My Fab Fifties Life - Guatemala Archives

South & Central America Travel

I Left My Heart in Guatemala

Dejé Mi Corazón en Guatemala

April 26, 2019

Location: Guatemala

Entirely unexpected. Completely beautiful. So much better than I imagined.

Dear Guatemala. You had me at Hola! I hated to say good-bye. I left my heart in Guatemala.

Once again, I approached another Central American country with apprehension, based solely on the information on the U.S. State Department website. I should know by now not to allow that to sway me totally. I should heed the warnings for sure, and carry on with caution.

Yes, Guatemala has some dangers just like every other country I have been too (and the USA too). Pick

Livingston

pockets are a problem, although we did not have an issue. Like always, whether in Central America, Europe or anywhere else in the world we are cautious. There are definitely some horrendous violent crimes, rarely against foreigners. Unless you go looking for trouble. Smart and cautious travel with guides when possible is the best way in this country. Guatemala is one of the poorest countries in the world, and yet there is a small population who hold extreme wealth while the rest suffer. There are some other issues in Guatemala, particularly government corruption. However this is not something the average visitor will see. The only thing we saw was one entry fee into the town of Panajachel that was illegal. We also ended up paying twice for our boat on Lake Atitlan because the first guy was a scam. This ended up costing us an additional $6.50. Small problems – other than that we found the

Semana Santa

country no more dangerous than anywhere we have been.

And the positives certainly outweighed the negatives. In fact, I would put Guatemala in my top list of favorite places I have been. And that is saying an awful lot. Yes I left my heart in Guatemala.

So Guatemala how do I love thee? Let me count the ways;

I love Antigua, one of the most beautiful cities I have ever been to. Being there for the beginning of Semana Santa (Holy Week) was an incredible experience. Although I am not Catholic, the Palm
Antigua

Sunday spectacle we witnessed was so full of tradition, majesty, history and faith I was incredibly moved. I think I became Catholic for a day. We have had similar experiences in other places around the world where faith is such an important part of everyday life. On the Camino de Santiago in Spain, in New Delhi India, in Istanbul Turkey, in Seoul South Korea. A few examples of the places where we felt privileged to witness how faith, history and community converge. Additionally Antigua offers gorgeous scenery, delicious food and incredible history. Seeing lava spewing from the active volcano Fuego was a definite highlight. We enjoyed two tours with Antigua Tours and my cooking class with La Tortilla was a highlight. I hope to visit again.
I love Lake Atitlan. Here we spent a week enjoying the beauty of Guatemala, and not doing much else. It was one of the more peaceful places I have been in the world; a crater lake surrounded by three beautiful extinct volcanoes. The small villages surrounding the lake are each named after one of the apostles. We spent our time in San Marcos, a teeny village known for its holistic
Our view Lake Atitlan

offerings, yoga, health food and hippies. Our airbnb was one of the most unique we have ever had…a cave dwelling nestled into the cliff. Memorable for sure. We hiked and swam and did yoga every day. Heaven on earth.
I love Flores. We went to Flores so we could visit the Mayan ruins of Tikal, about an hour and a half drive north. Tikal was amazing…but the tiny town of Flores was such a pleasant surprise. Situated on a tiny island in Lake Petenitza, the tiny town is colorful, historic, beautiful and yummy. The town dates back to the 1400’s. We enjoyed the very warm weather here and a highlight was a private boat tour of the very large and beautiful lake. Muy bien.
Flores
I love Rio Dulce. The region known as Rio Dulce encompasses Livingston on the Caribbean coast (Livingston is only accessible by boat) to the town of Rio Dulce on Lake Izabal. A gorgeous stretch of water known as the Rio Dulce connects the two. Our boat ride from Livingston to Rio Dulce was stunning as we
Lake Izabal, Rio Dulce

wound our way in an open boat through the narrow gorge, through which the Rio Dulce drains into the Caribbean. Although VERY rustic, our accommodations in Rio Dulce served us well, and had some of the BEST Mexican food we have ever had. From our tiny cabin in the marsh we took excursions to the ancient Castillo San Felipe de Lara, to the Agua Caliente waterfall known as El Paraiso and to the beautiful Boqueron Canyon, where we spent several solitary hours deep in the canyon on a beautiful sunny day. We also learned the very humble ways of the

