Like it’s national bird and symbol of freedom, the dramatic and sacred Resplendent Quetzal, the mystical bird of the Mayans with its iridescent plumage, Guatemala has its own splendor. It has a wide diversity of landscape from humid highlands, tropical jungles, rainforests, volcano-guarded mountains and spectacular ancient ruins, all in a country about the size of Ohio.
I took the 90-minute bus tour inland to the old colonial capital of Antigua, which sounds like a long drive, but our guide, Hugo, and the passing variety of the countryside made the time go quickly. We traveled from the hot, steamy industrial port area of Puerto Quetzal, through coffee farms, with trees scattered among the shade-loving coffee bushes to protect them, and cacao, sugarcane, and rubber tree plantations, to the cool altitudes of Antigua’s crumbling ruins and stunning Spanish colonial architecture, left behind by the 16th century conquerors of New Spain.
Guatemala is world-renowned for its jade, dating back to the early Mayans and Aztecs, who used it, and obsidian produced from the local volcanoes, to make weapons and tools of the tough, hard, stone. We visited a jade museum and gallery in Antigua and learned about the vast color variation of the ornamental rock, its role in history, and saw many classic and contemporary ornamental adaptations of beautiful carved and natural stones, along with the requisite “buying opportunity.”
Due to the altitude, Antigua enjoys one of the cooler climates in Guatemala, but this is also the wet season, so the bus took us through the winding, narrow, very bumpy, cobblestone streets of the city, gazing through rain-spotted windows at the colonial ruins and the locals clothed in brightly dyed and embroidered native dress. We walked around the main square, known as the Plaza Mayor, anchored by the imposing Santiago Cathedral and flanked by long colonnades, with street vendors and souvenir hawkers with swaddled babies, vying for our attention. It was a festival for the eyes of color and pattern, enhanced by the gray sky and clouds shrouding the three volcanoes that ringed the city in the distance. The rain increased to a downpour and, though, still eager to explore more, but disheartened by the weather, we returned to the bus for the long ride back to the ship.
Back at the pier, surrounded by throngs of commercial souvenir stalls and browsing shoppers, the air was, once again, thick, hot, and humid, as if the mystery of Antigua had been only a dream.
Antigua is an interesting place to visit! Emmy moved there 4 weeks ago!
She moved there?!! to live?! I thought she was just visiting! I did love Antigua…wish I could have spent more time…without the rain 🙂