Day 9 Panama Canal Cruise
We arrived in Puerto Quetzal, Guatemala’s largest Pacific Ocean port this morning and were met for our tour by our guide Juan Pablo (JP).
Our tour took us to Antigua, a UNESCO World Heritage city, about 90 minutes from the port.
Guatemala has at least 37 volcanoes, of which three are still active. On our way to Antigua, we passed between two volcanos, the Fire Volcano (active) and Volcán de Agua (Water- not active).
Volcán de Agua has had no historical eruptions, but its name (the water volcano) originates from a devastating mudflow on September 11, 1541. The mudflow destroyed the first Guatemalan capital city established by the Spanish Conquistadors, which is now known as Ciudad Vieja. The catastrophe prompted the establishment of a new capital city at nearby Antigua.
Guatemala’s Volcán de Fuego (Fire Volcano), however, had a catastrophic eruption in June 2018. It affected more than 1.7 million people in three central departments, or states. This was Guatemala’s most severe volcanic eruption in 45 years. About 1000 people were killed and thousands are still missing. They are still in the process of rebuilding the road on which we traveled, so traffic was backed up and quite slow in spots.
We also passed lots of bicyclers who were participating in some kind of race/ride. We learned that several years back, Guatemala was banned from FIFA, the international soccer organization, because of corruption so cycling became much more popular. Guatemala is now back in FIFA, but cycling has remained popular.
Guatemala has 22 states which they call departments. JP told us they have about 40,000 species of orchids in Guatemala. Their main industry is agriculture, followed by textiles and tourism.
Upon our arrival in Antigua, we were surprised to see THOUSANDS of people on the streets. Today they are celebrating San Bartolo Day with a huge parade that will last for many hours as it winds its way through the city. The Lenten procession marks the 117th anniversary of the procession that leaves San Bartolomé on the 5th Sunday of Lent, which is the largest procession leading up to Semana Santa (Holy Week) in Guatemala. Hundreds of volunteers dressed in vibrant purple robes carry huge wooden floats weighing up to 6,600 pounds on their shoulders as the procession winds its way through the streets of Antigua. The largest float requires 145 men to carry it! Try to imagine walking along these streets carrying those floats!
We, unfortunately, did not get to see any of the procession because it started in another part of the city and it would be hours before it got to the area where we were. We did see several of the men wearing the purple robes.
Exquisite “Alfombras” (carpets) made of flowers, pine needles, and intricately patterned colored sawdust line the streets along the processional route. They were beautiful works of art which took many hours to create and will be destroyed when the parade carrying the floats will pass over them.
Antigua is known for its well-preserved Spanish-Baroque architecture and colonial churches.
We went to the Jade Museum as part of the tour. There were several pieces from the Mayans on display. It was an interesting stop. The museum opened in 1995 to give visitors an overview of 3,000 years of Mesoamerican jade and its importance to six different cultures from as far away as Costa Rica and Guerrero, Mexico.
We also went by the markets. Tobey and I both wished we had more time to explore and try some of the different foods!
We did get an ice cream cone to share. The vanilla was SO yellow and they put a strawberry marmalade on the top. Pretty tasty.
They even had the little three-wheeled taxis in Antigua!
We also saw the Santa Catalina Arch. Built in the 17th century, it originally connected the Santa Catalina convent to a school, allowing the cloistered nuns to pass from one building to the other without going out on the street. A clock on top was added in the era of the Central American Federation, in the 1830s.
All too soon we were back on our tour bus back to the ship. Tobey and I both enjoyed Guatemala and wished we had more time there!
Back on board ship, we went to the comedy show and enjoyed the music. Tomorrow is another day at sea.
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