Guatemala | FindPenguins

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Guatemala
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- Mar 18, 2022
- ☀️ 25 °C
- Altitude: 1,533 m
- Guatemala Departamento de Sacatepéquez Antigua Parque Central Antigua Guatemala 14.56034, -90.7355214°33’37” N 90°44’8” W
Day 10
Antigua
March 18, 2022 in Guatemala ⋅ ☀️ 25 °C
We debated heavily whether to drive the highway route through Guatemala city to reach antigua. Or to take smaller roads through the mountains. Opted for the latter and it was a very scenic drive zigzagging up and down mountains. Long drives have never neen so enjoyable.

Eventually reached the very rough cobblestone streets of Antigua and its massive volcano looming over it. Antigua is all colonial style buildings and with a very large mayan population selling their wares in every shop, on every street corner, and in every park.

Had lunch at the rooftop patio of the Antigua brewery and then wandered the streets, for some photos and a bit of shopping here and there. Very fun city to just wander around.

Got back to the hotel to rest up before dinner for a bit. Just before heading out for food, alexa wasn't feeling well, so her and I stayed back at the hotel and called it a night. Something didn't agree with her and she had a rough evening. Hopefully all out of the system now.

Off to a beach town next...Read more
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Guatemala
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- Mar 19, 2022
- ☀️ 31 °C
- Altitude: 8 m
- Guatemala Departamento de Santa Rosa Monterrico 13.88915, -90.4737213°53’21” N 90°28’25” W
Day 11
Monterrico - Day 1
March 19, 2022 in Guatemala ⋅ ☀️ 31 °C
In the morning, Alexa still wasn't feeling well, so i let her sleep until 11am while i did a bit more shopping in antigua before the drive to the pacific coast. Abdel and family decided to stay in antigua for lunch and we would meet them in monterrico later that day.

The roads south were not mountainous at all and much easier to navigate. A nice change. We were 10km from monterrico when we got stuck in a huge lineup of cars for about 20 minutes. I drove up to the front of the line to find out what was going on... road work and at least another 30 minute wait. So we crashed a nearby resort and had some food and beverages rather than waiting in the car.

Eventually got to monterrico and followed google's directions and ended up at a run down property with a pool and nobody was there. We were all so dejected. But after a while i decided to ask a local across the street and we were in the wrong spot.

Finally arrived at the correct spot and its another slice of heaven. Lovely property, pool and huge beach. The sand here is volcanic black sand... very different than anywhere else i have been. There is a big undertow here so we just played at the water's edge. Then dinner and drinks, plus a few with the owner too. Everyone is so nice here.Read more
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Guatemala
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- Mar 20, 2022
- ⛅ 33 °C
- Altitude: 6 m
- Guatemala Departamento de Santa Rosa Monterrico 13.88666, -90.4732513°53’12” N 90°28’24” W
Day 12
Monterrico - Day 2
March 20, 2022 in Guatemala ⋅ ⛅ 33 °C
Had a lazy morning in bed, which was a nice change from several early mornings. Alexa and I decided to head north up the coast to a surf town called El Paredon. And everyone else stayed back at the Monterrico resort.

The drive took 2 hours and with our late start we didn't have a ton of time. Found a hotel/surf shop near the beach, rented some boogie boards and jumped into the ocean. Nice big rolling waves here and no undertow. Rode waves for about 90 minutes and then went back to that hotel and had some food and relaxed for a while.

My plan to leave at 4:30pm to get us back before dark didn't quite work out as i hoped. Being a sunday, the roads were full of cars heading back to Guatemala city, which slowed us down quite a bit. And we got a little bit lost driving through Ixtapa. And once the sun went down, spotting speed bumps, pedestrians, dogs, and bicycles became really difficult. Most roads have very little shoulder and towns rarely have sidewalks so there's a lot to watch for in the streets. Including chickens, dogs, cats, pigs and the odd cow.

