Travel Journals: January 2024

Grandparent Trilogy, Part II, Wesley, Ellen & Me

GUATEMALA, 2022

Grandparent Trilogy, Part I (Aidan, Carol & Me) can be found in March, 2019, entries.

Grandparent Trilogy, Part III (Julien & Me) can be found in March, 2024 entries.

Remember: a double click on any photo enlarges the photo.

Sunday, April 3, 2022 I’m in our hotel room in Antigua, Guatemala, after a long day of travel. Ellen and Wes have walked into town. I am tired and feeling alone, and lonely. This was supposed to be Carol's and my second trip with one of our grandchildren. But Carol is gone, and I miss her.

Carol and I had planned to travel alone with each of our three grandchildren. I am older now, and in spite of my years of travel experience overseas, I don't feel confident to travel alone with a child to a foreign country. So I asked Ellen to come with us. This change of plans led to the joy in discovering a new place and having new adventures with Ellen and Wesley. (And more than once, Ellen's competence eased my travel anxieties.)

But this was our first evening in Guatemala, and being alone weighed on me.

Soon enough, Ellen and Wes returned, bringing cheer and M&M's. My gloominess disappeared. Our adventure was off and running.

It was a very good trip. We flew first class. We spent five nights and four days in Antigua. We explored the city and its market, the central plaza, found a favorite coffee shop, made our own chocolate bars at the Choco Museo, climbed a volcano, were seduced by the tropical aura of our old style hotel, Hobbitenango, the rain forest, Lake Atitlan and the awesome presence of the volcanoes. We spent our last nights in Monterrico by the furious surf of the Pacific Ocean.

Images of Guatemala

Flying first class, a real splurge, was so comfortable that I forgot to put my seat back. We hadn't told Wes about this extravagance. It was fun to watch as she checked her seat number when we boarded the plane and put two and two together.

The fearless motorcyclists of Guatemala City Getting out of Guatemala City in our rental car was more of a challenge than we had anticipated. For miles through city streets and into the countryside, we were entangled in a chaos of vehicles, choking the air with their exhaust as we inched along. Through it all, hundreds of motorcyclists weaved in and out of the maze, whether we were traveling at 40 mph or slogging along at a walking pace.

Wesley’s Evolution: On our first evening in Antigua, Wes and I went into town to get take-out for dinner. Wes wanted to practice her Spanish by ordering but turned it over to me in the loud and confusing take-out line. At the end of our week, Wes and I again dined together, this time at a local hotel on the beach in Monterrico. As we looked over our menus, Wes announced, "I'll order for both of us." And she did, fluently.

Meson Panza Verde - a luxury hotel at a bargain price, thanks to Ellen's internet searching prowess, was our home for most of our stay in Guatemala. Its rooms surround a lush tropical garden. It has a first class restaurant that we didn't avail ourselves of, except for fabulous breakfasts by the garden included in the price of our stay.

The garden at Meson Panza Verde

Sumptuous breakfast just steps from our room

When we arrived after dark, the woman at the desk said they had no reservation for us. We puzzled over the problem for a few minutes while I fought off my panic. I finally noticed that she was looking at a dinner seating chart. Not dinner, I said. A room. We laughed. She checked us in and handed me our room key.

The friendly waiter at our hotel, who said Mark Antony after I told him my name and continued to call me Antony until my icy silence shushed him.

Antigua City is steeped in colonial history and bustling with activity at all hours, except the early morning, when solitary men and women sweep the sidewalks of Antigua in a Sisyphisian struggle against grime and litter. Once the city awoke, the streets, markets and central plaza buzzed with activity.

Nim Po't is a huge indoor craft and textile market, packed with colorful, quality examples of Guatemalan culture and art handcrafted by artisans from all regions of Guatemala. A must-see experience for any visitor to Antigua.


Antigua's Central Plaza

A cool break from seeing the sights

Strawberry

The market, a tangle of streets and alleys and discoveries

Masks on display at Nim Po't

The streets of Antigua

Wes, with her acquisition from Nim Po't

The Choco Museo Our first adventure was a visit to the Choco Museo, where we learned about the history of making chocolate in Guatemala and then made our own chocolate bars. A good start to our vacation.

Our Culinary Cocoa Confections

A break after our time in the kitchen

Wes makes a friend at the Choco Museo

Café Estudio Once we discovered this local coffee shop, it became our go-to hangout when we needed a break from sightseeing.

Bienvenido a Café Estudio

Café Estudio

Rooftop Relaxing at Café Estudio

Wes surprises Ellen with a cute Guatemalan surprise.

Walk, run or ride to Café Estudio

Hobbitenango is a quirky theme park that's hard to describe. It was founded by two Guatemalan men who shared a passion for Lord of the Rings, nature, playfulness, and the desire to disconnect from the hectic, busy world and reconnect with what is important in life. Originally meant to be a small mountain top eco-village shared among friends, in 2015 it was opened to the public as a down-home, funky playground.

Our adventure began with a long and very steep drive up a mountain. We parked, paid and climbed aboard a small shuttle bus with a lot of hard miles on its odometer and rode up an even steeper, rutted dirt road. (I couldn't imagine attempting this "road" in our rental car.)

At the top, we found a maze of walking paths and things to do - ax-throwing, bow and arrow shooting, mini-golf, walking out over the mountainside on a giant concrete hand, and flying out into space on the biggest swing I've ever seen. We saw several hobbit houses, which were actually hotel rooms. And of course a restaurant with stunning views.

