It’s been a long time since my last post so I’ve decided to write several posts to catch up to date. I have been really fortunate in my time in Guatemala, and have been able to take day trips almost every weekend and experience new sights and cities with every new trip.
On Friday June 20th I went on an overnight trip to Antigua, which used to be the old capital city until the 1800’s, so there are tons of old buildings, architecture and history from colonial Spanish times…which I’m a huge nerd about and love seeing it all. We stayed over night at the aunt and uncle’s house of Rodrigo (the student I’m staying with) and it was on the outskirts of town and they owned a small coffee farm. It was amazing to walk out of their door and be surrounded by coffee, volcanoes, and misty rolling hills. The trip was great overall, on Friday night we got some cheap, delicious food and then went and danced for a while at a discoteca. Then Saturday we got up, admired the spectacular views of the country side, then went into town and toured the original cathedral (which is mostly ruins now), walked around the town, and toured an old convent that is now a museum, which was super cool. We got back to Guatemala City around 1ish in Saturday and it was a great trip overall. I got to see another different aspect of Guatemala and experience a small town feeling. Antigua is a very tourist oriented city, which I normally try to avoid, but it was still a great to see and learn about some of the country’s history.
The next weekend we took another day trip on Sunday the 28th to a nearby location, Lake Amátitlan. This is another spectacular lake of Guatemala and is only about 30-45 minute drive from Guatemala City. Unfortunately the lake has been subject to waste disposal in the past and has been heavily polluted. Efforts are currently underway to clean the lake, but it is a long process and the water is still unsafe. Even though Lake Amátitlan is polluted it is still amazingly beautiful. When we were at the lake we rented a row boat and paddled around for an hour, then we took the gondola up to the top of the mountain to overlook the city of Amátitlan and the lake. After most of the day at the lake we drove to the coast and Puerto (port) San Jose. We arrived at the beach just in time to relax and walk for a few hours watching the sunset. After the sunset we drove back to Guatemala City after a great day of experiencing the beautiful natural beauty of Guatemala.
On Tuesday the 30th we had off of work and the university had off of school due to a national holiday, so we took a trip to the local and active volcano Pacaya. We hiked the trails up to the top (or close to the top) of the volcano and it was a great outdoor adventure. Somehow along the way up Karie, Rodrigo and I took a wrong turn when we got separated from Celeste and Melissa, who rented horses, and ended up having to make our own path up the mountain until we could finally reunite with them two hours later. It was a really great time and another great trip experiencing the phenomenal natural beauty of the country.
More to come soon...
Jesse
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