Antigua Guatemala

We are currently staying in the city of Antigua. This used to be the capital before a devastating earthquake in 1773. It is a UNESCO world heritage site for its cultural and historical significance.

The views from the area are impressive as it is surrounded by hills and active volcanoes (called Agua and Fuego - water (inactive) and fire (active)). The centre is quite busy with several impressive churches but the outer streets are quiet and almost all are cobbled.

We visited Inglesia de la Merced (church of the blessed) and climbed the stairs onto the roof. Health and safety is a bit different here as we could wander all over the roof with unprotected edges. The yellow and white made for nice photography.

This afternoon we climbed “the hill of the cross” for views over the town.

Currently we spend the morning in Spanish school (8-12) the afternoon doing homework for a couple of hours and exploring the town and then evening with our host family or making future plans.

On that final note we have decided we cannot go to Nicaragua as planned next since they will confiscate our camera and binoculars at the border. The military dictator hates journalists so banned quality optics last year. So we will proceed to Honduras and El Salvador by land but then fly to Costa Rica. A shame as we were hoping to do our journey completely overland.Read more