Finca La Azotea, Antigua. The first day in Antigua, Jim and I road bikes to a coffee plantation and museum. The trip was very educational...we will never again take for granted the cup of coffee that we have in the morning. All of the futures on coffee grown in Antigua are already sold to Starbucks.
Finca La Azotea, Antigua
These unusual flowers were all over Guatemala. I never found out what they are called.
Workers at Finca La Azotea roasting, grinding, and putting fresh coffee into bags. The coffee in Guatemala is shade grown rather than sun grown. It is also hand picked rather than harvested by machine! As a result, the quality is higher. Recently, the coffee market has been impacted by lesser quality coffee grown in Vietnam. Although, this has meant a reduction in the per pound price of coffee to growers, we haven't seen an increase in the retail cost. The reduction in cost comes directly from the growers' and laborers' pockets.
Coffee being roasted at Finca La Azotea.
The second day in Antigua, Jim and I “hiked” Volcan Acetenango. The altitude nearly killed us!
The descent was a little better than the climb.
One of MANY breathing breaks!
Guatemalans farm high up in the mountains in order to take advantage of the rich soils. Crops include corn, beans and squash.
Day 4, we travelled to Lago Atitlan. This was our first glimpse after driving through winding roads through the mountains. This lake was originally formed by the explosion of a volcano. This was the site of the devastating mudslides in 2005.
The primary way to get to location around the lake is by “lancha”. These are small vessels that are often filled to capacity that stop at the various pueblos and hotels around the lake. Jim is walking down the dock to the lancha location in Panajachel. The ride to our hotel was about 15 minutes by boat (depending on the number of stops in between).
This is our first lancha ride. Although Jim and I are both comfortable on boats, Jim noticed a hole in the bottom of the boat that let water into the hull of the boat every time we hit a wave. This made for a little added excitement as we crossed.
The lake was crystal clear and beautiful. It was always best to try to cross early in the day because the water was calm. The later in the day, the more choppy the water = the bigger the adventure crossing. We even saw whitecaps some days.
Our view of the lake from our hotel at Casa del Mundo in the very small town of Jaibalito.
Other than the lanchas, the only boats that we saw on the water were very small dugouts like this one. These were all used by the local fishermen. They primary catch black bass which were stocked by the federal government years ago. This fish are very small and difficult to make a living with.
Fisheman and very young child pulling in the fishing nets.
One of the major towns around the lake is Santiago de Atitlan. There is regularly a large artisian market in the town. Jim and I did our part to support the local economy on our trip! Most of the Mayans women still dress in their traditional clothing, including the huipiles (blouses) and faldas (skirts). Each town has distinctive styles of clothing. The patterns, colors and weaving styles on the huipiles are specific to the town that the women live in (also the type of Mayan that she is affiliated with).
Those are bags of avocados going to market!!
More avocados...notice the man in the red shirt carrying a bag...the avocados are huge and there are atleast 100 in a bag. I would guess that the bags weigh 100 pounds or more. Also, see the man on the right carrying a basket. His pants are the traditional dress for men in this area. However, most men now dress in western style clothing.
Moximon (pronounced “mo-she-mon”) is a very inventive protector “saint” that the Mayans in Santiago de Atitlan pray to and celebrate. He is gaurded around the clocks by believers who often drink, dance and play music in celebration. Incense and candles are burned constantly. Offering include cigarette, cigars (which are inserted lit into his lips or given by the pack), rum, flowers and money (that is Jim and my big bill there tucked into his chains and scarves). Jim was convinced after this that our lanchas wouldn't sink because Moximon was protecting us.
These are the festive decorations on the ceiling of Moximon's room. Pretty sure that is a sausage!
“Chicken buses” are the primary mode of transportation for the vast majority of the population. They are generally brightly painted and driven maniacally.
Chicken bus
Apparently, this one is named Esmeralda.
We stayed two nights at Casa del Mundo on Lago Atitlan. It was a wonderful place with beautiful grounds and an incredible view of the lake. Here it is perched high on a cliff.
These are some of the (many) steps leading to the hotel. The grounds of the hotel were beautifully landscaped.
And, more steps...
This was one of the many locations at the hotel for lounging and relaxing...
Here are Jim and I taking full advantage of the opportunity!!
The smoke above us on the deck was the wood burning to heat the hot tub.
More places for relaxation...
And, if we ran out of places to relax on the grounds, we could retire to the balcony in our room.
Another way to relax...
Although, it is often hard to read when there are so many great things to look at...
Jim is looking out for a lancha as we prepare to leave Casa del Mundo.
I am sad to leave the hotel.
An overloaded lancha arriving at the hotel. Sometimes the boats that were meant to seat about a dozen would be loaded with 20 or more people...and all of their parcels. The locals also use the lanchas to get around the lake. Often they would be carrying eggs, tomatoes or other delicate packages with them on the boats. We skipped this one!
