Guatemala has many narratives. This remarkable country and welcoming citizens invite you to discover its beauty and mystery, from fascinating Mayan culture and Spanish colonial cities to active volcanos and an abundance of wildlife.
I travelled to Guatemala with Bella Guatemala, a tour company specializing in the uniqueness of this Central American country.
Antigua, south of Guatemala City, is an excellent place to begin your exploration. During the Spanish colonial era, the city, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, served as Guatemala’s capital.
Mammoth volcanic peaks and coffee-covered slopes serve as a backdrop for the remnants of the city. Its pastel streetscapes, beautifully restored buildings and haunting ruins add to its charm.
I strolled past churches and government buildings. The city’s central square serves as a meeting place for locals. It features trees, shaded walkways, iron benches and the 1737 Mermaid Fountain.
Over the centuries of Spanish occupation, the city suffered earthquakes, floods and volcanic eruptions. Each natural disaster took a toll on the capital until it was all but abandoned. However, it has re-emerged from its slumber to become the No. 1 tourist destination in the country in recent decades. The city hosts thousands of tourists seeking history and the city’s incredible culinary and nightlife scene.
Just outside the city is Café Azoteca Coffee Estate, which has been in business since 1883. I started my visit in the coffee museum, which helps explain worldwide coffee production before focusing on local history, processes and traditions.
Guatemalan coffee is grown under a dense canopy of shade trees. Harvested by hand, the ripe red beans are wet milled, sun-dried and dry milled. We walked among the growing area and learned about its ecological growing practices. Azotea is a Rainforest Alliance Certified farm.
You’ll also want to tour the plantation’s music museum, featuring Guatemalan musical instruments and the country’s musical history and a textile museum featuring Mayan designs.
Southern Guatemala is dominated by a string of 37 volcanoes extending for about 290 kms between Mexico and El Salvador. Currently, seven are active, continually shifting and changing the landscape.
Pacaya, one of the active volcanos, is considered safe and easy to hike. Depending on your fitness level, the hike can take between one and three hours. You can also rent a horse to take you to the top for about $40, plus entrance and guide fees.
At the top, I had a spectacular view of the volcano and valley below. Vast fields of wildflowers grow out of the ash left from lava flows.
Panajachel is a city of 15,000 in the southwestern highlands. Known for its restaurants, galleries, lively bars and accommodation, the main street captured my attention.
All along the way, women in traditional clothing offer woven blankets and shawls. At the same time, children sell everything from hammocks to greeting cards. It’s a chaotic, festive and colourful experience, especially in the evening.
Tourists flock to the city because of its proximity to Lake Atitlan, considered one of the most beautiful lakes in the world. You can hire a boat to take you on a scenic cruise in the shadow of three volcanos (Atitlan, San Pedro, and Toliman). Mayan villages and towns are scattered along the shoreline.
One of the towns, San Juan La Laguna, is home to several cooperatives offering work for Mayan women to make a living as weavers and artisans. The community of 10,000 comprises 90 per cent Tz’utujil Mayans and 10 per cent Americans and Europeans; ex-pats are drawn to the area for its natural beauty and low cost of living.
The main street is lined with tiny shops and gardeners selling medicinal plants and produce. Visitors are welcome to learn from co-op members how they make their blankets and shawls. First, they buy locally grown cotton, remove the seeds, and then beat the cotton with sticks, making them adhere and spin it into yarn. I watched in amazement as a young woman explained the natural materials to dye the wool. Charcoal, insects, and flowers are mixed with banana oil, a natural fixer for the stain, before dipping the yarn into the boiling mixture.
Many Mayan women use a back-strap loom to weave and are often seen working on cloth alongside the town’s narrow lanes in front of small shops where they sell their wares. Women are the keepers of custom, culture and history, and dress traditionally. Guatemalan fabrics tell the stories of the wearer’s community and beliefs.
If you are in Guatemala on November 1, visit Sumpango Cemetery. Here locals celebrate the All Saints’ Day Big Kite Festival in celebration of Dia de Los Muertos (Day of the Dead), a 3,000-year-old tradition. The city is located about 40 minutes west of Guatemala City.
Arrive early in the day and enjoy the festivities as you walk along the road to the cemetery. Vendors offer kites, noisemakers, handcrafted ornaments and woven blankets.
In the cemetery, graves are decorated with flowers. Gifts and food are left for the departed. Small kites fly overhead, sending messages to family members in heaven along the kite string. Crowds of people stand and sit everywhere in the cemetery as they celebrate lives and the continuation of this life in death.
Throughout the day, several giant kites are erected around the circumference of the cemetery. Guatemala is the only country to celebrate Dia de Los Muertos by flying vibrantly coloured kites, which are believed to both communicate with, and honour lost loved ones. Giant kite designs are cloth and paper with bamboo frames that depict religious or folkloric themes. It takes an average of 40 days to construct kites more than 12 metres in diameter.
The giant kites are brought to the cemetery all day. Medium-sized kites don’t take to the skies until dusk, when people have finished tending to the graves, and the sun begins to set.
Toward evening, do not separate from your group for any reason. The crush of the crowd is intense.
Northern Guatemala offers its own Mayan treasure, including Tikal National Park and — lesser known but just as impressive — Yaxhá Nakum Naranjo National Park.
Tikal, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, was the state’s capital that became a powerful ancient Maya kingdom. Today it is one of the most well-known archaeological sites in Central America.
Hidden until the 19th century, Tikal is a monumental site with towering pyramids looming out of the thick jungle. The Mayans began building Tikal around 600 BC. They completed 3,000 structures, including palaces, temples, plazas, ceremonial platforms, ball courts, terraces, avenues and steam baths.
You will have glimpsed Tikal in the movie Star Wars – A New Hope (1977) as the planet Yavin IV. Here, the rebels had their base to organize the big battle against the Empire. George Lucas shot the scene from the top of Temple IV. You can climb this pyramid safely by using a modern wooden stairway.
Mayans occupied Tikal for more than 16 centuries, which is a fantastic testament to this jungle civilization’s cultural and artistic accomplishments.
Because Tikal is so popular, be prepared for crowds, especially in the morning.
To the east is Yaxhá-Nakum-Naranjo. Unlike Tikal, the excavated and unexcavated palaces, temples and marketplaces are so close together that it makes it easy to imagine life centuries ago when this sophisticated society prospered.
Yaxhá was the third-largest city in the region and experienced its maximum power between AD 250 to 600. Other smaller settlements preceded it, dating to 1000 BC.
The city was located on a ridge overlooking Lake Yaxhá. The Yaxhá kingdom is estimated to have covered 238 square kms and had a peak population of 42,000. The city survived until AD 900 and was entirely abandoned by 1525.
The ruins include more than 500 structures, with several major archaeological sites linked by causeways. Because this site is void of many tourists, wildlife is abundant, including toucans and the national bird, Quetzal, spider monkeys scampering along treetops, and howler monkeys calling out from above.
Guatemala projects a welcoming spirit to anyone interested in discovering the country. A feeling of pride in the Mayan culture is beautifully framed in natural splendour. Come and learn; this country has much to offer.
IF YOU GO:
For more information or to book travel, visit www.bellaguatemalatravel.com
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