Guatemala

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Volcano Trail, here I come!

Day 1: July 25, 2009
Lisa and I left Toronto very early on a rainy morning, off to Guatemala. Arrived into the sunshine of Guatemala City. Quickly got out of the city and arrived in the UNESCO heritage town of Antigua. This colourful colonial town was the capital of all of central America until an earthquake leveled it centuries back. Today it retains the charm of colonial Guatemala. It has 3 volcanoes surrounding it. One is quite active and you can climb it. Unfortunately we did not have the time to do this. But it does give me another reason to return to Guatemala! We mostly wandered around the down and tried to find a bank machine that would take our cards! It was "Santiago Day" so there were a few parades around and an active market in the central square.

Day 2: July 26
We were awoken at 5:30am to the sounds of "church bells" and dogs going nuts. I put "church bells" in quotations as there were church bells first, but this was followed by endless other noises, which I sadly cannot re-create here. After about 10 mins it ended, but not to worry it happened again at 6:30, and again at 7:30! After roaming the town for a bit in the am, we headed on a tour of the Filadelfia coffee plantation. It is one of the largest in Guatemala, and this plantation exports 85% of its coffee to Starbucks. I tried the coffee at the end, and can now say I have drunk an entire cup of coffee. It was good, but have no plans to start drinking it regularly. During the tour, our guide asked why they hire only women to check the quality of the beans. An older gentleman said "Its because women are so darn picky". LOL!! While I don't argue this (hahaha), the real reason is men are more likely to be colourblind.
Later in the evening we met the rest of our tour group. They seem like a good group. There are 6 Canadians, 5 English, 2 Danes, and a Kiwi. Our tour leader is from Chicago. I am one of 3 people who know Spanish, the others have no clue!

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Photos

coffee bush
We went on a tour of the Filadelfia coffee plantation - drank my first ever cup of coffee here!

You can see the top of the volcano!
This is on the morning we left Antigua

Guatemala City
No need to get off the bus here!

A busy street in Guatemala's capital
Guatemala City

For Real?
This twinkie like food is called "Negrita" and is made by "Bimbo"... interesting