Its name is loosely translated as Hobbit Town.

Wes had an accurate eye and a steady hand. (We passed on the ax-throwing.)

If the hand dropped you, it was a long way down.

The biggest swing I've ever seen!


Lunch break in Hobbit Town

The hospital workers’ strike for fair wages that tied up a four-lane highway. Hundreds of striking nurses and support staff took over the highway taking us to Pacaya, creating a miles-long stoppage of traffic. The protesters mingled peacefully, waving their posters while a swarm of police idled nearby. We weren't sure we were ever going to make it to Pacaya Volcano, but we were sympathetic to these people whose problems were far greater than our own inconvenience.

Serious Demonstrators, Mellow Police

Pacaya Volcano Our driver picked us up at our hotel after an early breakfast for the two-hour drive (that became over three hours because of the strike) to the parking lot at the base of the volcano. Allan, our guide, had motorcycled ahead and met us there. A few local men stood around with horses, hoping for some business from tourists not up the the arduous climb ahead.

We set out with a park ranger (required for park entry). A man and his son followed us with two horses, hoping the old guy in our party might tire out. At a rest stop, Allan told us it was our last chance to hire the horses because the the horse concessionaires could go no farther without clients.

We left the horses behind and continued our trek. We had already decided that we didn't need no stinkin' horses (borrowed from Bogart in "Treasure of the Sierra Madres"). The trail quickly turned from gravel/dirt to several inches of volcanic ash. (Think trudging through the sand at a beach, only with a steep incline. Very steep!)

I huffed and puffed my way, trailing the others and fantasizing being in the saddle. But I made it to the farthest point hikers were permitted to go (still about a thousand feet from the summit). We had fabulous view of the surrounding countryside and of Pacaya's peak. We got as comfortable as you can get in a lava field and roasted marshmallows over natural "vents" from which hot gases escaped into the air.

We met two young American women who were toasting peanut butter and jelly sandwiches! One of the women is from St. Louis Park. She is studying Spanish in college and during the pandemic she came to Guatemala to immerse herself in the language. All her classes were online because of the pandemic, so she decided she could learn just as well virtually from Guatemala as she could at home in St. Louis Park!

Our excellent guides

Wes and Ellen pose with a neighboring volcano behind them

Pacaya's Peak, Off Limits To Tourists

Four feet can be better than two.

Taking a break from the uphill trudge

Intrepid Mountain Goats

A tasty reward for reaching the top

Natural Gas Cooking

A feast for some creative climbers

When you run out of road in the jungle, what do you do? The drive from Antigua to Lake Atitlan was beautiful, but not without challenges. We were the only vehicle on the well-paved modern road as we left farmland behind and entered a jungle. We cruised along without a care until the asphalt simply ended. We continued slowly on a rough gravel road. And then the gravel road ended! To the left, the road became little more than a rough trail barely wide enough for our car, not a good choice at all. On our right lay a small river flowing briskly across our path. On the other side lay the gravel road. It appeared to be shallow enough to pass but was wide enough (3 or 4 car lengths) to warrant caution. No direction signs. No warning signs. Surrounded by jungle. The modern highway seemed a long way off.

I got out of the car, found a stick about as tall as I am, and began to plumb the depths as far as I could. It seemed to be maybe possibly hopefully fingers crossed perhaps passable. And then, a car with a family of Guatemalans appeared on the other side of the river and drove across without a hitch! Ole! I asked the driver if we were still on the road to Atitlan, and he assured me that we were indeed. I climbed back into the driver's seat, and across we went, then up the hill and around a bend. Two minutes later the modern pavement reappeared as suddenly as we had lost it.

Returning later in the day, we approached the river and saw a large, shiny SUV on the other side, its driver obviously as perplexed as we had been. I drove across the river and stopped to talk. The driver said, "Did I just see you drive across that river?" "Yup," I said and assured him that his monster vehicle would have no trouble.

We talked a bit. He and his wife had just arrived in the country. This was their first adventure. This vacation was his wife's idea of a cool vacation, he told us, and definitely not his.

Panajachel, Lake Atitlan and the Reserva Natural Atitlan The Reserve was our first stop. It featured coatis, monkeys, tropical birds, a screened butterfly habitat and screaming zip liners. After our visit to the rain forest, we walked to the shore of Lake Atitlan before heading to a funky little restaurant in the nearby town of Panajachel.


Rain Forest Photographer

Hangin' Out in the Reserva Natural

Mealtime for the Coatis

The coatis didn't pay much attention to us.

The Princess & the Monarch

Showing Off.

So Many Butterflies!

Then, a short walk through the rain forest to Lago Atitlan...

...Followed by snacks at a funky beachfront restaurant.

Peaceable Kingdom

Good times!

Waiting for our order.

Waiting for our order

The Lion That Roared

The Dude Who Snored

Our beachfront villa in Monterrico.

After a busy week of taking in the sights and sounds of Guatemala, we planned a quiet retreat by the sea. A good idea! On our first day, we ventured into the water, holding on to one another against the powerful undertow.

Covid travel restrictions were still in place, and we had to do online testing within forty-eight hours of arriving back in the U.S. My technophobia anxiety level was right up at about 9.95 out of ten. Our beachfront villa had spotty internet, but Ellen, fortunately, was a much cooler head and shepherded the three of us through the process without a glitch.