Blogs from Antigua, Capital Region, Guatemala, Central America Caribbean - page 6

Sunshine and blue skies greeted us in Antigua. In 1543, this little town became the Spanish capital - a beautiful place, set amongst green mountains. The town thrived, with huge churches and public buildings. But three of those mountains are volcanoes and in 1773 the underground rumblings became a catastrophic earthquake. Practically everything fell down and the Spanish moved their capital once again. Two hundred years later, in 1976, another huge earthquake hit the town. It destroyed much of the restoration work that had been carried out. Today, one or two of the destroyed buildings have been restored once again. Most have just been left or only partially restored. For example, the cathedral's entrance hall has been restored to become the local church but the rest is untouched - the ruins sprouting green vegetation. Most of ... read more

After last years successful crewing experience in the Caribbean, I thought I would try it again this winter. From one of the crew locating websites out there I found a sailing instructor who was delivering his own boat from San Diego to Rhode Island. The original plan was a two week section from Costa Rica to the Panama Canal, but as the date approached they were running behind, so I could catch the same dates joining in Guatemala and making it as far as two weeks took us. I knew the boat was stopping in Puerto Quetzel to change crew, so off I went. I landed in Guatemala City. The boat wasn't leaving until the next day, so I figured I'd try to see a little of the country as a tourist for the day. I ... read more

Sigh; last day. We had said farewell to Becky and Benny the night before as they had a departure transfer of 07:30. Made plans to meet with Randy and Janice at 08 for breakfast, then decided to wander around, find our new hotels (all of us had to move for our post night), search for carpets and enjoy the morning, with plans to meet Justin at 1pm for lunch in the main square. Well, Old Town Outfitters had given me a map with the hotel marked on said map, even highlighted all pretty like. We found Randy and Janice’s hotel easily enough; other then there being 2 hotels with almost the exact same name one block apart, we knew at least *one* of those was theirs. Then came ours. Let’s just say it was a good ... read more

We were so excited to know that we had 3 nights in the same hotel, and if it wasn’t for the Semana Santa holiday we could have stayed here 4 nights. So nice to actually unpack; knowing you are staying put for a few days, crazy broken shower and all:-) Larry had gotten up early, wandered all the way to the square (about 10-15 minute walk) and brought back REAL good coffee. I was all ‘so where did you go; Guatemala City?” (I thought he was going to the restaurant) and when I looked up and saw the real coffee I squealed. Apparently I was too busy inhaling the coffee to say thank you - so I figured a PUBLIC thank you would help to make up for it!! We had the official city tour with ... read more

This is how we went from Santa Ana El Salvador to Antigua Guatemala on chicken buses for about $6.50. 1. Catch the 210 bus to Ahuachapan from the bus station in the market. We got on it at 6:45am as it was making its way through the market. It took until 7:00am to get out of the town. It cost 50 cents and arrived in Ahuachapan at 8am. 2. Catch a minibus to Las Chinamas border. The bus from Santa Ana drops you on the side of a road on the edge of town. Walk towards the main road in front of you. On the right are signs to the centre of town. Follow the signs and go right down a hill towards a 'Bomba' sign. There was a minibus 11a parked on the side of ... read more