Central American & Caribbean - Guatemala, September 2016

 

Guatemala in many ways is a great country to visit, and Raquel is in every way the perfect travel partner for me. This blog entry is a tribute to both wonders and the joy of compatibility.

A short hop from Guatemala City airport is the beautiful UNESCO World Heritage Site town of Antigua. Cobbled streets lined with brightly coloured stone buildings are surrounded by towering volcanoes and lush green hills. Raquel and I happily whiled away the hours wandering aimlessly and stumbling across hidden courtyards and gems of cafes selling tasty juices, lattes and treats. Our 'sharing is caring' approach to all meals and our mutual appreciation of healthy vegetarian food, means we enjoy tasting two different dishes and drinks. Because Raquel is "littler" and I have "more muscles to feed", Raquel always makes sure I have the bigger half, and I gratefully receive all donations of potatoes and bonus extras!

The day we arrived in Antigua, Raquel found a running race happening that weekend, knowing that I'd jump at the chance and be super excited! On our walk to the registration point, Raquel started thinking whether she should also do it, even though she had done little training. Adventurous Raquel signed up for the 9km trail race with 400m of steep ascent, with little encouragement from me. What a girl! Even better, she loved her first experience of this type of event, climbing through forested hills and hurtling down steep and twisting descents. Raquel started the race at the back, by choice, then overtook people all race, ending in the top half of ladies. We both wore our chunky walking shoes for better grip, and I was pleasantly surprised with my 2nd place finish out of 237! 

We are lucky to share a desire to exercise, keep fit and be healthy. This means we have plenty of hobbies we can do together, but we also appreciate how healthy a little time apart is in a relationship. Raquel enjoyed some great yoga classes in Antigua, an activity I haven't given into trying yet. But while she did this, I happily went out for runs or did another race. In this 10km road race I avoided any ankle twists on the big cobblestones on my way to fourth overall and a big trophy prize for first 'master', at the age of thirty-three! Antigua was an undoubted highlight of the whole trip and we were lucky to be able to spend ten days in this delightful town.

Picture postcard Lake Atitlin was next up, surrounded by huge green hills and volcanoes. We stayed three nights in an 'off the grid' wooden cabin which had no road access, internet or electricity, although we did conveniently nip to a town four minutes away by boat for lunch, supplies and wifi. Our cosy cabin had a gas hob for cooking dinner, a long drop toilet out the back, but best of all was a private pier for diving into the stunning lake water. With the tropical rainy season upon us, we experienced some dramatic thunder and lightning shows, grateful to be dry and safely under cover.

Raquel coordinated another great couchsurfing rendezvous in Guatemala City, where we stayed with two Guatemalans who were sharing an apartment. They cooked dinner, we chatted about our life stories and played some of each of our country's music. Hopefully we can reciprocate and host them in Portugal some day.

Our final two Guatemala visit spots involved epic all morning and afternoon minibus rides, involving some seriously steep and rough roads. Semuc Champey is a unique natural phenomenon where massive slabs of limestone rock fell from the hillside across a huge river, forming a bridge, with its own waterfalls and beautiful clear green pools. We and plenty of other backpackers enjoyed wallowing in refreshing waters and gazing at the beauty of it all, mostly making up for the endless bumpy journey there. Lastly, before crossing north into Belize, we went to one of the less visited but most impressive of the Mayan ruins - Tikal. What a superb finale to wander amongst these immense and ancient structures, which have been carefully excavated and tower over the treetops. Guatemala is definitely a country we'd be tempted to return to someday!