What to do in Guatemala?

Just a little worldly wisdom))

Stop! The border is locked or Ukrainian illegal immigrants in Mexico.

Of course, we were legal, with an absolutely correct and even redundant package of documents, with a US visa, the presence of which does not require additional Mexican permits, but the brave Mexican customs officers were not particularly interested in this.

You come to Passport Control and a nice woman smiles at you, takes your passport and, without saying a word, takes you somewhere. Namely, in a small closet, where it’s chock-full of “lucky people” like you. Your phone is taken away, no one speaks English at all and no one explains the reason for this magnificent action. But in broken English they tell you that if you are indignant, you will be sent to prison for 4 days and then deported. It’s kind of bleak, isn’t it?

Now imagine that by this point you have already been on the road for 27 hours. Then they begin to detain two random people, seal the phone, for some reason remove the laces and fill out a bunch of paperwork.

In our case, a happy ending awaited us and after 3.5 hours we were released with the words “welcome in Mexico 🇲🇽”, and when leaving the airport, to top it all off, all our food was taken away, even from our luggage. And in Guatemala it turned out that a phoenix flashlight was also stolen from my luggage.

But the main thing is not to panic in any situation, not to lose confidence that you are right, to treat everything as an adventure and with humor.

Lost in translation

In Guatemala, no one speaks English, not at all. Not at the airport, not at the bank, not in the store....nowhere!

I’ll say right away that in this country you will need cash; cards are almost never accepted.

Currency exchange: 🏦Bank - in almost all banks, you definitely need to open an account to change money. 💰 Exchange - here the rate will be lower, as at the airport 💵 find BI bank, here you can exchange at an adequate rate and without any bills, although they will definitely ask you for: passport, residence address in Guatemala, Email, Phone And... we thought there would also be a retinal scan, but no, that's all.

The local currency is called the quetzal (it’s also the sacred Guatemalan bird, but I’ll talk about that later). 1 dollar = 7.64 quetzals

Climbing Volcano Acatenango

An hour's drive from Antigua there is the Acatenango volcano, which the locals call the "father of volcanoes", we had a desperate plan: to conquer this volcano, 3976m high.

It was super difficult, especially considering that I'm not a fan of walking in dust at all😈. It’s far, long, there’s sand and rocks underfoot, a sharp climb, slippery leaves and branches, and on the final stretch there’s an almost vertical climb over volcanic sand and huge rocks, but it was worth it.

Picturesque landscapes that constantly changed as we approached the top, flower plantations, cute dogs, cheerful people, and the most important thing for which I decided to climb here was the view of the Fuego volcano 🔥, which is constantly erupting, the sight is simply amazing 🤗 and as a bonus we also saw a gorgeous sunset above the clouds.

Unfortunately, not everyone from our group was able to conquer this peak; only 4 out of 11 people reached the end. But the most difficult thing was the descent in pitch darkness (remember that my flashlight was stolen from my luggage in Mexico), along the same route. 3 people per flashlight 🔦, that was extreme.

In general, we walked 24 km (260 floors) in 11 hours, with a height gain of 1876 m 😱 and you know what, I never fell in love with mountaineering, trekking, hiking, but when there is a really interesting goal, I can take a walk.

Lake Atitlan

A picturesque volcanic lake with an area of ​​130 sq. km, on the banks of which there are 12 Mayan settlements. We stopped in one of the most beautiful - Panajachel, there are a lot of cafes, shops and bars, and generally a very active nightlife.

But we didn’t have time to hang out properly, because we have a “heavy touring schedule”; of course, we went on a tour of the coastal towns.

First, we stopped in the city of Santiago de Atitlan, visited the local shamans and the ancient deity Mashimon, he definitely needs to bring offerings - candles, cigarettes and alcohol, the responsible shamans pour some of the alcohol into the statue of the deity, and you have to consume the excess yourself (a difficult job for the guys). They immediately bought fruits and beads, it’s a pity they didn’t want to exchange glass, drank coffee, which was very good by the way, and moved on.

San Juan de Laguna is a small town, here they told us about making chocolate, showed us and gave us the opportunity to try grinding cocoa beans ourselves.

Mountain lakes are always beautiful, and if you study a little history, they are also fascinating.

Ichimche - a small Mayan town

First of all, we visited this city of the Mayan civilization. We were lucky, there were almost no people and for a symbolic 50 quetzals (7 dollars) we had almost the entire park at our disposal.

Later, the locals arrived and staged some kind of shamanic ceremony on the ancient altar, while we frantically took pictures near every pebble.

In general, you will need no more than 2 hours to visit this city.

