Antigua – A Home Away From Home

December 14-17, 2017

Overview

Arriving in Antigua via the colectivo was a bit surreal, pulling into the empty city around 6:30am. Not only was the city completely quiet, but as we rolled in, we heard the boom of one of the three volcanoes that surrounds Antigua erupt. The active one, aptly named Fuego, was clearly visible in the pristine blue sky as it spewed black lava soot up into the air and the sun crept over the horizon. It’s hard to describe how cool this was. I’m not sure I’d been around a volcano before, but certainly not an active one, and to see it erupting felt majestic, powerful, quiet, and exciting all at once. We all had some oooo’s and aaahhh’s from the van.

After collecting ourselves at the tour agency at which we were deposited, a few of us headed to a nearby cafe, where they were playing a delightful menagerie of 90s R&B hits, accompanied by music videos. I also passed a Pappy’s BBQ, but sadly, it wasn’t of the same St. Louis fame. I liked Antigua already. I messaged my airbnb host, Violeta, who was a bit insulted that I had not just come straight to her home for the tea that I ended up buying. I was more concerned that since I had arrived an hour early, and quite early in the morning at that, that she wouldn’t be ready for me. It turned out that her hospitality was on a different level.

After a good stretch of time in hostels, I’d wanted to have a slightly more low-key experience, especially since I knew I’d be going in a group on the trek up Volcan Acatenango. I had messaged a handful of CS hosts, but didn’t get any bites. But, when I went searching on airbnb, I found Violeta, and her perfect-sounding listing – she actually has 5 stars in every category. Besides offering a private room, the rate includes 3 meals each day, something that could easily cost $13-15 on its own (Guatemala turned out to feel rather expensive after Mexico). Immediately after we started corresponding, Violeta was so kind and accommodating, helping with directions to her home and always signing her message with some form of “may today be a blessing” or “blessings upon you”.

After some confusion finding her storefront (she runs a tienda and a little restaurant for the many people who work near the church / museum across the street), she set me up in my room and told me breakfast would be ready soon. It felt so homey and lovely, really like a b’n’b from New England or something, to have a nice warm shower and then come down for breakfast. Violeta and one of her sons, Fernando, run the business – both the hospitality and the store, out of the bottom of their home, which has 6-7 rooms for her family and guests. Her husband had passed earlier in the year, so she often had a bit of sadness around her, but was truly a joy to speak with and hear about Guatemala and Antigua. She has a wonderful spirit and is a humbly proud Guatemalan and Antiguan .She specifically told me she refused to speak English with me, but I was happy to have her correct my Spanish (as always), and learned quite a bit.

Antigua, aka “La Antigua”, aka “Antigua Guatemala” is the former colonial capital of Guatemala under Spanish rule. It’s located about an hour southwest from Guatemala City and sits at about 1,500m. The climate is superb, hitting around 70 during the day and in the 50s at night. It has a very typical Spanish city layout – square blocks around a central park and church, along with many, many other churches. The buildings are mostly single- or two-storey and very colorful, a la San Cristóbal and Oaxaca. Over the years, it has suffered quite a bit of damage from earthquakes – there were 6 in the 16th century alone – meaning there are lots of church ruins to both visit and simply view from the streets.

It’s currently famous for tourism, but used to be an agricultural center and still produces quite a bit of coffee, and of course, cacao. Everywhere in Central and South America seems to have a coffee / cacao-producing region. It is very popular as a place to study Spanish (the Guatemalan Spanish is quite unaccented and easy to understand), as well as volunteer at a plethora of NGOs, and hiking the surrounding volcanoes.

Views on Views

I hung around until lunch, which was a typical Guatemalan meal of fish with rice and a tasty red sauce, accompanied by homemade tortillas and salad. Then, I took a nice stroll around the city to get situated, spending some time in the park reading and enjoying the people watching alongside my ice cream. Of note was that lots of people (children and adults alike) were feeding the many pigeons near where I was sitting, so I was not too surprised when I was pooped on shortly after sitting down. However, I did not expect to get a second delivery a few minutes later, after which I figured I was so lucky that I should get up and go somewhere else.

