My sister Kathy and I visited Guatemala together beginning in late March for 3 weeks; I've traveled in Guatemala several dozen times since the 80s but it was Kathy's first visit. Her son Stuart and some Beca Project sponsors (scholarship and social aid project based in San Pedro La Laguna) joined us for part of the trip.
Stuart flew down on the 28th and headed to Antigua. Kathy and I (and Beca Project sponsor Joni) flew down on the 29th and spent 2 nights in Guatemala City at Villa Toscana, 2 minutes from the airport. We had a day in between to explore with local tour guide Elmer Soto - WhatsApp: +(502) 5129-2222. Here are a couple of photos from March 30th in GC:
Elmer at Plaza Berlin
National Palace
The flags are at half mast to honor the Guatemaltecos who recently lost their lives in the immigrant holding facility in Juarez, México. The display beneath the flag names the girls who lost their lives in an orphanage fire a few years ago.
On March 31st Stuart joined us as we flew to northern Guatemala to visit the Tikal and Yaxhá Maya sites. We had 2 days to explore with Marlon Díaz, a wonderful guide I first met in 2016. It was hard to narrow down my photo choices.
Strangler fig
Sunset from the top of the Great Pyramid of the Lost World
Sunrise from the top of Temple IV
Kathy and I in the Seven Temples area
Watching the moons, stars, and planets from the Grand Plaza (Temple I)
On the way to Yaxhá (sadly, no jaguars crossed the road while we were there but our guide had seen one the day before).
Yaxhá
With our wonderful driver and guide, Marlon Díaz of Gem Trips.
We flew from Flores to Guatemala City and headed to Antigua for 2 nights. We were there for Palm Sunday and the processions and crowds were impressive. I’m happy to have gotten a taste of Semana Santa (Easter week) in Antigua which is most famous for it, but was happier still to head to Lake Atitlán.
Stuart got to enjoy San Pedro a few days before he left on Good Thursday - we were sorry to see him go. Here we are ‘wearing’ the traditional traje of San Pedro.
These ratchets are LOUD and proceed every procession in San Pedro. Small boys have little ones and Stuart was sort of dared to try this huge one. Nailed it! You can get a peek of Volcán San Pedro in the background.
These are alfombras - the street carpets that they build ahead of the Good Friday procession that are demolished as the procession proceeds through the streets. Most don’t have fruit and vegetables these days because it’s considered insensitive with so many hungry people in town - pine needles, flowers and flower petals, and sawdust are more common.
Good Friday procession - the largest one. These huge andas are carried by teams of men and women from the Catholic Church and they hand off every few blocks to a fresh team.
One of my favorite things in San Pedro is bumping into Beca Project students, graduates, their parents and sometimes their spouses around town.
This is the mother of a Beca Project graduate and a nice opportunity to show how humans come in different sizes.
On Thursday of Semana Santa Stuart left, sadly, and we gained Beca Project sponsor Linda from Oklahoma and 2 of her best friends.
Judy, Linda, Kathy, and Diane.
Friday afternoon our little group headed to neighboring San Juan for a walk about.
Some of us climbed from town to the mirador (viewpoint) at the top of the next photo where the decks are beautifully painted and the view is amazing.
Saturday morning we took a pre-dawn boat across the lake along with our dear friends Mynor and Josefa and their sons Manuel and Antonio to go birding with outstanding local guide Rolando Tol Gonzalez. Here was the view from a mirador near Santiago.
Our target - the resplendent quetzal! We saw them over and over and especially loved this pair taking turns flying into their nest hole to feed babies.
It was a really challenging hike, the sort that seems uphill both ways.
I had arranged a tour with local guide Dolores Ratzán - Whatsapp: +(502) 5207 4622 - who had a loving, personal relationship with Father Stanley Rother when she was a child. Known locally as Padre Aplas, he was assassinated by the military during the genocide period for his devotion and support of the local Maya population. He is the first US citizen to be martyred and made a saint in the Catholic Church; his heart was entombed in the church and his body returned to Oklahoma.
This is Dolores with Maximón’s girlfriend. Read about the trickster, Maximón, if you're interested in the cultural background.
The embroidery in Santiago is stunning - in addition to the huipil (blouse) Dolores made herself and is wearing, another example, and a closeup of her husband’s traditional pants (also hand embroidered by Dolores.
The days following Easter were busy with group activities ahead of the Beca Project sponsors’ departure mid week. We visited their sponsored families, took 70+ families shopping for food and needed household items, and enjoyed cooking and weaving classes with Beca moms arranged by Mynor and his wife Josefa.
After the group left, Kathy and I moved from Mynor’s house and our little apartment, Ti Wachooch...
...to one of Mynor and Josefa’s 2 bedroom apartments on the lake - the views!
Some mornings Kathy took time to put her feet up on the balcony while I visited Beca Project families. One morning she joined me for the family visits and a stop at the Beca Project office. In the afternoons we talked, ate out with an expat friend, went shopping for food, gifts, and souvenirs, and enjoyed the lake and the beautiful weather.
Gas for the old pickup we rode in the last half hour to Laguna Brava (roads too rough for Mynor’s new pickup).
Laguna Brava where we enjoyed swimming and watching locals and ate a delicious meal in a small family restaurant.
A couple of the Cenotes de Candelaria we visited, including a swimming spot where fish nibbled at our feet.
We hiked to the huge Hoyo de Cimarrón dry cenote.
Our last stop was a nice meal out in Xela that included Manuel (right) who wasn’t able to join us on this adventure because of university classes.
Mynor and Josefa are part of a group called JUN IMOX that is working together to preserve the old ways of the Tz’tujil Maya and teach them to the next generations. Kathy and I were honored to be invited to a moving Maya spiritual ceremony on the lake followed by a return to our apartment for ice cream cake and a discussion about the project and their goals for the community.