One small but very proud bird

Quetzal is a sacred bird in Guatemala, even the currency here is called quetzal, and it is this bird that is depicted on all banknotes, it is great luck to see it 🍀

The quetzal is a small bird (32-35cm) with a long bright multi-colored tail. Before the trip, I watched several programs about Guatemala, but for some reason in none of them the travelers were lucky enough to see this wonderful bird, no matter how hard they tried. But we are lucky (remember the Mexican border🙃) and decided that we would definitely find the quetzal, no matter where he was hiding. For this purpose, we went to Biotopo del quetzal, a quetzal reserve.

And guess what, we saw the quetzal as soon as we arrived, even before entering the park. We cheered up and were sure that in the park itself they would circle above our heads like pigeons in San Marco Square. But after walking 3 km uphill in the park, not a single quetzal was found. But we walked through the jungle, breathed some air, and admired nature.

But even if you don’t see a quetzal in the park, don’t be upset, because at the exit from the park there is a stuffed quetzal, and here you can examine it in detail. Don’t worry, he wasn’t killed specifically to broaden our horizons, the bird just got tangled in the wires and died.

Entrance to the park - 60 quetzals (9 dollars) A visit to this park is considered a mandatory program for all travelers in Guatemala. But, as for me, this is not an acquired taste, although of course I’m not much of an ornithologist🙃

Cave extreme Kan Ba

Hello, my young extreme lovers. If you want a thrill in Guatemala, then you definitely need to go to Semuc Champey. There are a lot of interesting things here: waterfalls, caves, tubing (rafting in circles along the river)

First, you will drive for about 30 minutes in the trunk of a pickup truck along a rough road, the final destination of this tour will be a very beautiful river and those same caves.

⛰ Caves: You will need a swimsuit, an airtight phone case, coral slippers and... a candle (which is given to you upon entry).

Immediately after entering you will be shown that there are a lot of bats under the ceiling of this wonderful cave, and water spiders in the water. And with such a positive attitude, you will go further - into the unknown. For your peace of mind, there is a rope stretched here and there, which you can hold on to in especially deep places, so as not to drown or hit the pitfalls.

You will be offered several extreme entertainments:

🧗🏻‍♀️climb up an underground waterfall holding on to a rope, I really don’t recommend doing this, you can break your finger and fall from a height onto the rocks

🏊🏻‍♀️jump from the top of the cave into the water - you can safely agree to this, the depth there is about 3 m, the most difficult thing is to climb under the ceiling of the cave and decide to jump into the darkness)

🤿Tubing: You are given a good old black tube/tire (like your grandfather had in his garage) and you use it to raft down the river. It's fun, enjoyable and not stressful. Just go with the flow on chill 🧘🏻‍♀️

Semuk Chempey waterfalls

Beautiful cascading waterfalls with warm water and swimming pools in which anyone can swim. But don’t repeat our mistakes, you don’t need to come here on Monday, it’s a day off and it’s a “cleanliness” day. I don’t know what they clean and wash at the waterfalls.

So we just looked at the waterfalls from afar, took photos and rushed on to meet adventures.

Caves of Candelaria

It is believed that these caves are practically a must visit in Guatemala, but I don’t understand why at all.

At the entrance you will be given a helmet and a flashlight and you will go through the jungle in anticipation of the unknown and a little dangerous (you are wearing a helmet). But in fact, you will go through several small underground “rooms”, look at stalactites and stalagmites, and not very beautiful ones, and... that’s all. We turn around and follow the same road to the exit. For some reason, in Guatemala, none of the caves have lighting, although in other countries this is always provided.

Entrance 60 quetzal (9 dollars)

If you have already been to similar caves, then I really do not recommend spoiling your impressions and visiting this one. It’s better to go to the Czech Republic to the Macocha Cave, or to Israel to the Sorek Cave, or to Portugal to Mira de Aire, and basically anywhere, it will still be more beautiful and spectacular.

Aguateca

The ruins of a Mayan city are one of the best preserved pre-Columbian sites in Guatemala.

Do you know why they are well preserved there? Because getting here is another challenge:

- sail for about an hour on a speed boat along the picturesque canals of the La Pacienne River, with its beautiful banks, crocodiles and many birds

- climb the half-rotten stairs to the high bank (it’s better to climb the ground to the right of the stairs, where the roots of the trees have formed chic “living” steps)

- make your way through the dense jungle for about another hour, somewhere in the middle of the way an observation deck awaits you with a view of all the same canals, but it’s better not to stay too long because we haven’t reached the city yet

- walk through a narrow, deep gorge, under the gentle voices of howler monkeys - my feet slip, stones crumble, but as if I were injured, a guide was assigned to me, for which special thanks to him

- just a little more walking and we’re at the goal 🎯

The city is beautiful, almost untouched, you can climb everywhere, climb pyramids, climb rocks, and it’s time to head back. This time we got to our boat much faster and less extreme - along a short road, and then at sunset along the canals with the breeze to the hotel, because tomorrow new adventures await us.