El Parisio Rio Dulce

Guatemalan people and their use of the collectivos for transportation and saw our first manatee in the wild, although not as close up as we would have liked.
I love a challenge. It’s a challenge getting around Guatemala, as it is still a developing country. But some of those challenges made for memorable moments. As mentioned above the collectivo experience in Rio Dulce was certainly unforgettable, riding in a van made for 12 with 23 other people. During our time here we
Many boats

road in twelve different boats, mostly for transportation, but a couple for pleasure. We also hired a driver for a private shuttle three times, and through that experience met a wonderful Guatemalan man named Alejandro who we hope to see again some day. We felt safe in all of these situations and enjoyed the experience. My least enjoyable experience was the plane ride from Flores to Guatemala city in a small 20 seat plane. I got sick on this very bumpy and diesel-smelling ride. Ugh.
I love a bargain. Guatemala is cheap. Although we spent money on private shuttles, we could have gone with less expensive non-private shuttles or public transportation known as chicken busses. We used the kitchens in our airbnb’s when possible, but eating in restaurants was very inexpensive
Marsh cabin Rio Dulce

and all the food we ate was amazing, fresh and local. Our accommodations have ranged from $30 to $100 a night. We loved our Antigua Airbnb for $80 a night and our spectacular Airbnb in San Marcos with lake view was $75 a night. In Rio Dulce we paid $30 and Livingston was $70. We ended up spending $100 a night at a Ramada in Flores after the hotel we booked was CLOSED on arrival. That was something that had never happened before. But all in all Guatemala is one of the least expensive countries of our travels. The gorgeous textiles made by the indigenous Mayan people are so inexpensive, buying the same thing online would cost five times as much. Alas my suitcase it too small…
I love Guatemalan coffee. Guatemala is known for its coffee, and I have to agree…it is now possibly my favorite coffee of the world. Dark, rich and very flavorful, I am a convert. Guatemala is also
Coffee with Volcano view

known for its chocolate. Although I am not a big consumer of chocolate, the samples of chocolate I had were exceptional. The Maya used cacao as currency once upon a time. More valuable than gold.
I loved the people. Everyone we met (except for the one guy who ripped us off $6.50) was amazing. Few people spoke English and we actually enjoy being forced to expand our limited Spanish knowledge. Many people however also didn’t speak Spanish, as the Maya who are my generation mostly only spoke their native tongue. I loved the shy and traditional Maya, especially the beautiful women in their traditional dress. These are not costumes but how they dress everyday. The Guatemalan people
Mayan women, San Marcos

were all very private yet friendly, hard working and religious, welcoming and helpful. We enjoyed being a part of their culture and community.

So I left my heart in Guatemala. Possibly my favorite Central American country. Of course our time in Mal Pais in Costa Rica ranks VERY high. But Guatemala you are special. Unique. Beautiful. If you have

Mayan women selling palms

every considered visiting Guatemala you should do it. And do it soon. Supporting these developing countries through tourism is the least we can do, especially since America’s abandoning Guatemala after funding of guerrilla warfare during the civil war has caused much of the current economic situation Guatemala suffers.

Guatemala’s upcoming elections could be a turning point for the country…but perhaps things will stay the same, and the slow climb out of the devastation from a two-decade civil war will continue at a snail’s pace.

We hope for the best for this country and its beautiful people, where we have left our heart. We will be back.

God speed Guatemala.

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Guatemalan Cooking Class in Beautiful Antigua

Food and Culture Around the World

April 19, 2019

Laureen

Location: Antigua Guatemala

I just sat down and counted up how many cooking classes I have taken in my travels and I come up with a total of 17. It’s one of my most favorite things to do when I am in a new country. And the Guatemalan cooking class I took last week in beautiful Antigua was one of my all-time favorites.

(Note – if you are interested in the recipes read all the way to the end.)

