Guatemala: Puerto Quetzal and Antigua

Wednesday,January 25, 2023

Puerto Quetzal and Antigua, Guatemala


Puerto Quetzal is Guatemala’s largest port. Bananas are one of their largest exports and one of the first things I saw as we entered the port was a large Chiquita container ship loading bananas. A few cruise ships also stop here.




From the port we took a bus to Antigua, a UNESCO world heritage site surrounded by volcanos in the highlands. On the way, our air-conditioned bus passed many brightly-colored and elaborately-decorated school buses imported from the United States, called chicken buses by foreigners because their cargo often includes live chickens or other livestock. Very cheap transportation and the preferred way for locals to get from one city to another.



Antigua was the colonial capital until an earthquake destroyed many of the buildings centuries ago. There are still ruins among restored buildings.  It’s easy to see the small bougainvillea-covered city on foot if you watch your step on the cobblestone sidewalks and streets. We toured the town with another couple we met on the  ship who happened to also be on the bus.






The Guatemalan women were beautifully dressed in traditional clothing. Most wore some version of a gorgeous apron with many pockets. I was thinking what a beautiful, practical travel accessory that would be in place of my utilitarian back pack. I was a little shy about taking their pictures, so didn’t get any very good photos.




The park in the center of town was crammed with vendors (mostly women), and pigeons. Pigeons seem to be able to locate city parks all over the world. Charlie bought a brilliantly colored tapestry from a very funny woman named Myra. Many of the women had small children with them, and some had tiny babies strapped to their backs. 





We spent a few hours seeing the sites, and stopped for lunch at Frida’s, a restaurant serving microbrewery beer. (There is also a microbrewery tour of Antigua). 






Our last stop was the jade factory, where we were told that Charlie’s pawn store jade ring is made of Olmec blue jade, one of the rarest types found in Guatemala. He found a piano and played The Blue Danube for the patrons before we left the store.


We had to hurry to find the bus parking area to return to Puerto Quetzal.


Apologies for the slowness of my posts. You can’t imagine how frustrating this is without high speed internet! With the help of Alex, the tech guy it’s getting slightly faster. Maybe I can convince Charlie to contribute soon.


Peace & love,

Jill


 

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