in a volcanic crater. There are many towns and villages all around Atitlán. The lake and mountains are absolutely beautiful. We didn’t have time to go to all of them, but we made it to three. The tour bus first drove us to Panajachel, the main town and starting point to ferry across to the other towns. The slope leading to the lake was lined with shops, cafes, tourists, and locals. There is a hectic bustle to the town which was different from Antigua, where the crowds are mostly tourists.

The villages which we wanted to visit with our limited time was San Marcos and San Pedro La Laguna. We had to return to Panajachel by a certain time for the bus back into Antigua. The boats parked on the lake act as taxis driving passengers from village to village. We hopped on a boat with other passengers, the price of which depended on your destination since some towns were further than others.

San Marcos

San Marcos is a very laid-back town with lots of vegan cafe/restaurants, yoga studios, and hippies. It is a very relaxing atmosphere.

San Pedro

San Pedro seems to be wildly popular with young tourists. Everyone was out and about in their bathing suits enjoying the sun, browsing through the eclectic shops, or sitting down for long relaxing meals and drinks. We heard loud rhythmic dance music from a distance which seemed to be the soundtrack of the almost-party vibe in the town. The short time we had there was spent lounging in a cafe and indulging in some souvenir shopping. 

New Year’s Eve

On our final night in Antigua it was New Year’s eve! Since our flight was really early the next morning we didn’t go all out, but more than we wanted to. The streets were busy with party-goers and celebrators. The night began with a buy-one-beer-get-a-free-whiskey deal at the Irish bar owned by an expat called, The Snug. From there we roamed the streets following the crowds and happened to meet some friendly travellers. One of them is Canadian who, through some hard-work and luck, managed to become a self-sustaining traveller, earning a living through online projects and savings. There was a small parade where the locals were in costume before the clock struck midnight. To cap off the night we watched the fireworks from the central area of the town where hundreds of people showed up to celebrate.

One thing to remember when travelling to Guatemala, it is a country with a range of Indigenous populations. It is their home and their land. Be respectful to their culture, ask for permission before taking photos of the locals, and remember that spending a few dollars more on something is not a hassle, since it’ll be a small price for you to pay and a small difference for them. Bargain respectfully and with good spirit!

Have you been to Guatemala? What did you think? Do you have tips for where to visit or what to try the next time we travel to Guatemala? Post your comments. We would be thrilled to hear from you!