I walked past the main church ruins, and by recommendation by Violeta, up to the main mirador (viewpoint) over the city for sunset. Although the volcanoes remain clouded over for most of the day after the morning, the sunset provided opportunity for some dramatic colors against the clouds and ultimately another eruption by Fuego to cap off a beautiful day.

I got “home” just in time for dinner, after which we spent a good deal of time chatting about everything from family, to religion, to politics. We really connected on a deep level, which I think she probably does with many guests, as she’s just that type of person, but still it felt good.

The next day was rather similar, leisurely walking around the city and taking in a few more church ruins, one major set of which is located within a fancy hotel courtyard. When I walked in to check these out, I was immediately spotted and told I would need to pay beyond a certain point if I weren’t a guest. I also spent some time researching the options for the Acatenango hike, which is an overnight hike to the top of the eponymous volcano. I ended up going with the guide offered by the Tropicana Hostel. I’d heard about them from someone we met on the Tikal tour a few days prior, and they ended up being more reasonably priced and didn’t make you carry your tent / cooking gear all the way up (they have a dedicated site on the volcano). That was an easy enough differentiator for me – I’m no hero. Violeta had also told me of someone she knew who guided, for slightly less, but honestly wanted to have the camaraderie of folks from a hostel plus the plethora of reviews for their tour.

After booking the tour, I took a walk up to another mirador called El Tenedor del Cerro (“fork on the hill”), which was actually a restaurant atop another hill overlooking the city and volcanoes. It was a simple, but not easy 30-minute walk to the top, feeling the altitude some (~5,000 feet). The walk was along a road, and at one point, a helicopter landed on the side of the road at a helipad. When I asked the person there who it was, they pretended not to know. Strange also because it was only about halfway up the hill.

After lunch and a walk, I arrived at one of my highlights for Antigua, which was the Antigua Brewing Company, for another well-deserved craft brew and sunset views. I was not disappointed in the slightest with my Fuego IPA and subsequent Stout when the IPA went dry. Prices were not unlike a normal US city (~$5 / pint), but again felt worthwhile in the situation. Given how little of the regular tasteless, crappy beer I drink on my travels, I feel really deserving anytime I come across legitimate craft beer.

Chicken Bus History

That evening I went to the one bagel shop in Antigua (maybe all of Central America?) for a movie they do each night. The reviews had steered me, as a New Yorker, away from tasting the bagels themselves, but others seem to like them, and they’ve opened a second location in the city. I couldn’t really hear it all that well, even though it was just myself and three other patrons, but I enjoyed my hot chocolate and most of the documentary, La Camioneta, which tells the story of how one yellow school bus from the U.S. comes to be one of the many pimped-out, extravagantly-colored buses in Guatemala. Apparently, there are about 20,000 in Guatemala, and they act as the main public transit in the rural areas and between many cities. They’re affectionately known as “chicken buses” by foreigners, because just about anything is allowed inside or on top of the buses, and because you often feel as cramped as if you were in a chicken coop when it gets crowded. As someone who hasn’t fit into a school bus in many years, I can attest to the name’s veracity.

After the film, as promised, I was able to meet up again with Adam and Adina before going home to pack up for Acatenango. We shared an ice cream in the park, and got to trade stories from the prior few days before bidding our farewells. I knew I’d get to see Adina again in Chile a few weeks later, but I wouldn’t see Adam for the foreseeable future. Thank goodness for the ice cream to absorb our tears.

Overall, Antigua has a very laid back vibe, but still lively and fun. While there’s only ~40,000 people in the city that once housed 60,000 at its peak hundreds of years ago, there’s still people walking around the streets at night, and particularly in the main park. With the onslaught of tourism that has arrives, the services have clearly upgraded, which is tough for locals to afford (as is happening in just about every city in the world it seems), but it makes for a very comfortable place to stay and get to know. Lots of food and drink variety abounds (there’s a speakeasy called Cafe No Sé) and the climate is fantastic, with mostly sunshine every day. I was so grateful to stumble into staying with Violeta and her family, and I couldn’t recommend that option enough if you ever go. Her hospitality and helpfulness were second-to-none, and she made me feel quite at home.