Okay, so I usually say that after every cooking class. But I just loved it. There is nothing that brings a culture to life as well as food and cooking with local people.

Tortilla maker at the market

Antigua

First of all let me tell you what a lovely surprise Guatemala has been, and particularly the gorgeous, historic city of Antigua. Colorful and alive with cultural events and history, Antigua is a perfect place to experience the best of Guatemala from art, history, religion and museums, to food

Fresh and local at the market

and scenery. It’s perfect little package and I really enjoyed our time there.

Searching online before we arrived I found the highly rated La Tortilla Cooking School offering several options for classes. I signed up to do a morning market tour, followed by the full cooking class with six courses. On arriving I learned I was the only student on this day! Wow. It was the holiday weekend marking the beginning of Semana Santa (Holy Week) and most people are busy with other events. So luckily for me, I was the center of attention! So much fun.

To Market to Market

Julio met me on arrival and was my guide to the market and my translator throughout the day. Julio is from Costa Rica and is the manager at the cooking school.

Julio took me around the beautiful city and showed me two historic locations for the local market before taking me to the bustling market center. Since it was a Saturday morning, it was exceptionally busy.

La Tortilla Cooking School

Local people packed the market and I only saw a handful of tourists.

The very authentic market runs seven days a week but Saturday is the busiest day. Vendors wearing traditional Mayan clothing were selling everything from beans to squash, flowers to pots and pans, dog food to chicken. Anything you might need can be had at this sprawling market. I surely would have gotten lost except Julio knew the way. We purchased a squash for our class and a candied yam to try.

Time to Cook

Back at La Tortilla we welcomed a couple from Belgium who have just arrived to serve as volunteers for

With Chef Sonia

the next two weeks. I then met Chef Sonia who would be my teacher today. Sonia speaks no English and I speak no Spanish and so Julio served as our interpreter throughout the class. This actually helped me learn a bit more Spanish too!

Over the next two hours we made six traditional dishes, combining traditional Mayan dishes, Spanish dishes and Guatemalan dishes. Most of the recipes were simple and all used local, fresh ingredients. Here is what I learned to make;

Atol Blanco a warm drink made from corn flour is one of the most Guatemalan of all Guatemalan dishes. Guatemalans drink this more than coffee. It can be served sweet with sugar and cinnamon or savory with salt, lime juice, chile and roasted ground pumpkin seeds. I loved

Atol Blanco

the savory one!

Beet Salad was made by boiling the beets with the skin on, then removing the skin and dicing with onion and lime juice, thyme and salt.

Guatemalan Rice has its roots in Mayan culture but also was influenced by the Spanish who brought many staples to the region like spices and peppers. Our version included onion and carrot.

Pepian was the most complicated of the dishes we created. Considered the national dish of Guatemala, this delicious spicy meat stew (chicken or pork usually) uses roasted vegetables and spices to create a rich and flavorful base for the stew. It was my favorite thing of the day.

Rellinitos Julio had promised me a surprise ingredient in our dessert and sure enough I would never of thought to include BLACK BEANS

Spices for Pepian

with chocolate, and wrap mashed plantains around it. But that is exactly what we did for our delicious Rellinitos, a favorite Guatemalan dessert.

Tortillas of course a cooking class in Guatemala would include tortillas and I learned that this favorite

Making tortillas

items of only two ingredients (corn flour and water) is a lot harder to make than I thought. Rolling a ball with your hands and flattening the tortilla to the perfect size and consistency took a bit of practice. So delicious fresh off the fire.

Such a feast

Time to Eat

Being the only one in the class I was left to enjoy ALL THIS FOOD by myself as the volunteers and Chef Sonia cleaned up and got ready for the afternoon class. I hardly made a dent on the quantity of food they set before me so they kindly packaged it up and sent it home for me to share with Arne.

I would highly recommend La Tortilla Cooking School if you visit Antigua (and you should). I know I can take what I learned and prepare these dishes again.

Would you like the full recipes? All you need to do is leave me a comment IN THIS BLOG BELOW (not on Facebook) with your email address and I will send you the PDF file I received from La Tortilla.

I am happy to share so you too can savor the wonderful flavors of this magical, colorful country of Guatemala.

