Guatemala, Amazing!

Pause for a moment and picture Guatemala in your mind.  What do you see? Do you see tired dusty towns?  Impoverished people?  Gangs and violence? Or is it a place you might like to visit or learn more about? 

Stan and I are certainly not Guatemalan authorities after only a few days in the country, but our impression is good, more than that, it is very good.  Every person we have encountered has been friendly and helpful.  They enjoy asking us questions, answering ours, and having a laugh with us.  A few days ago, the man sitting at a table near ours chatted with us for an hour as we had lunch; he bought us a beer.  Why?  Because we connected.  We each had fun talking together and he delighted in welcoming us to his country.    

Guatemala and El Salvador may be the most beautiful, yet under-rated countries in the Western Hemisphere.  Both are nothing like I imagined.  Nothing.  Mountains, volcanoes, and beaches are prevalent in both countries.  Both have big modern cities and both are sprinkled with pretty towns where the culture strongly reflects Maya heritage. Both countries are indescribably lush and green.  Drop a seed or a cutting on the ground and it grows.  One of the most interesting things is the hard-to-pronounce names of lakes, rivers, volcanoes, and towns, most of which have a meaning that can be translated from Spanish or a Mayan tribal language. 

Just as we did in El Salvador, we spent our first eight days in Guatemala in the car, traveling the country. We wound around mountains and through villages until we reached our first stop at Chichicastenango (Wall of Nettles, Nahuatl language) a few miles from the south bank of Lake Atitlan.  This highland colonial pueblo is colorful and visiting it is like taking a trip back in time.  The houses are the same as when the town was new 200 years ago, and the narrow rocky streets barely fit two small cars.  Even though we saw a few cars and loads of motorcycles and cell phones, people in Chichicastenango strongly cling to their Maya culture.  Boys and men wear jeans, t-shirts, sneakers, and ball caps, but all, I repeat, all women and girls wear the traditional dress of colorful wrap-around skirt held tight with a contrasting cinch and a pretty embroidered blouse with sandals.  Many have a plastic tub loaded with fruits, freshly made tortillas, sweets, or other stuff balanced on their heads.  Many younger women and abuela babysitters carry a baby on their back secured by a cloth wrap.  School kids wear crisp uniforms. Another curious example of the culture is that while most people are Catholic, it is a common practice to participate in Mayan prayer traditions at the churches, like lighting fires on church steps in prayers beseeching help from God, ancestors, and nature.

We did what most people do when they come to this town, we walked the hilly streets, photographed the ancient and colorful cemetery, and visited their bustling local open-air market.  

I won’t say driving is easy in the mountains because, despite surprisingly good roads, there is a lot of traffic with big trucks and the roads are extremely curvy.  Often, we’d find ourselves passing a big truck loaded with logs, cows, or sugar cane in a tight situation, taking a chance we’d never consider in the US. But that’s what drivers must do.  If there happens to be oncoming traffic, the cars being passed will let the passing car back in the correct lane and the vehicle coming onward will slow down.  It’s a form of driver cooperation.  I understand that but I can’t help going weak in the knees sometimes! 

Still in the Guatemalan Highlands, we were astonished by the town of Panajachel, and even more so by the lake.  Named for its patron saint, San Francisco Panajachel, this village sits on the other side of Lake Atitlan from Chichcastenango.  Our hotel, just outside of town and on the banks of the lake, was wonderful, but its gardens, pool, and view of Lake Atitlan with three pointy-topped volcanoes on the opposite shore were spectacular.  We spent three heavenly days there.  

Lake Atitlan’s Nahuatl translation means “the place where the rainbow gets its colors,” and rightly so. Occupying an 80,000-year-old crater, the lake is huge. It is the deepest lake in Central America and may be one of the most beautiful lakes in the world.  I am no professional, but the photos I took with my iPhone look like postcards or magazine shots. The scenery is just that gorgeous!  For those who travel, enjoying a few days in a hotel on Lake Atitlan is an experience that cannot be missed.

