Here are all the posts for Panama. This is part of the Central America trip. See travelogues for the other countries: Panama, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, and Honduras. I traveled to Guatemala from Honduras and flew home from Honduras.

Friday, April 18. I am flying home tomorrow morning. I am in Guatemala City after visiting Antigua, Lago de Atitlán, Semuc Champey and Tikal. I have been off the Internet grid since Antigua and am way behind on posting. I still can’t upload photos. I hope to catch up over the next few days, although my ISP left me a message saying my connection is down at home…. After that, I will work on my better photos and provide  final comments on the trip. Thanks for following the travelogue and my apologies for slow posting.

The Spanish built La Antigua. An earlier settlement was totally destroyed by volcanoes. The present location was also destroyed by volcanoes and earthquakes. At one point, the Spanish ordered the people to evacuate, but they refused and rebuilt the city, sort of. Ruins are in abundance everywhere, old ruins.

La Antigua is a fun town to walk around in; there are lots of good restaurants. The central plaza has an unusual fountain where water squirts from women’s breasts. Volcanoes surround the city. At breakfast, a huge plume of smoke hissed from one of them.

I went on an excursion to Volcán Picaya and hiked up to the lava fields. The hike was straight up. The air was cool from the rain clouds. The lava field itself was hot with plenty of sulfur steam. I poked a stick into the hot lava and it immediately ignited. The soles of my shoes got very hot on some of the rocks. The lava rock is brittle and sharp.

Getting There–Took it easy and traveled in a tourist bus, Hedman Alas from Copan to Guatemala City and to La Antigua. Even so, it took seven hours. From Guatemala City to La Antigua, we were the only ones on the bus.

Lodging–Stayed at Hotel Santa Clara near the Iglesia de Santa Clara. Very comfortable, old courtyard setting with gardens. The front door is a huge door with a smaller entrance door . There is also a smaller window they open when you knock. Quaint. Good hot water.

Lago de Atitlán is a gorgeous location, a large deep lake surrounded by three volcanoes. There are many small settlements around the lake, all accessible by water taxi and some by road. At 5,000 feet, it’s cool and comfortable. Unfortunately, crime appears to be rampant everywhere. The guide books are full of warnings; I received a warning on this website from Fritz; and travelers as far way as Costa Rica warned me about Guatemala. Upon arrival, I had fresh reports of theft and robbery. I spoke directly with people who had problems with large amounts of money being stolen. I had my drug store reading glasses stolen after leaving them unattended for five minutes; I challenged the woman with her baby that was the only one there, but she denied it. The night before, a young woman had been robbed with an exacto knife at her throat; I spoke with her traveling companion.

Additional reports were even scarier. Armed bandits held up 45 Guatemalan tourists at gunpoint while they were climbing a volcano. A group of German tourists were robbed at Tikal by bandits shooting automoatic rifles in the air.

Despite the security issues, I enjoyed the views, kayaked, swam and visited neighboring villages by taking a water taxi (as in I did NOT walk). I stayed in San Marcos, a heaven for New Age hippies. Druming, dreadlocks, hemp clothing, beards, beads, pyramids and yoga classes are all in abundance. Some of the New Age dress rivaled those of the indigenous people. The community is small enough that we quickly me some people. I had some interesting conversations about life, poverty, government, crime and travel. Eight of us agreed to pool our resources and hired a shuttle to Coban.

If I come back, I plan to retreat to a self-contained, secure, resort community to focus on relaxing, vacation style. It is a shame.

Getting There–took a shuttle directly from La Antigua to Panajachel and a then a water taxi to the dock of our hotel in San Marcos la Laguna.

Lodging–Stayed at Posade de Schumann. We rented a small cottage made of stone, located in a garden facing the lake. The location was good. The restaurant was overpriced and the staff somewhere between indifferent and difficult to communicate with.

Semuc Champey is often regarded as the finest natural attraction in Guatemala. It did not disappoint.  I swam in the pools, floated down the river, visited a cave and watched indigenous people make chocolate.

The Rio Cahabon flows through limestone and creates an underground tunnel. Above is a natural bridge containing numerous turquoise, crystal-clear pools. A gushing waterfall and birds-eye viewpoint complete the magic. The pools are ideal for swimming; I spent many hours there. Below the waterfall, you can tube down the river through the rapids.

