After a wonderful, but rainy day of rest in Coban it was time to pack up and head back to Guatemala City. For our first leg of the trip, because we both had arrived after long (well mine was long anyway) flights, I had booked a private transfer for my sister and I to Coban. It was not cheap and since we had the luxury of time and a full day’s rest for the trip back, my sister and I decided to book a shared shuttle to the city for 1/3 of the cost.
Before booking the shuttle, I inquired about the quality of the bus, the size and how may stops it would make during the 5 hour journey. The company indicated that the bus was air conditioned, held 22 people maximum and that it had only one stop prior to picking us up in Coban. This sounded pretty acceptable to me as I have taken much worse bus trips in my travels across Asia. However, once the bus arrived to pick us up, my positive thoughts soon faded. I had hopes that my sister and I would be able to pick our seats and at least store our bags near us once we got on the bus; however, there was barely enough room for us to even sit, much less store our bags – as EVERY available space was jammed with people – who groaned when they saw that even more people were boarding the bus! Granted its capacity was 22 people, but that number meant every single space was occupied, even the extra pull down seats in the aisle – there was not even an aisle with all the seats filled! My sister and I looked at each other, stuck our headphones in our ears and mentally prepared ourselves for the next 5 hours.
The bus ride went smoothly, all things considered, and we arrived in hectic Guatemala City almost on schedule until we got within the city limits. The bus was supposed to drop us off at a set hotel location, but the traffic was so bad (at a complete standstill) that the driver dropped us off about 1.5 miles from the drop point. After 5 crammed hours in the bus, rather than try to catch an Uber right away, my sister and I donned our packs and walked halfway to our hotel, which turned out faster than sitting in a car the whole way!
Our hotel was the lovely, albeit slightly pricey Hyatt Centric in Guatemala City – a strategically planned luxury stay for a proper shower and drying off after 5 days in the wet, damp mountains! A long, long hot shower later, my sister and I set off for the evening to dine at Sublime, one of the top 50 restaurants in South America, and oh it was worth its rating!
The next morning my family was set to arrive In Guatemala City at 1pm and after a wonderful buffet brunch at the hotel, my sister and I hopped in an Uber to meet them at the arrivals gate at the airport.
Our next destination was Lake Atitlan, which would require a good 3.5 – 4 hours of winding, two-lane highway driving. However, prior to the trip, I had researched the woes of road travel in Guatemala and convinced my dad that a 30 minute private helicopter ride would be MUCH more enjoyable after his flight in from Atlanta and, albeit hesitantly, he agreed to pay the expense (to be honest, after a week of road tripping, my sister and I could attest to how accurate my research had been and were looking forward to being in the air versus land).
The helicopter company arranged to pick us up at the airport and we all hopped in a large truck (with my sister and I volunteering to ride in the truck bed) and set off for the nearby local small plane airport. After a quick check in with the company, we were loaded into our comfy private helicopter and we were off! Needless to say the views and ride were truly incredible and the entire experience was very ‘VIP’. After 30 minutes in the air we landed on the shores of Lake Atitlan, where a small boat was waiting to whisk us to our Airbnb, located in the town of San Juan de la Laguna, a 20 minute ride away (or 2 hours by car!).
Lake Atitlan is absolutely huge – but seeing it in person makes one truly appreciate its scale (and why it takes hours to navigate its circumference) – my family and I were ever so grateful to be in the our Airbnb in less than an hour as opposed to 4-5 hours via road travel (thank you ‘daddy warbucks’ for paying for the heli ride)! To sweeten the heli ride VIP status, I had also pre-arranged for a chef to greet us upon arrival with some snacks, so as my family drew straws for the best rooms in the Airbnb we were all in high spirits. Later that evening, after some unpacking and a little stargazing we enjoyed a local specialty dinner cooked for us (Pepian) by the chef at our Airbnb.
The next morning, my sisters and I decided that we wanted to try our hands at paragliding, and after a great home cooked breakfast by the chef, we set off on the ~30 minute boat ride to Panajachel. The ride in the morning was very smooth and we hopped off the boat ready to explore and paraglide!
Every town on Lake Atitlan has a slightly different feel to it and is known for different things, from handicrafts to food specialties. The town of Panajachel was heavily influenced by seafood, with a plethora of seafood stands and restaurants dotting the shoreline. In contrast, the town where our Airbnb was located was mostly full of restaurants serving grilled meats and stews (and of course pizza, pizza everywhere!).
Paragliding was not new to me, but it was to my sister and I was excited for her to try the experience of essentially running off a hill and taking off like a kite. Paragliding at Lake Atitlan is pretty popular and one can observe the gliders all around the lake taking off and landing throughout the day due to the ideal wind conditions. After meeting the paragliding company in town and paying for our glide, we hopped in a van and rode 20 minutes on some rather ‘interesting’ roads (basically dirt roads and farming fields on the edge of a mountain) in an even sketchier van. But, in the end we made it without dying or falling off the cliff. We quickly suited up and then proceeded to run off the mountain and glide! The flight was excellent, lasting about 30 minutes with stunning views of the lake and surrounding areas. While it didn’t compare to my Bolivia experience, it was miles above my experience in Peru (which may/not have been weather dependent).