Like most Highland towns, Panajachel is steeped in Mayan heritage.  Women and girls wear traditional clothing of colorful pleated skirts with modest hand-embroidered tops.  As in every village, all cooking is done outdoors by women standing under a shed or tin roof shelter, patting out tortillas from a large vat of maseca dough and cooking them on a hot gas flat grill. They also have pots of refried black beans and soups simmering on wood fires ready to be sold along with the hot tortillas. Everyone in town eats like this. There are so many mom-daughter cook huts that we surmise that food not sold during the day is on the family table at night. I watched them carefully. I think I can mix maseca, and pat and cook a tortilla but I will experiment before I invite guests to share.  As for the men, most do hard, physical labor toting bags, unloading trucks, pushing carts or a loaded wheelbarrow, twisting ironwork by hand, and doing masonry.  Life is not easy for these Guatemalan country folk. 

On an exploratory walk, we discovered the Reserva Natural Atitlan — just steps from our Lake Atitlan hotel. We had no idea this jungle park was there. Of course, it was gorgeous with 2 miles of peaceful hiking paths, lots of hanging wood and rope bridges, dense foliage and wildlife like coatis, a butterfly conservatory, and for the wildly adventurous, zip lines through the jungle. What we thought might be howler monkeys were the howls of first-time zip liners.

Several hours of intense driving took us next to Paredon Buena Vista, a small fishing beach town bordered by a river and the Pacific.  It sits at the end of the line.  The road goes no farther.  Talk about a change in atmosphere!  We left the cool, sometimes misty climate in the mountains to arrive in sultry, burn-your-feet-off hot weather.  The sleepy, dusty town of Paredon has no paved roads, open-air stores, and very little air conditioning anywhere.  Chickens and dogs freely roam about.  It has a handful of hotels, many that cater to surfers, and only four or five “restaurants.”  Again, like all our stays in El Salvador and Guatemala, our small Paradon hotel was superb, comfy, and attractive. Its small garden was lovely and the pool was refreshing! I was ever so grateful for good working air conditioning in our room, otherwise, Stan would have been miserable. . . because my complaining would have made him so.  There weren’t many guests at the hotel when we were there, so we got to know the manager and the lady who did all the cleaning and cooking.  It was a good place to practice our Spanish, as they spoke no English at all. 

Known to be a place for surfing, the waves on the beach are strong, and the sand is black.  We walked a long way down the beach, keeping our feet in the cool, wet sand until we reached the point where the river pours into the ocean.  A dozen or so men were fishing far out in the rough surf. Some fished with long rods while others simply tossed a line. The rough waves made it difficult for them to maintain balance as they cast their lines over the waves for fish.  We finally saw one man catch a fish and bring it to shore. Excited, I ran toward him to take a photo.  He held up his fish for the photo and then some young men behind me shouted, “Mirrar!”  (Look!)  They proudly held up their monster-size ocean catfish caught earlier in the day!!!  I told them, “Una buena cena esta noche!” 

Dang!  Life is fun! 

While planning our adventures in Guatemala, I read about Semuc Champey and saw its photos.  I told Stan, we must go – even if it is a 6–7-hour drive from Guatemala City. We did that long, hard drive, and are so glad we did.  This may be one of the most spectacular natural wonders we have ever seen.  Nestled between two tall stone escarpments surrounded by jungle, Semuc Champey looks like a series of gorgeous shallow pools in a river. Instead, Semuc Champey is a natural limestone bridge where Cahabon River pouring down from the Sierra de las Minas mountains suddenly goes underground forming the nearly 1000-foot “bridge” of limestone.  Water from other streams feeding into the river and river water that fails to go underground creates a series of turquoise pools in indentations in the limestone. The fantasy-like pools are just right for swimming and basking.   To see Semuc Champey from above, one must make a vertical 1/3 mile climb on wooden stairs and rocky, muddy natural stairs to the top. It is doable but the path is not an easy trek. On cloudy days, which are most days here this time of year, the view from atop the escarpment is diminished a bit but, on our day, the sun was out and the view from the top was superb!  Simply superb!   

Here we are now in the city of Antigua, the tourist hot spot of Guatemala.  The car has been turned in; we are now afoot and at the mercy of UBER. Already we can tell the vibe here is far removed from the quaint highland and coastal towns, but this will be home for the next five weeks. We expect to explore every corner.   Come along!