We were in Puerto Quetzal, Guatemala. This was our first time in Guatemala. We had to meet our tour at 9:30 am. We were up and ate and headed off the ship and to the bus. When we arrived, the tour guide informed us that we were “early”. According to our time we were only 10 minutes early – not too bad. But according to her watch we were an hour and 10 minutes early! There was a time change last night that we didn’t know about! So I had an hour to walk thru the booths that were set up at our pier. I’m happy to announce that I found 2 nativities that were too cute to not buy!
We headed off on a Coffee Plantation and city tour of Antigua. On the way to the coffee plantation we drove by several volcanos (that were in the clouds) and saw many interesting sights along the road – including the quilt looking farm fields on the slopes of the volcano, and men carrying sugarcane & wood on their backs.
We went by a face on the mountain that was a sacred place for the natives. (Can you see the face?)
We passed by several village “laundry” facilities. They were places where the “girls” enjoyed going to catch up on the town gossip! Notice the dog laying by this one. There were dogs everywhere we went! Most were very underfed.
At the coffee plantation we toured the processing buildings. We learned everything we ever wanted to know about coffee – since neither of us drink it! They have a big tile area where the beans are laid out to dry. When we were there, they were setting up a big tent for a wedding for 500 people!
We had a typical Guatemalan meal with tortillas cooked on a wood fire.
Then we went out and toured the coffee plants. The tall trees are planted to keep the coffee “bushes” shaded so they don’t mature too quickly and ruin the taste of the coffee.
We left the plantation and headed to Antigua. The scenery was interesting. Earthquakes and volcano eruptions have destroyed many of the old buildings and churches. This fountain was built in 1739. The mermaids were promptly put into the local jail where they still reside (in 1956 the university made replicas and reinstalled them)!
As we walked around the town with our guide, the local “vendors” joined into our group and constantly tried to get us to purchase their wares! The textiles were beautiful!
Chicken buses are very popular in many Central America countries. They call them Chicken buses as many natives ride them to market to pick up their baby chicks. So you never know who or what you might be sitting next to! They are old USA school buses that have been brightly painted. Each one tells where it is headed on the windshield.
No comments:
Post a Comment