On 8.26.24 I left Panama for Guatemala. Once I got to the Guatemala City airport (GUA), I waited for a shuttle bus to Antigua, an UNESCO site with tons of history and culture. There is a small café outside the entrance of the airport where you can wait and grab a bite to eat. I will say I’m glad I didn’t try driving in Guatemala, because most of the drivers between Guatemala City and Antigua were crazy (or at least their driving skills were). It was a bit stressful of a ride but definitely better than having to navigate it myself. Another nice aspect of being a passenger is that you can take photos or just take in the scenery. There was a nice inner-city park, Parque las Americas that we drove around in Guatemala City while picking up other riders on their way to Antigua and stops in between. We were on the road for about 1 1/2 hours until we arrived in Antigua. Having never been to Guatemala before, the distinction of where Antigua begins is when you start to feel the cobblestone roads. The drivers just plow through the uneven surfaces like tires are nothing, I learned to really appreciate flat surfaced roads after that ride.

Arriving in Antigua is like finding yourself in a completely different place. The building are brightly painted and the rooflines are low which makes the sky visible from just about every part of the city. The contrast of bright blue sky and bright white clouds against the buildings is beautiful even if the buildings themselves in many cases are nothing fancy. I don’t think I have ever seen a sky so vividly blue as it is in Antigua. But don’t let the exterior fool you about what can be inside. There is a Starbucks in Antigua that is phenomenal, full of murals and luxurious seating in an back outdoor landscaped patio. You would never know it from the outside of the building.

My first activity I had scheduled was an Artisan Shoemaking & Leather Craft Tour. I walked from where the shuttle dropped me off to the meetup location and waited, then waited some more and eventually learned that the business had canceled my tour without letting me know and it seemed like they went out of business. Viator.com gave me a refund. I highly recommend that site to find activities and tours run by locals. Most of my trip activities I booked through them and it made things very easy to follow up on if/when a guide didn’t show up. Their customer service is top notch. Once I got my refund, I had time to kill before I could get into my hotel, so I went to Starbucks, which I had initially planned to check out the following day but figured it was an easy stop and afforded me the chance to get off my feet for a bit. The main counter is not that different from other Starbucks locations where you have pastries and the barista is making drinks along with some merchandise being sold. It’s when you step past the register and walk towards the station that usually has napkins, a garbage and before COVID is where you would find cream and sugar that things became different at this location. I invite you to look at the images above once more to see the outside of the store that doesn’t have the same overt branding and corporate signage as you will find in many other locations. Remember this is an UNESCO site so there are a lot of regulations that are upheld to maintain that status including things like not altering the architecture which to some degree really locks this place in time to an era when Spanish colonial buildings were being built in the region.

Mural in patio area of Starbucks Antigua

Outdoor patio of Starbucks Antigua. You have to walk into the building to get here so from the outside you would never know this is here. Along the paved perimeter of the patio there are doorways that lead to meeting rooms that provide additional seating options.

Eventually it was getting close to when I could get into my hotel room to drop my bags and get ready for my evening activity so I left Starbucks and began walking through the city towards my hotel. Along the way I saw a sign for Horchata de Morro, which I had wanted to try and thought I would have to wait until my layover in El Salvador (on my return flight home) to get. It was hot and the cold drink was appealing, even after having a sugary cold beverage at Starbucks. I stopped in this small café and enjoyed this drink. If you don’t know what morro is, don’t worry about it, I didn’t either before researching this trip. It is fruit from the Crescentia alata tree common in Mexico and Central America. It is popular in El Salvador to add the fruit to horchata as a variant.

Upon finishing the horchata I was back on my way and soon thereafter arriving at my hotel, Posada Maya where I dropped of my bags, took some time to cleanup and change to prepare for my evening plans. This hotel can be hard to find if you aren’t looking for it, as the entrance is very modest, but once inside it was very clean and felt open considering it has hostel size rooms. It was more than enough for my stay as I hadn’t planned to spend much time there.

When searching for things to check out in Antigua I found a private street food tour on viator.com with Direct Adventure (+502 3578 5830) that I decided to include in my plans. This was a fantastic activity for me, not just because I consider myself to be a foodie, but this gave me an opportunity to taste authentic Guatemalan food and have a guide share stories about the food and his childhood growing up having these items as well as knowing the vendors in some cases most of his life. The flavors were so rich that they exploded in your mouth after each bite or sip (in case of the atole).

Next to Santuario de San Felipe de Jesús (North Antigua)

Totasda de salpicón (from rural Northern Guatemala)

At Plazuela de Jocotenango across from Parroquia Nuestra Señora de la Asunción in Jocotenango (small city immediately north of Antigua)

Shucos de lomo - basically a Guatemalan hotdog

Parroquia Nuestra Señora de la Asunción during the day

In route between Jocotenango and Santa Ana, my guide pulled over to show me two nearby volcanos. Fuego Valcano (to the left) is very active and due to it’s frequent eruptions it’s common for people to park and watch them.

Volcan Fuego (left) and Volcan Acatenango (right)

Plazuela Santa Ana next to Templo de Nuestra Señora de Santa Ana (Southeast area of Antigua)

Buffalo sandwich - This amazing sandwich starts with toasted bread then adds: beans, meat, onions, cabbage, ranch dressing, and a cilantro garlic mix

Last stop back in Antigua

Once we finished our food I got dropped off back at my hotel. I stayed up long enough to stage my clothes for the following day and then got some rest.