Guatemala
Had the opportunity to take a four day weekend and fly stand-by with Steven to Central America last week. Our original plan was to visit La Fortuna in Costa Rica, but when we landed in Fort Lauderdale for our connecting flight there was a delay until 12:30am. Knowing that any more delays risked a complete cancellation and disaster for our weekend, we chose to go with our first (on-time) alternative. Within 20 minutes of landing in Florida we had flights, car rental, and a hotel lined up for Guatemala City instead.
The plan was to spend a couple hours walking around Guatemala City before renting a car and hitting the road for Antigua, a colonial Spanish town surrounded by volcanos. Getting there was an adventure that involved a missing car reservation, loads of traffic, and an “alternative route” that led through a steep mountain village with the most narrow streets I’ve ever seen. Somehow I navigated the car through 3 inch clearance on each mirror to wind our way to Antigua.
The town was absolutely beautiful, a classic Spanish style with churches around every corner. Our hostel was equally impressive, with a restaurant and a roof top bar with views of the surrounding landscape. It was basically a nice restaurant with rooms off the side that were both quiet and comfortable. Other reasons Steven and I prefer staying in hostels on our travels include the central locations, almost free prices, and wide range of people you meet there. We had conversations with fellow travelers from Canada, Australia, England, Russia, Netherlands, Chile, and Trinidad & Tobago. Most people are traveling for anywhere from 4 weeks to 7 months, and were shocked to hear we were only in town for the weekend.
The second day we wandered around town, stopping in local coffee and food spots as well as the local market. At one point we say a volcano shoot up clouds of ash, which was a fantastic sight after an initial couple seconds of shock. It was a brief event unfortunately, so the picture I was able to snap once I got the right lens attached does not do it justice. After wandering town, we packed up and left for a local jungle trail that was a great hike for seeing the local rainforest. It was a tough walk and it left us ready to head back to the city. After dropping off the rental car we waited for the midnight flight back to the states, and the rest is history. Less than 48 hours with boots on the ground but I left with memories I’ll never forget.
