In October and November we visited Guatemala again. Much needed time with family and friends, visiting new places and revisiting places we love to see. It was great to see so many people again after a year and it’s always a shame that we can’t visit everyone as much as we like, the 3,5 weeks flew by this time, but we enjoyed the time a lot. In between there was also a bit of time for vacationing š
It was the time of the barriletes (kites), when in Sumpango and Santiago SacatepĆ©quez they make and present giant kites. We were unfortunately not able to visit those places this time, but we will keep them in mind for future visits. We did see an exposition of smaller kites in the city of Antigua and we even made our own kites this time (although I’ll leace the big kites to the professionals).
Also with family and a friend we visited the Irtra (Los Hostales Del Irtra Retalhuleu) for some days in the sun, visiting the themepark ‘Gran Parque de Diversiones Xetulul’, which we last (and for me first) visited in 2019. The themepark has styled locations in the themes of Italy, France, Germany with waterslides, a rollercoaster, a swinging ship that scares the heck out of me, but there was also a ‘Halloween-themed’ magic show, there was Flamenco dancing and much more. The park where we stayed has vacation-houses in Western/Camping style, Greek apartments, several hotels and a part with more fairy-tale like houses and treehouses. It’s a magnificent park with lots and lots of nature around it.
Leaving the Irtra we also visited the Unesco National Archeological park Tak’alik Ab’aj where they are excavating ruins that are actually older than Tikal. We got an interesting tour around the site where there’s very much forest-green. All in all we could only visit about 10% of the complete site, the rest is only accessible for the people working there.
Antigua is always nice to visit. Its famous yellow gate makes for great photos and the people working and living there are friendly and very likeable. Sitting in the central park is an experience in itself just seeing all that is happening around you. If you’re a little patient you’ll eventually see a photoshoot or two of a quinceaƱera, a girl turning 15, in grand dresses and a bit of an entourage. Also there are always new restaurants and coffee-bars to discover and it’s brightly coloured, which I absolutely love! Whenever we go to Guatemala we try to at least get a hotel in Antigua for one or two nights. This time we also found a fantastic gallery with beautiful art, it was far far bigger than we ever expected seeing it from the outside.
And last of all: nature. I love the views in Guatemala. The volcanoes, mountains, the huge landscapes. They often ask me why I’m so fascinated by the views there, but I think it’s mainly because the Netherlands are so very very very flat. It’s just impressive to see mountains and active volcanoes every day. And although the Netherlands are much more easily to walk just about wherever you want, the views and hikes in nature in places like these are in a different level.
Underneath this post there’s a short set of photos to browse through, the full set of photos are on my Flickr page, here. I can’t wait to go back again soon, so hasta el proxima aƱo!
Leave a Reply