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| At long last, they've arrived! Perfect time for a 'michelada'. (Mexican drink - beer, lime juice, and assorted sauces, spices, and peppers) |
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| Lunch at the Artisan Market. |
To get a Guatemalan feeling and impression, we strolled around city center, lunch at the huge indoor artisan market, snacks at San Martin coffee shop and then late afternoon we moved on to Antiqua.
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| Don't buy yet... we are still going to Panchachel! |
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| Behind us are various types of tortillas. |
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| 5 different types of bananas to choose from! |
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| Quick visit at San Martin coffee shop. |
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| Relaxing and catching up on mails at Bougainvillea guest huse, Antiqua. |
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| Waiting for the day trip to the volcano. |
Antiqua Guatemala means "Old Guatemala" and was the third capital of Guatemala. It is a small city in the central highlands of Guatemala, surrounded by volcanoes.
It is famous for its well-preserved Spanish Baroque-influenced architecture, many of them restored following a 1773 earthquake that ended Antigua’s 200-year reign as Guatemala’s colonial capital.
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| Texture of La Candelaria |
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| La Candelaria Ruin. First build in 1548, after earthquakes and fires in 1717 much of it was shaken and cruimbled to its foundations. |
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| Santa Catalina Arch build in 17 century. |
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| La Merced church, ultra baroque Guatemalan style with two bell towers. Construction began in 1749 and was inaugurated in 1767 |
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| Beer break. |
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| Jaco's second home! |
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| Typical chicken buses. |
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| La Merced church at night. |
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| Day trip to Pacaya Volcano. |
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| Christelle standing on the lava from 2014 eruption. |
About a one hour drive from Antigua is the base of Pacaya Volcano. An active volcano in Guatemala, which first erupted approximately 23,000 years ago and has erupted at least 23 times since the Spanish invasion of Guatemala.
Pacaya rises to an elevation of 2,552 m.
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| Our first ever selfie!! Hopefully the last! |
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| frying marshmallows. |
Joep was thrilled that he could at least fry some marshmallows in little "ponds" of old hot lava from the 2015 eruption.
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| Struggling trough the sharp lava rocks. |
The tour company did not make clear what we could expect to do and see on a trip.
Before our visit 2014 marked the last eruption of the Pacaya Volcano. We did not see any red lava while hiking around Pacaya. In fact, you do not climb towards the crater of the volcano itself, as it is still active. Instead, you walk up until a certain point and, afterwards, descend for a little while to a vast area where the floor is made of solidified lava.
This year (2018) after our visit it erupted again.
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| dirty feet. |
The 4 of us climbed the volcano in flip flops, not the perfect attire for this adventure! Besides the avoiding the sharp rocks we struggled a helluva lot to get our feet clean again. The walk down in the dark with-out lights was quite rough!
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| Cheers! |
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| Ponchos for the beer. |
A scenic route with a mini-van-taxi took us to Panajachel on the shores of Lake Atitlan.
From here we went by water taxi to La Casa del Mundo.
The unique architectured rooms were built into the lake's cliff sides with traditional Mayan decorations, and spectacular lake views from their 100-250 feet high perches.
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| Our two rooms share this veranda with spectacular view of the lake. |
We indulged in an evening of local rum and snacks in the hot tub on lake front.
About midday they start to fill and heat the tub on request.(Heated by a wood burning oven in the tub.)
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| Team attempt for one avo. |
An ancient Mayan trail passes through the top of the property and heads from the village of Santa Cruz to San Marcos. We followed this narrow footpath to one of the Mayan villages surrounding the lake.
The town of Panajachel is located on the Northeast shore of Lake Atitlán, and has become a centre for the tourist trade of the area as it provides a base for visitors crossing the lake to visit other towns and villages.Boats connect Panajachel with lakeside Mayan villages.
Cafes, bars and stalls selling handicrafts and textiles (some of the best bargains in Guatemala) line Calle Santander, the town's most prominent Street.
Surrounding the lake are the San Pedro, Tolimán and Atitlán volcanoes.
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| Early coffee at a Swedish cafe. |
Early morning, after 2 days of intensive shopping, we started on a slow ride by Chicken bus to Guatemala city and from there by big bus back to Rio Dulce.
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| Packed bus. |
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| Jaco's neighbour sitting in the middle where no seat is? His expression says all! |
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| Suitcase filled with Songerie crew's requests/wish list/ and gifts. |
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| Coco even went to bed with his gift from Nardia and Schalk. |
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| Anita and Joep planning the Songerie way (rum in hand) their visit to Tikal. |
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| Joep learning the art of knots. |
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| Enjoying sundowners on the front deck. |
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| Anita and Joep back from Tikal and ready for sailing. |
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| Perfect sundown before we set sail or Belize. |
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| Quick check-out at Livingston and ready to cross the sand bar. |