Once we finally got back, played with the newborn kittens here, had an awesome paella for supper, and played cards with the kids.Read more
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Guatemala
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- Mar 21, 2022
- ☀️ 33 °C
- Altitude: 5 m
- Guatemala Departamento de Santa Rosa Monterrico 13.88663, -90.4732613°53’12” N 90°28’24” W
Day 13
Monterrico - Day 3
March 21, 2022 in Guatemala ⋅ ☀️ 33 °C
Another lazy morning here in monterrico. Slept in again. Then eventually got going and drove 20 minutes south to a resort called Maya Jade where we were told there was no undertow and surf boards and boogie boards could be rented.

The resort was really nice, much bigger than the place we are staying at. But they only had one boogie board and many surf boards. So i decided to give surfing another go. Which didn't go all that great. I got up on the board a few times but couldn't maintain my balance to ride it into the beach. And fighting the waves with my long board to get deep enough to the bigger waves completely tired me out. And the kids played in the waves near the shore.

Ron and Rachel stayed back at the resort and relaxed in the pool all afternoon and when we returned they had already made friends with some new guests that arrived. We all hung out by the pool and at dinner we put a bunch of tables together and all ate as one big family. I can't recall ever having a meal with all the guests of a hotel together like that haha. Really fun evening. And the last night in monterrico sadly. Will really miss the owners Cecelio and Cecelia who treated us like family.Read more
Traveler Nice place....love those waves...
3/26/22Reply
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Guatemala
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- Mar 22, 2022
- ⛅ 26 °C
- Altitude: 1,499 m
- Guatemala Departamento de Guatemala Campo Uno Plaza San Martín 14.58748, -90.5207714°35’15” N 90°31’15” W
Day 14
Guatemala City
March 22, 2022 in Guatemala ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C
Very uneventful day. Drove 3 hours back to Guatemala city. Went to a clinic/lab to get our pcr tests done. Then dropped off the rental cars, which took forever. And finally got back to the hotel around 7pm and we all went out for a nice dinner at a nearby place.

Rush hour traffic in this city is insane. And it was a bit frustrating watching the car rental guy wash both our cars before letting us go haha. Thats a new one.

Test results came back negative for all of us. Wooo.Read more
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Guatemala
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- Mar 23, 2022
- 🌧 10 °C
- Altitude: 90 m
- United States Virginia Loudoun County Willard (historical)Washington Dulles International Airport 38.94863, -77.4412138°56’55” N 77°26’28” W
Day 15
Washington
March 23, 2022 in the United States ⋅ 🌧 10 °C
Long travel day to get most of the way home. 5 hour layover in Houston and overnight in Washington. The 5 hour layover was kind of nice actually. It took a while to get through customs and security and we didn't have to stress about it. Then found a restaurant for a meal and a game of catan. Abdel and family had a different flight to Washington, so it was
just the 3 of us. Apparently their day was very stressful with a tight layover and lots of security issues and bag searches.Read more
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Guatemala
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- Mar 24, 2022
- 🌧 3 °C
- Altitude: 63 m
- Canada Ontario Vanier 45.43866, -75.6602145°26’19” N 75°39’37” W
Day 16
Ottawa
March 24, 2022 in Canada ⋅ 🌧 3 °C
One last flight to get home to Ottawa. Reunited with Abdel and family at the airport in Washington one last time. Alexa and Abdel both got randomly selected for a covid test upon landing which was fast, and then finally home.

We saw just about all of Guatemala on this trip (except the northwest volcanic region) and drove over 1600km on some really crazy roads that we will never forget. Its an incredibly underrated country that has a bit of everything for any traveller. Jaw dropping beauty at every turn. And a wonderful mayan curltural presence all over. Not much english is spoken in this country so some spanish knowledge and an offline translator are pretty important. A trip that got delayed for 2 years because of covid but would return in a heartbeat.Read more
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