Xela, Lake Atitlan and Antigua, Guatemala
We've wrapped up our trip to Guatemala and I must say that Guatemalans are some of the friendliest people I've ever met. I'd put them right up there with the Vietnamese. The people in Xela were particularly friendly as they get fewer tourists than gringo trail hotspots Antigua and Lake Atitlan. Folks were almost always smiling in the streets, happy to provide directions, answer a question or just say 'Buenos Dias'.
We finished our Spanish program over the new year in Xela, which wrapped up four weeks of studying Spanish for me and three weeks for Ginny. My Spanish has never been better as I can converse comfortably in the language now, despite still making plenty of errors. The immersion programs really are effective as I only spoke Spanish throughout the day except for when I was alone with Ginny. If you're looking to learn Spanish and can take the time to do an immersion program, I highly recommend it as the best way to quickly learn the language.
After being in Xela for nearly a month, we were ready to move on as it's not the most happening city. We took a shuttle to Lake Atitlan and were on one of the windiest, steep roads with tons of speed bumps - I was pretty carsick and was lucky to not lose my cookies! We made it to Lake Atitlan and had a very relaxing week there staying in the town of Panajachel. I decided to do another couple more days of Spanish class so that my Spanish wouldn't get too rusty. Lake Atitlan is a stunning crater lake surrounded by volcanoes and has many Mayan villages along its shores, including San Juan, San Pedro, Santa Catarina and Santiago. We did a cultural tour of the lake which was kind of a bust but at least we got to see some interesting sites around the lake and learn more about the local culture (see photos below).
Our final stop on our Guatemalan trip was Antigua, which was described to me as Gringolandia by one of my Spanish teachers in Xela. While there is no question that Antigua is swarming with foreigners, there's good reason for that as it's an incredibly beautiful charming old city (UNESCO). It served as the colonial capital of Guatemala up until a massive earthquake destroyed the city in 1773. Much of the city has been restored but there still are many ruins that can be seen throughout the city. There are also many volcanoes surrounding Antigua so we booked a trip to climb the nearby Acatenango (an active, yet dormant volcano).
While I think you could summit Acatenango on your own, we decided to sign up for a guided overnight trip and it was one of the best tours we've ever done. Granted, we generally don't do tours but this one was really special. The guides were really knowledgeable and they did a fantastic job of getting our group up the mountain (base camp was at 12,000 feet above sea level) and we had absolutely stunning views of the eruptions which happen every 15-20 minutes on the nearby Volcan de Fuego. A couple of us chose to head over with a guide to the Fuego ridgeline which gave us incredible sunset views and an up-close-and-personal view of the Fuego eruptions. The eruptions were particularly spectacular at night as we could see the red lava and rocks exploding out of the volcano with tremendous force - it was a sight we'll never forget!
Now we're in Nicaragua where we'll be for the next ten days until we return to the US. We've been here for less than a day but it seems quite different from Guatemala - no Mayans, people haven't been nearly as friendly and it's hot and humid! We'll keep an open mind about our time here but it feels like we left our hearts in Guatemala!
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Sam & Ginny, I learn so much from. your travels! I enjoy the photographs & the many, many observations, details and facts...thank you for sharing your experiences!
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