Las Gruatas de Marias was a wild cave experience. An underground river flows through the cave and in general you must wade in the water. The guide equipped us with candles. In many sections, the deep pools require swimming with one hand while holding the candle in the other. We finished cold, dirty and pumping with adrenalin.

Getting There — Nine of us shared a shuttle from Pana to Coban. We took the route through Chichicastenango, Sacapulus and Uspantan. We had wonderful views but had several long delays from construction work. Also at one point, a security patrol followed our van to provide protection. We took a public bus from Coban to Lanquin and then on to Semuc Champey.

Lodging — We stayed the first night at Las Marias. Our room was simple and clean. There were lots of guests. In the morning, we moved to El Portal. It is on the hill with a view and a breeze; it is very near the entrance to Semuc Champey. The restaurant is good and the service friendly. There is only one electrical outlet for the entire hotel.

I visited a local indigenous family and watched them make chocolate. The Q’eachi’ people harvest the cacao tree and make chocolate to eat and sell to tourists. We bought some chocolate from one family and asked them how they made the chocolate. It was difficult to communicate because only the younger students speak Spanish. But we did receive an invitation for 7 a.m. the following morning.

The key ingredient, cacao, is a fruit that grows on trees. The gourd is about eight inches  long. The nuts inside are white, about one-inch long and covered with gelatin. You can suck on them and they taste interesting, but not like chocolate. The nuts are cleaned, dried and roasted. The nuts are roasted in a stone container for about fifteen minutes with constant stirring.

While they are still hot, the nuts are shucked and then ground using a stone rolling pin on a stone basin. As the nuts are finely ground, they release a buttery, brown liquid that looks like melted chocolate. This takes a lot of pressure and time. The ground, liquid chocolate is mixed with sugar, margarine, vegetable oil and vanilla. The mixture is then pressed into plastic trays, left to set and then cut into squares. The squares are wrapped in aluminum foil. The squares are about the size of a typical Hershey bar and are sold for five quetzales or about 60 cents U.S. Usually, girls carry them around in a basket and offer them to tourists.

The chocolate tastes less refined than typical manufactured dark chocolate. When eaten, a bit of the chocolate nut remains after the chocolate has melted. Also because of the wood roasting, the chocolate has a slightly smoked flavor. I really like it and have some in my mouth as I write this post.

Tikal is generally regarded as Guatemala’s number one tourist attraction. It is well worth visiting. After visiting several other Mayan sites, I was pleasantly surprised by the dense, rich jungle here. The ruins themselves are large and numerous. It’s fun to climb on the pyramids above the tree canopy and see the birds and distant mountains. I visited the site on two sequential days. The jungle is interesting to hike and full of wildlife, including anteaters (coati) and a unique species of turkey.
Logistics — A highway of tourists runs from Semuc Champey south to Antigua and north to Flores. We decided to continue north to Flores and Tikal. We took a shuttle and stayed in El Remate at the Posada de Don David, a hotel on the lake. The following day, we took another shuttle to the park and stayed at the Jungle Inn. The Jungle Inn is a bit pricey for a private bath, but it is very spacious and comfortable. The garden grounds are wonderful and visited by birds, monkeys and coati (a kind of anteater).

As expected, Tikal is heavily tourist-ed and all the prices for food tickets, lodging and shuttles reflect this.

Time to finish the story. From Tikal, I flew to Guatemala City to catch my flight to the States. After nine weeks on the road, I am tired and ready to go home. I have mosquito, ant and spider bites all over my body. I have slipped and fallen several times in the jungle and have a variety of bumps, bruises, scrapes and sore fingers. I am thinking defensively. Guatemala City is known as a tough city. Just let me home without being mugged.

I visited the city center (Parque Central) and the main cathedral. The fence around the cathedral has stone pillars inscribed with names. The names are listed by province. “Executed.” “Disappeared.” “Tortured.”

We bought a hammock and bedspread at the underground artisan market (it is literally underground) and took our last bus in Central America, the 101, back to the hotel. Then we took the long flight home.