Livingston - micro Jamaica

A very colorful city at the mouth of the same Rio Dulce along which we rode on the way to Aguateca.

It used to be Guatemala's only major port. The local Garifuna people are descendants of slaves who once escaped a shipwreck on their way out of Africa. Everyone is very friendly, there are many smiling faces on the streets, and the residents truly believe in Jah. The local language is unique, similar to both Caribbean and African.

The city has many coconut groves, cheerfully painted wooden buildings and reggae music everywhere. To further understand the local flavor, we found a local guide who took us through all the seedy nooks and crannies of the town.

And here you should definitely try the local soup - tapado. It is prepared from fresh coconut, crabs, shrimp, bananas 🍌, sweet potatoes, several varieties of fish and at the end everything is sprinkled with parsley. This is Mega delicious 🤤!!! But I warn you right away that there is no need to order anything else, you can overeat with soup, the portions are simply huge.

Guatemala beach

Playa Blanca - a white sand beach on the Caribbean coast near Livingston

If you miss the Dominican landscapes and warm sea, then you will definitely like this beach.

Entrance to the beach is paid, as in the good old beach clubs in Kyiv, it costs 30 quetzals (4 dollars), this price includes one soft drink, either coconut or beer. But I opted for Pino Colada (40 quetzals)

But unfortunately we were unlucky with the weather, there was a small storm so the water was cloudy.

There are plenty of locations for photos: bright hammocks, white sun loungers, swings.

Tekal - the cradle of the Mayan civilization

One of the largest and most significant Mayan cities. For more than 1000 years it was the capital of the Mayan Empire, there are more than 3000 buildings on the territory, but today archaeologists have managed to excavate and restore only 20%, but excavations are still ongoing.

This is a favorite location for Hollywood directors, George Lucas filmed Star Wars here, Mel Gibson - Apocalypse, and even my favorite film Indiana Jones was also filmed here.

There are now 15 pyramids and 15 temples on the territory, even the tallest Mayan temple with a height of 72 meters is also located here, many buildings and houses of the nobility.

How is a pyramid different from temples? The pyramid is flat at the top, they were used as an observatory for the railway observation of stars. Temple - used only by priests, for prayers, meditation and communication with deities. There is no evidence that the Mayans ever used human sacrifice.

To see Tikal you will need a whole day, and I highly recommend using the services of a guide, because the territory is huge and it is very easy to get lost.

Volcano Pacaya

We began our journey through this beautiful country with a difficult climb to the Acatenango volcano to admire the eruption of the Fuego volcano, so it was logical to end our route with another volcano - Paikaya.

The path to this volcano is much easier, just an hour and a half journey along the slope and you are at your goal, but be sure to use the services of a local guide (20 dollars per person). Do not underestimate the danger, it is important to follow a certain route, soil failures are possible, despite the fact that this volcano is of the Hawaiian type (lava flows quite slowly down the slope), it is still a VOLCANO and it is simply impossible to fully predict how it will behave.

For entertainment, they offer to fry sausages and marshmallows on hot lava; for special gourmets, they can offer an omelet.

Immediately after sunset, our guides abruptly turned back, they said it was unsafe to go back in the dark, but we had “experience”😜, and even in the dark the eruption looks fascinating 🌋

In general, I strongly recommend visiting the Pacaya volcano, the spectacle is simply amazing!

Guatemala City is the capital of Guatemala

When you have only one day to explore the city or you come to any European capital for the weekend, then my choice is guided tours, it doesn’t matter if it’s an individual tour or free walking tours, the main thing is that they tell me everything and show me everything. And Guatemala was no exception, especially since the criminal situation in the city leaves much to be desired; wherever there is cash (shop, pharmacy, supermarket, private hospitals, etc.) there will be a policeman armed with a machine gun standing in front of the entrance. Therefore, with a guide you will be faster, more productive and safer!

We had a guide, transportation, and during the day we managed to see a lot - squares, parks, the remains of the Berlin Wall, stop by gated “fashionable” residential complexes, look at the local favelas, visit a new area very similar to Orlando in Florida, and even wander around the unexcavated Mayan pyramids, which looked like hills and were nicely adjacent to Starbucks. We also saw an arrested plane transporting white cocoa 😜 from Colombia, the local police seized it in the jungle, as they explained to us - this usually happens there.

Polina Velichko, Kyiv