Muy Bien!

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Learning About Mayan Cultures of Central America

April 14, 2019

Laureen

Location: Central America

Cultural Travel

San Andres, El Salvador

Exploring and learning about ancient cultures is one of the most rewarding things about travel. Cultivating an understanding of the powerful communities that came before our own, helps us appreciate both historic and modern-day social structures.

Joya de Ceren, El Salvador

It’s one of the reasons I so often encourage travelers to seek out these experiences and adventures. Sure, go to the beach, enjoy that Margarita, go snorkeling. But don’t miss the opportunity when traveling to grasp something about the majesty of the ground you are standing on and the hundreds of generations of people who have walked it, worked it, became part of it in their end.

Cradle of Civilization

Caracol, Belize

Xunantunich, Belize

We have spent the last four months in Central America, where several amazing cultures played a significant role, long before the Spanish arrived. One of the most ancient of these was the Maya people. Considered one of the six “cradles of civilization” world-wide, the Central American countries of Belize, Honduras, Guatemala, Mexico and El Salvador were home to this fascinating civilization. To clarify the term Cradle of Civilization, here is Wikipedia’s explanation;

“The term cradle of civilization has frequently been applied to a variety of cultures and areas, in particular the Ancient Near Eastern Chalcolithic (Ubaid period) and Fertile Crescent, Ancient India and Ancient China. It has also been applied to ancient Anatolia, the Levant and Iranian plateau, and used to refer to culture predecessors—such as Ancient Greece as the predecessor of Western civilization.”

Altun Ha, Belize

Our travels have taken us to ancient lands of Egypt, Jordan, India and Bangladesh. We have also learned fascinating ancient history about Eastern Europe, Northern and Eastern Africa, China, Southeast Asia, and Greece. And so it was with great interest that I began to understand that right here in Central America another great civilization thrived.

The Maya People

But before I go on please understand that Maya is a living culture. More than half the population of present day Guatemala are Mayan. Though the ancient civilization communities are no more, the Mayan people continue their traditions.

Tikal, Guatemala

The oldest Mayan findings are in Belize, dating back to 2600 BC. Ruins of great civilizations are strewn all around this

Tikal Guatemala

region, some excavated, many not. Archeologists don’t all agree as to what caused the demise of the massive Maya communities in approximately 900 AD (well before the Spanish arrived). But warfare between cities, over production of the land and drought are all thought to have contributed.

Tikal, Guatemala

The Maya people, like many other ancient civilizations, had an advanced calendar, written language and hierarchical social structure. They were known as great architects (hence so many temples and entire cities still standing), artists, weapon developers and cultivators of the land. They used the local raw materials in remarkable ways. In Guatemala the cultivation of the cacao was (and is) important and cacao was used as currency.

In addition it is known that they believed cacao offered both a cure and a sacrifice, and drinking cacao mixed with blood was a common ritual as was bloodletting.

Visiting Mayan Ruins

Tikal, Guatemala

During our time in Central America we visited many interesting ruins; two in El Salvador, four in Belize and the granddaddy of all, Tikal (outside the town of Flores) in Guatemala. Each offered its own perspective on the rich and powerful Maya tribes.

Tikal, Guatemala

Today Maya people in these countries can trace their ancestry back to these ancient societies and be very proud. Many local Maya work hard to preserve the culture, arts and traditions and share them with visitors. However, the Maya, particularly in the poorest countries like Guatemala, struggle. During the Spanish occupation and more recent political unrest the Maya have been continually pushed out of their lands…many to the mountainous regions no one else wanted. Today you will find them subsisting in agricultural communities in the hard-scrabble rocky soil, or in the more populated cities such as Antigua selling crafts or food products.

Colorful Mayan women at market

I was particularly struck by the beauty of the Maya women, the colorful traditional clothing they still maintain today and the sense that family, hard work and religion is their life’s priority.

During my short time in beautiful Central America I have been intrigued and surprised by the beauty of the people and the geography and especially intrigued by the history of the ancient people. Muy Bien! A fabulous experience when visiting Central America.

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