Guatemala – Antigua

8th to 15th November

..and another flower festival

We received many recommendations from people we met while travelling to visit Guatemala.  So we caught a flight to Guat City from Costa Rica, then a shuttle to the charming, historic colonial city of Antigua.

Situated in the highlands and surrounded by 3 volcanoes, it is also a Unesco world heritage site.

The majority of people wear traditional or indigenous clothes. They weave their own material in multitudes of colours and make fabulously ornate belts, bags, and accessories.  The different areas within Guatemala have their own designs and colourways for the skirt and tops.

Antigua has lots of Spanish baroque architecture and cobblestone streets, usually lined with locals selling their artisan wares.

We arrived on a Sunday, which is when the community market happens, allowing locals to rent a table under the council owned awnings.

The central square is lush with greenery, and my favourite “bird of paradise” plants – all coming into flower at once!

The mermaid fountain or Fuentes de las Sirenas was inspired by Italian renaissance sculpture.

The square is lined with colourful shops and cafes.

Mural at Restaurante Fridas – where they also serve delicious iced lemon and ginger.

The Santa Catalina Arch is a popular landmark

View from the roof top – the massive volcanoes providing an awesome backdrop in every direction.

We saw a cross on a hill, so walked up to find a big viewing/ picnic area.

This was once a communal laundry but is now repurposed as a fountain and tourist photo spot.

However, just down the road at a nearby village, we saw women using theirs for washing their clothes.

These frozen drinks are so refreshing!!

An early 5.15am start for a day trip to Lake Atitlan and surrounding villages by boat.

Coffee, chocolate, and weaving demonstrations were included in this stage of the tour.

Weaving is a cultural practice in Guatemala, centered around the simple backstrap loom, where women hand-spin plant fibers into threads, dye them with natural materials, and weave complex, patterns with motifs like corn, butterflies, and diamonds representing identity, nature, and spirituality.

Some of the beautiful scenery surrounding the Lake.

This village is full of brightly coloured street art …🎨

every where you turn, and filled with Mayan symbolism.

Another boat ride, another village – Santiago

Although this area is for swimmers – we thought it ideal for kite surfing 🏄‍♂️ shame we hadn’t brought the kites….

This was a lovely day out – I would recommend going when in the area.

Another early start 5.45 am to go up the Pacaya Volcano. Although quite steep in parts, and a little slippery…

…the views get better the higher you go.

We did approx 612 m steep ascent in an hour. Its considered medium difficulty.

We descended via the lava fields.

You could melt a marshmallow in some places where steam constantly escaped.

It also got unexpectedly wind and cold…

the breathtaking views are just so uplifting!

Back in town the next day, rounding a corner, you never knew when you were going to bump into some kind of procession.

Great meal while simultaneously watching the Fuego Volcano “burping” away.

The 3 volcanoes surrounding Antigua are Agua, Fuego and Acatenango. Fuego is extremely active, and has constant, low-level eruptions of gas, ash, and lava, occurring every 15-20 minutes,

There was also a massive covered market that stayed open till late selling absolutely everything.

These trees on the road next to the market were rammed with birds which virtually drowned out the noise of the traffic and people at dusk!

We had just left the market and I was recording the loud birds when Fuego burped it’s ash cloud again…

We didnt realise but Antigua holds an annual flower festival over a weekend in mid-November, so we were able to watch all their preparations.

The mermaid fountain was transformed.

So many boxes of flowers arrived 💐 over several days,

Flowers everywhere, and cold drinks can be bought from this man with his cute trolley.

A good excuse for another procession. The Guatemalans love celebrating!

The roofless inner courtyard at our guesthouse.

Gorgeous sunset over the city of Antigua and the end of a fantastic week.

Next day we caught a bus over to the little town of Flores.