Day 10 - Puerto Quetzal, Guatemala

 Date: 1/15/2024     Day 10                       Port: PUERTO QUETZAL, GUATEMALA

Description: Drive into the mountains to beautiful old Antigua, once the country's colonial capital, and discover its lovely bougainvillea-draped buildings and breathtaking views of emerald volcanoes. Travel to famed Lake Atitlan and step back in time as you encounter the indigenous people in all their finery still living along the lakeshore. Whether you opt to explore the ancient Mayan history of the region or it’s more-recent colonial past, its architecture, culture and locals are sure to inspire.

Planned Excursion: COLONIAL ANTIGUA 

8.0 Hours            Moderate Activity            # QUZ-003:Free

Walk through Guatemala’s original capital, a treasure-trove of colonial buildings. Understand why UNESCO declared Antigua to be a World Heritage site. Learn the devastating effects of a 1773 earthquake that Antigua eventually overcame. See the historically important buildings that were rebuilt following the earthquake. Browse the Jade House and discover how the Mayas used jade for tools and weapons.

Daily Notes: We have visited Antigua on our previous Panama Canal cruise in 2018.  On that visit we only had 2 hours to explore the city on our own or hire a local guide.  We chose the later.  So we only saw the highlights.  Today's tour was a very much different experience.  It was a guided more immersive one.  We walk about 5 miles around the city visiting the different locations.  

When we boarded the bus for the one and a half hour ride to the city, we both were disappointed.  Although it was a coach bus it had extremely darken tinting to the windows.   It made for poor sightseeing as everything looked brown, no pictures from the bus.  Once we arrived at the city we boarded smaller buses to take us into Antigua.  Being a UNESCO World Heritage site all the street were the original cobblestone streets and we had to be careful when walking around.   We were getting more than half tired by the time we made it to lunch at 1:30 PM.  

Today's Photos

Although the Internet onboard is stable, it's slow uploading data.  It takes an hour to upload a 10 min video.  I am keeping all video clips to 10 mins or less.  

So check back often to see those pictures and video on our previous ports-of-call.