After paragliding we decided to browse the town for some light grocery shopping for the Airbnb. While I did not sample the ‘enticing’ beverage carts selling everything from fruit juices to margaritas, they provided some good photo opps (although, local children exercising may have been the highlight). I also discovered a new love for the stands selling roasted fava beans covered in salt, chili and lime – yum!
The next morning, after another delicious home cooked breakfast my family and I decided to try our skills at water sports – kayaking and water bicycling on the lake. We were…moderately successful, with only a few algae casualties, but fun nonetheless!
The rest of our stay in Lake Atitlan consisted of some relaxing, a bit of hiking to some viewpoints, some tuk tuk rides and stargazing. All in all a wonderful experience at a gorgeous lake and superb Airbnb!
After 4 nights in Lake Atitlan, it was time to say goodbye and head to our next city on the Guatemala tour – Antigua, a ~2-3 hour drive away. I hired a private van for transport and while it arrived on time, we were quickly delayed not even 15 minutes into the trip by the winding roads of Guatemala with a jackknifed truck blocking our route and delaying our trip by almost 1.5 hours! Once en route, we made decent time to Antigua and were soon in our next Airbnb, a swanky home located right in the city center.
Antigua is known for its history, volcanoes and churches galore – a treat for history buffs of the world. However, I’ve seen a lot of churches and climbed many volcanoes in my day, so I was happy enough just wandering the cobblestone streets for a few days. I did manage to squeeze in a pedicure, massage and a great cooking class at La Tortilla cooking school where I learned how to make the tasty Jocon – a green stew unique to Guatemala.
After a few days in Antigua, it was time to move on to warmer weather – we checked out of our lovely Airbnb and headed to the coast and the small beach town of El Paredon. For once, traffic was a breeze and it took us only 2 hours to reach the town from Antigua!
For the most part, Guatemala had been mild in terms of weather with chilly nights and temperate days in the low 70s so I was surprised to find that the beach was blazing hot and humid (and grateful I chose one of the few hotels – Kaana Surf – with air conditioning for our 3 night stay). The town itself was sparsely populated with only a handful of little restaurants, surf shops and tiendas, but the beach was pure paradise with its warm ocean waters and nothing but black sand for miles. We quickly donned our swimsuits and spent the rest of the day playing in the waves, watching the baby sea turtles release at sunset and dining on ceviche for dinner.
The next day, after some morning body surfing, I arranged for a tour to the mangroves to the sea turtle feeding area – El Paredon is one of the few places in the world where sea turtles are spotted year round! The adult sea turtles swim and feed in the mangroves and at certain spots you can observe them coming up for air every 20 minutes – such a cool sight!
We spent 3 full days in El Paredon and the rest of our time was spent boogie boarding, swimming and relaxing. Before we knew it, it was time to head back to the city for our final night in Guatemala before our return flights home.
An uneventful but full 3 hour van ride back from the beach took us to our final night in Guatemala City at the Hyatt Centric, where we all enjoyed some very, very long showers – that black sand gets EVERYWHERE!!
Final verdict – how did Guatemala rate on the ‘Outlaw scale’?
FOOD: Moderately good. There is a lot of variety in Guatemalan cuisine and each city/area seemed to have specialty dishes unique to the area to try along with almost anything one could ask for in terms of international cuisine (and of course American fast food chains), especially in Antigua and Guatemala City. While I wasn’t particularly wowed by any dish or the cuisine in general, I did especially enjoy all the stews I tried.
SAFETY: Everyone I encountered was friendly and very eager to please, however, the roads are really dangerous and pedestrians have little to no rights – if you are not careful you will get run over by anything with 2 wheels or more!
LANGUAGE: Spanish and Mayan dialect is spoken in various places, with the occasional English, you will need that Google Translate!
THINGS TO DO: There is a huge variety of outdoor activities to choose from – adventure seekers will find no shortage to keep busy.
TRANSPORTATION: The biggest negative about Guatemala is its transportation system and roads – getting around is incredibly taxing and while there are bus options, they are not quick due to the traffic and winding, two lane roads. Private transportation is also expensive, making traveling on your own difficult. Plan for extra days in the country just to get from one place to another.
MONEY: A mix of cash and credit cards. Most private transportation requires cash payment – tuk tuks and van rides. However, Uber is possible with cards and some shared transport allowed me to pay in credit card. Tours and activities were a hit/miss in terms of cash/cards. Best to have some cash available in the local currency. ATMs are relatively easy to find with a ‘5B’ name, even in smaller cities like Coban.
VALUE: Moderate. While food and hotels are decently priced, Guatemala is on the more expensive side for Central America in general.
OVERALL: I’m glad to cross this final country in Central America off my travel list and the bucket list item of Semuc Champey. I enjoyed my trip and felt I saw and did almost everything I needed to get a good feel for the country, but probably wouldn’t do a repeat visit over other Central America favorites like El Salvador and Nicaragua.
TRAVEL MILE COUNT: From Coban to Guatemala City, to Lake Atitlan, to Antigua, to El Paredon & back to Guatemala City = 407
TRAVEL METHOD COUNT: 1 helicopter ride, 4 Ubers, 1 pickup truck, 3 boats, 4 tuk tuks, 3 van rides
TRAVEL CASUALITIES (Items lost): 0 (replaced by bands and scarf thanks to my mom bringing them to me from the USA)!
Next up, heading waayyyy across the pond to the Middle East – will I make it? Stay tuned….