Wandering Publicist

Again, I found myself not planning on visiting a place I would later fall in love with. After hearing negative things about Guatemala, I thought to extend my time in Nicaragua and Costa Rica. However, as I traveled, I began hearing amazing things about Guatemala. I then boarded a plane to Guatemala City to see for myself.

Landing, I felt as if I was in a magical sky kingdom. The country is elevated and I sensed it immediately upon arrival.  There isn’t much to do in the city and it isn’t the safest spot to hang out, so I headed straight to a colonial city surrounded by volcanoes: Antigua. My first impression of Antigua was a smaller Granada with its colorful homes and cobblestone roads.

I was recommended to stay at Matiox hostel and it was one of the most pleasant hostel experiences to date. The property is super clean and the beds are so comfy. The staff were great and took the time to answer any questions you have. The hostel’s hot tub was a nice perk and was perfect for unwinding after returning from the strenuous Acatenango hike (more on that later).

Matiox is a bit far from the main part of town, but I didn’t mind the walk. It only takes about 10 minutes to reach the center.  Right away, I discovered an awesome taco joint, Ta’Cool. I may or may not have eaten there six times.

Antigua is a great place to get work done as it is peaceful and quiet. Matiox is not a party hostel so after 11pm it is silent. When I wasn’t working, I made sure to explore the city. The most popular nightlife establishment is a bar called Cafe No Se, renowned for mezcal and mysterious vibe, No Se is always filled with people ready to have a good time. There is a special mezcal bar accessible via this little door. How cool?!

On Saturday night, several of us went dancing at Lucky Rabbit, which plays top 40 music and also has a separate room for house music. Aside from Ta’Cool, Toko Baru is a delicious Indonesian restaurant with large portions and affordable prices. Some places in Antigua can be quite expensive as it is a more upscale part of the country.

One of the main draws to Antigua is hiking the infamous Acatenango volcano, where you camp overnight and watch Fuego, the volcano next to Acatenango, erupt. I booked the trip with Matiox and the price includes camping gear, food, and transportation. Make sure you bring a lot of layers! It is SUPER cold up there. I ended up borrowing someone’s extra sleeping bag and coat so, in total, I was wearing 3 pairs of socks, 3 pairs of pants, a shirt, a windbreaker, a hoodie, two puffer coats, a hat, and gloves.

The hike is mainly uphill on gravel, which makes it challenging. It takes about 6 hours to reach the base camp. While it was hard, going down was the worst for me! My Nikes were not made for the slippery rocks.

As we ascended higher and higher, the environment turned to lush green jungle with a faint fog surrounding us. I was so focused on looking ahead but had to take a few moments to look up and around. It was so quiet and calm. One of the most rewarding parts of the hike was reaching the point where we were above the clouds. Seeing how far we climbed was invigorating. I felt like I was in heaven.

At this point, we finally started seeing the tops of the volcanoes. The rush was exhilarating and helped us make it to the base camp. Upon arrival, we were greeted with a fire that would become the focal point of the night as we huddled around it for warmth while watching Fuego magically erupt every 30 minutes.  The fact that I had to work hard all day to see this incredible wonder made it all the more special. I earned this view.

I remember when Fuego erupted for the first time, I could hear myself exclaiming “Oh my god” over and over again. It felt like my voice was so far from my body. Truly an out of this world experience.

The magic started disappearing once it was time to go to sleep.  I am the type of person who can quickly start imagining worst case scenarios and freezing to death was on my mind. I went outside to go to the bathroom (yeah there are no bathrooms at the top of a volcano sorry) and saw one of my friends who had told me he wasn’t going to wear his coat to bed (crazy, I know). I told him I was so cold and he generously gave me his coat and an extra sleeping bag. After that, I was finally warm enough to fall asleep without thoughts of dying :p

Typically the group gets up at 330am to hike to the summit and watch the sunrise, but when we woke up the base camp was super cloudy and you couldn’t see anything, so our group decided to forgo the summit hike since we wouldn’t be able to see anything anyways. I was secretly very pleased with the choice. At 530 we woke to see the sunrise at the base camp and I swear I have never seen anything like this in my life. The fiery red and orange colors illuminating the sky were breathtaking. It was as if I was looking at an oil painting. Even if all I had seen was this sunrise and no volcano erupting, it would have been worth it.

Arriving back into town is when you finally feel how exhausted your body is. I barely made it to the hostel before collapsing in my bed for well-deserved sleep. What an accomplishment!

I spent my last day in Antigua relaxing by the Jesus viewpoint in town. It’s a short uphill walk that overlooks the whole city.

After a lovely time in Antigua, it was time to move to the next destination: Lake Atitlan. The lake is known for its stunning beauty and colorful Mayan villages. Atitlan, like many places in Guatemala, doesn’t feel like a tourist attraction. I felt immersed in authentic local life.

I started off in the town of San Pedro where there is an abundance of Spanish schools, nightlife options, and close proximity to the lake.  I stayed at Mr. Mullets, prepared to only be there for a few nights, and ended up staying for a week! The staff is really cool and the free breakfast was delicious! The week I spent here, I was pretty busy with work so I found a restaurant, The Clover, overlooking the lake that had great Wi-Fi, and set up shop there each day. Not a bad office view, amirite?!