While we were at the lake, we took a day trip to a nearby town in the highlands called Chichicastenango. “Chichi” is reknowned for its Sunday market which brings artesians from all over the highlands to sell their handwoven textiles. It is a bright, noisy and bustling market....quite an experience!
Vendors have different approaches to selling while at the market. Some rent booths, some carrying their wares with them and walk around the market. This woman simply sits down in the middle and waits for people to trip over her.
It is not unusual to see the women carrying large bundles on their heads...anything from firewood to textiles.
Generally, the back is for a baby.
It was VERY rare to hear a baby crying!
This method of carrying heavy loads is a traditional Mayan method. The strap across his forehead is bearing the majority of the weight.
Jim and I gave blondie about an hour before he was running for a bathroom after eating the mango from a street vendor.
Although it is a little difficult to see, the pants and sash around the middle of this man are part of the traditional mens dress for this area. The sash around the middle acts as a sort of pocket.
This is the Santo Tomas “Catholic” church in Chichi. Although was intended to be a catholic church, many Mayan customs have been integrated into the ceremony in the church.
The women sitting on the steps are selling flowers for offering inside the church.
The smoke is incense being burned.
The burning of incense here is an example of how the Mayans have adapted their own traditions into the “new” religions that have come to Guatemala.
The day that we visited the church was the intersection of three important days in the Maya calender. As a result, there were many Mayan ceremonial rituals being performed by shamans on that day. Families pay the shamans a fee to perform the ceremonies for anything from healthy pregnancies to stopping alcohol abuse. The ceremony includes lighting candles, saying prayers, and lighting incense. No, that isn't 7-Up the man is pouring on the altar. The bottle is filled with aguardiente, a very potent moonshine.
The vendors and stalls at Chichi. Can you spot the American?
Again, we tried to do our part for the local economy.
A very colorful cemetary at the edge of Chichi.
Another chicken bus loading up...notice all the parcels on top.
Two of the many lanchas available for transport. We avoided the titanic.
This is our view from our second hotel on the lake, Lomas de Tzuna. 403 stairs (1,000+ feet) to get there...but it was worth it!
Back in Antigua. We loved the city so much that we changed our plans to return after our trip to the Lake rather than going east to Rio Dulce and Livingston.
In Antigua, there are two volcanos that are omnipresent...one is Agua (water) shown here. The other is Fuego (fire) that is on the other side of town.
As in most latino cities, there was a plaza mayor with a fountain in the center.
If this picture was a better closeup you could see that water is supposed to be coming from the breasts of the women at the bottom of the fountain (like all good fountains (Jim's comment!)).
There are so many beautiful gardens in the city. Apparently everything grows really well here.
One of the many beautiful fountains in restaurants, bars, and hotels.
This is inside Panza Verde, the hotel we stayed at in Antigua. The staircase goes up to an incredible roof garden.
The restaurant at Panza Verde.
This is the pation and fountain outside of our room at Panza Verde.
Blanca Estella was a wonderful person that worked at Panza Verde. She called us her “ninos”. Note, that I am not standing on anything. I am about 2 feet taller than her!
A great courtyard at one of the many spanish schools.
This is La Merced, a working church that was built in 1767. There had previously been two other churches on the site which were both destroyed by earthquakes. The architecture is considered “earthquake baroque” due to its squattty size and shape that are intended to withstand earthquakes.
Fuego Volcano
The arch was originally built so that nuns could walk between the two buildings of a convent on either side of the street without being seen by the public.
Ruins of the former Great Cathederal in the center of Antigua.
It is amazing how many ceremonial offerings that you encounter where ever you go. This is an empty crypt in the ruins that are still visited regularly. There were arrangements of fresh flowers below AND a VERY strong smell of alcohol, probably aguardiente.
Ruins at the former Casa Santa Domingo monastery.
Candle makers at the monestary. This was one way the monks made money. Jim and I bought some beautiful candles here for gifts. However, we put them into our carry-on bag so that they wouldn't get broken and the Guatemalan airport security took them!
At the monestary ruins.
Part of the monastery operates now as a hotel. It is decorated throughout with incredible arrangements and candles.
San Simon is another Mayan “saint”. We found this one at the back of a store that sold traditional crafts.
So many great things to buy...actually, here, we are shopping for a duffle bag to carry home all the OTHER things that we bought!!
This is the entry to our room at Casa Encantada.
The grounds at Casa Encantada.
Unfortunately, most of the private properties are enclosed behind walls and doors for privacy and protection. Fortunately, many of the doors are incredible to look at...Jim got on a roll one day and took pix of many...
The buildings also have other incredible architectural features like arches, columns, and ornate windows.
Rain spout.
