We arrived in Guatemala’s colonial city (and ex-capital) Antigua on the 15th of December, giving us just about enough time to scout out the best place to buy a coffee before Bridget’s brother Mike arrived on the 17th and sister Cath arrived a few days later.
Fire-roasted coffee
Mike arrived after amidst much excitement and, after almost 3 months of seeing no one we had ever met before, we suddenly had family with us. As Cath would only be arriving a few days later, we passed the time exploring Antigua and the surrounds. First stop was, obviously Pepe and some Pepe coffee (Barista Bridget) and then some more coffee at our favourite spot Refugio (they would soon come to know us there) and then more coffee… with a tour of a coffee cooperative just outside Antigua where they taught us how to pick the coffee, separate the bean from flesh (with a bicycle apparently), dry it, roast it, grind it and brew it. A lot of work goes into one cup of coffee and the people at the start of that chain don’t always reap the rewards of their work so the cooperative (called De la Gente – Of the People) helps smaller farmers by guaranteeing them a fair price for their beans, pooling resources like equipment, publicity and stock (its easier to sell in bulk). We learnt a lot, drank a lot and ate home-cooked lunch with the friendly farmer and his family.
Separating the beans from the pulp with a bicycle
Antigua is a one of those addictive places – it’s very touristy and in many ways doesn’t feel like a ‘working town’ where people actually live so you almost don’t want to like it but you just can’t help it. It’s spectacular with its ring of volcanoes surrounding it, it has well preserved architecture (and some left in decay, to add to its charm), it has great food and a buzzy but relaxed vibe. It’s just great and so, much of our time with Mike was spent just wandering around, trying out some food, having a coffee, seeing the markets, reading in the hammocks at our amazing hostel (Yellow House), eating some more etc.
Beautful Antigua
View from the Earth Lodge
We did also spend one night at the Earth Lodge outside of Antigua which has a beautiful view of the the volcanoes around Antigua and great food and accommodation with tree houses etc. but it was a bit busy for us with lots of people on day trips and overly-enthusiastic staff etc. so it wasn’t quite the relaxed experience we were after but was enjoyable nonetheless.
5 days passed way too quickly and it was time to pick up Cath. Brendan and Mike squeezed in some mountain biking on the surrounding mountain trails while Bridget went to the airport. And then we were four.
Cath and Mike
We had one night together in Antigua before setting off for Lago Atitlan for our Christmas celebrations starting in Panajachel, knowing that there was no way Pepe would make it down the steep crazy roads to San Pedro. We camped on the lakeside, ate handmade (not by us) tortillas , got eaten by bugs and had our first night of four people in Pepe (finally got to see Pepe being used to his full potential!). We awoke to unbelievable sunrise views of Volcanoes San Pedro & Atitlan towering over the distant shores of the lake & did some lakeside morning yoga with friends Mira (yoga instructor) and Ahmet, and then boarded a boat to San Pedro where we would be spending Christmas.
View from our campsite in Panajachel
We were a bit worried about San Pedro… we’d heard from some people that it was the best place on the lake with a unique tranquil Mayan culture mixed with the perfect amount of tourist amenities; and then from others that it had been overrun by hippies and tourists which had cheapened the experience of the village with a “lets get off our faces 24/7 vibe”. The first option is far more our cup of tea than the later so we were really hoping that this would be true. In the end, it was great – a definite tourist vibe but nothing crazy mixed with a indigenous Mayan village up the hill. Christmas day was especially memorable for all of us as we trekked up the hill for mass in the cathedral in the Mayan part of the town. We were the 4 tallest people in there and we looked across a congregation where all the womens heads were covered in intricate Mayan-print scarves – it was a sight we’ll never forget, along with the sounds of the Marimba orchestra above us playing Christmas tunes.
Christmas day was spent, as Christmas day should be, eating too much, a few drinks, presents, and, luckily for us a visit from our friends of Marga-peter fame – Rachel, Lauren and Peter. Margapeters were had, this time in a bar, where Peter asked if they didn’t mind him slipping behind the bar to make us some drinks with the paraphernalia he’d brought along with him (including: tequila, a cocktail shaker, lime squeezer and large pink knife), they didn’t mind in the slightest – the bar tender even brought Peter some ice which tells you a lot about the relaxed-ness of the Guatemalan people we met throughout the country.
Top of San Pedro
Boxing day was time to burn off some of that Christmas blubber with a stroll up the Volcano San Pedro which turned out to be more of a 3 hour unrelenting uphill slog gaining 1600m in just a few hours. But it was worth it… the view at the top was just breathtaking – not a cloud in the sky, panoramic views of the lake and further on, all the way to the volcanoes surrounding Antigua. Magic.
Lago Atitlan panarama
Our guide was from the area and provided some interesting insights into the region – his indigenous language (one of 21 Maya languages in Guatemala) is spoken in only 3 tiny villages on the lake. If he takes the 10 minute boat ride across the lake to San Marcos, he has to speak Spanish – his dialect is completely unintelligible to other Mayans as theirs is to him. One wonders how such a rich variety of languages have survived this long, but it just another example to the deep intrigue the Mayan culture evokes. He mentioned that the current government has provided funds to print every school text book in each local dialects in an effort to ensure the languages live beyond the current elderly generation who in some cases only speak local dialects and know very little to none Spanish. As he had a captured audience, Brendan continued to pepper him with bad Spanish and learned a bit about the rising lake levels – the German owner of the place we were staying in mentioned how the lake has been rising in recent years meaning has lost the part of his lodge that was on the shore and he has had to build further and further up the bank – he told us he would have to move out of his own flat on the property next year and seemed disgruntled that ‘they’ don’t do anything about it. When we spoke to our guide about it, he just laughed – ‘only tourists build on the lakeshore’ he said, ‘we know it rises and falls in 15-20 year cycles’. [And no, there is literally nothing ‘they’ or anyone can do to stop the rainy season being to rainy or to drain a lake with 20km3 of water.]
There was a treat waiting at the bottom too… a crystal clear swim and sunset in the pristine swimming area at San Marcos, a quick boat trip across from San Pedro. The peacefulness of that afternoon swimming in the lake with a 4,000m volcano, which we had been standing on top of 3 hours before, looking over us is impossible to put into words. A perfect day.
Swimming spot at San Marcos
Next day it was time to leave this magical lake of crystal clear water, volcanoes and culture to begin the long trek across the country to Tikal…
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