Guatemala: After transiting the Panama Canal our first stop was in Guatemala. We had an all day excursion compliments of American Express. It was sunny and warm and very green. We boarded a modern air conditioned bus and set off for an hour and half drive to the ancient town of Antigua. After the dock area the scenery became more lush but mixed in with very poor housing from place to place. Women carrying baskets or linens on top of their heads, men dragging wood logs pre cut every few feet or so (for easy sale by the piece later?) with axes at their side. Busy scenes popping up every now and then and then back to trees, fields and climbing up into the mountains. After a half hour or so the driver stopped for us to disembark and take pictures of three active and most beautiful volcanoes. We no more than stepped off the bus when one of the volcanoes started erupting.
Quick visions of Pompeii popped in my head but the majesty of the moment overtook them and we all ooo’ed and aaa’ed..

We continued on to La Antigua Guatemala (commonly referred to as just Antigua or La Antigua) a city in the central highlands of Guatemala famous for its well preserved Spanish Baroque architecture as well as a number of spectacular ruins of colonial churches. According to the 2007 census the city has some 34,685 inhabitants. Central park is the heart of the city.
After touring for several hours including a visit to a Jade factory and a horse and carriage ride we reboarded the bus for a three mile trip to a working coffee plantation for lunch and visiting. Native women danced and exhibited weaving and other crafts. The lunch was set up buffet syle in the middle of the court yard surrounded by mountains and flowers and greenery that were all quite beautiful. Lunch was traditional Guatemalan food and was delicious. Of course, the coffee was wonderful. After dessert of what I guess was deep fried donut with honey on top we toured the area for coffee harvesting, cleaning, spreading in the sun and finally warehousing of the beans. Interestingly the beans are white and only brown after roasting. The plantation owner, Senor Sanchez (educated at Cal-Poly) was there and made for a wonderful host and presented us all with a pound of his private brand coffee. Depending on customs I look forward to sharing.
Last a street scene from Antiqua:

Till next time…