One afternoon, I took a break from working and headed to San Marcos, another popular destination on the lake. San Marcos is very hippy and you can find tons of yoga programs and holistic experiences. A few friends wanted to do the 7-meter cliff jump into the water.  I was pretty nervous, but I pushed myself to conquer that fear. It doesn’t look that high when you are standing at the edge, but the second I jumped off, the adrenaline set in and I realized just how far down the water was.

I definitely screamed the whole way. My bikini top flew up once I hit the water and my ears were a bit clogged afterward, but the experience was so worth it (and for the picture, let’s be honest :P)

Another fun and cheap water activity is kayaking! I kayaked for about three hours to a deserted beach area at the base of a volcano.  It was so serene to be alone on the water taking in my beautiful surroundings. The lake is so gorgeous, I felt like I was inside a picture. I didn’t want the moment to end.

The food scene in San Pedro is awesome. You can find all different types from local Guatemalan, to Asian, to Israeli. The Clover has great local, American, and Asian food. Sublime offers local cuisine and turns into a dance party at night! The vibe here is on point.

There is also a yummy pupusa street food stand near Mr. Mullets and I ate there a few times too. One drunken night at Sublime, I ran out to get some street food and ended up buying 30 quetzales worth of chicken to feed the stray dogs. I was feeling really good about myself after that 😛

I had heard about this new glamping experience on the lake and wanted to check it out. Its called Free Cerveza (they give out free beer each night for two hours before dinner!) and is located in Santa Cruz. It is in a pretty secluded area so don’t plan on spending more than a few nights there. The remote location and lack of wifi made it a great place for me to relax on the weekend when I didn’t need to work. The hostel is comprised of about 15 glamps including all female ones. The beds are surprisingly comfy, but there was already mold inside of the tents. It didn’t bother me too much and the experience of waking up on the lake was worth it.

I really loved the private floating dock they have. This is where everyone was tanning, drinking beer, and reading books. Pure bliss.

Before I left Guatemala, I had to make the trek to Flores, home to the ancient city Tikal. I spent my Thanksgiving on a 20-hour journey to Flores via shuttle bus to Antigua, another shuttle to Guatemala City and then a night bus to Flores.  The journey started out rough when we got stuck behind construction for almost two hours. Nothing is worse than being delayed within the first hour of a very, very long journey. Finally, we started moving again. After that, the rest of the journey went by pretty smooth. Oh, aside from the man behind me on night bus who snored the ENTIRE ride. Needless to say, I hardly slept.

Bleary-eyed, Corrin, the friend I made on the night bus, and I headed to Los Amigos Hostel where we were both staying! I heard from other travelers that this hostel was the ultimate vibes hostel and I understood what they meant the second I stepped inside. Its as if I stepped inside a jungle oasis filled with hammocks, couches, swings, and dim lighting.

Once I awoke from my nap, I ordered lunch at the restaurant. The food at the hostel is great! It’s so nice to have good food on the property for those lazy days when you don’t want to leave.

A fun activity in Flores is Jorje’s rope swing. Jorje and his family live about a 10-minute boat ride from the mainland and they have turned their gorgeous property into an attraction. You have to pay only 10 quetzales to enter and can stay as long as you please. They serve food and drinks here and have hammocks to relax in. After the semi-traumatic jump at San Marcos, I was very nervous to do the rope swing. I didn’t want my ears to get messed up again. It took about 45 minutes for me to work up the courage and once I did it, I laughed at how fun and easy it was. The water was much warmer than Lake Atitlan and it wasn’t as high of a drop. I even did it again 🙂

The main reason I trekked across the country was to explore the ancient Mayan city Tikal. The city flourished from 200 until about 850 A.D. and then was abandoned. A lot of people do the sunrise tour, but since this area is a jungle, you cant actually see the sunrise! Not to mention the abundant mosquitoes and waking up at 3am.  My crew and I opted for the sunset tour instead which turned out to be the best decision.

Climbing up the first pyramid was surreal. I am in awe of how they were able to create all these majestic structures so long ago. Fun fact: the landscape and temples of the planet Yavin 4 in Star Wars Episode IV was filmed here.

It takes about two hours to walk through the city and explore everything. One of my favorite parts was walking through the “neighborhoods” where the people lived all those centuries ago. I wonder what life was like for them here.

As sunset was nearing, we ascended to the top of the tallest temple. From here, we could see the tops of the other temples peeking out of the green jungle. It was like nothing I have ever seen before.

To view the sunset, we had to walk around to the other side of the temple which was blocked off. A friendly “bribe” to the guard and we were able to cross over. We were silent as we watched the sun descend into the earth. I felt like I was in the middle of nowhere. Just me and the jungle.

Guatemala exceeded all of my expectations.  I am so happy I didn’t pass it up.

If you are planning to visit Guatemala, feel free to ask me any questions 🙂

XO,

Sarah