This is a story-style travel blog featuring my adventure through Central America in the fall of 2023. I did a 17-day tour called Central American Journey, with the company Intrepid. We visited Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua and Costa Rica. You can read the blog in order, or read about whichever destination intrigues you! Within my stories, I’ll offer some local recommendations and some tips and tricks for a smooth journey. When I travel, I mostly do group tours and the reasons are:
* As a solo woman traveler, it is much safer especially if traveling long distances or to countries that can be dangerous in some parts
*The itineraries are amazing and usually include all of the things you’d want to see and do…and if not, there is free time to do as you wish
*You don’t have to worry about booking transport, finding hotels, etc. Sometimes that can contribute to the adventure, but it’s also nice to sit back and relax and let your tour leader be in charge
* And finally…the people you meet on your tour become your family, and I’ve made lifelong friends in these journeys. For myself, this holds equal importance with exploring new countries.
Guatemala is the most populous country in Central America; the landscape is scattered with beautiful mountains and volcanoes and Pacific and Caribbean coast beaches. It is rich in ancient Mayan culture, with many temples and ruins throughout the country. It’s the birthplace of chocolate, and also has amazing coffee. Antigua is filled with stunning baroque inspired architecture and is a designated UNESCO World Heritage Site.
And it’s a quiet morning here in Antigua! Yay!! No cannons firing. Haha. I sleep in and head out for brunch at an awesome restaurant I found last time I was here called Rincon Tipico. It’s a great place for a cheap meal; this is what you get for less than $10 – fresh off the spit roast chicken half, melt in your mouth potatoes, coleslaw, tortillas and a tamarind juice.
Also, there are tons of little birds that fly around and eat scraps off the tables and floors. It’s cute.
Since I have no real plans for today, I decide to do a little church tour around Antigua- – there are so many cool churches and convents here. Some are still functional and some are in ruins from the many earthquakes that happened in the 1700’s. The earthquakes destroyed a lot of the city, which is why they had to move the capital to Guatemala City. The last time I was here, I visited quite a few and went inside to explore, so this time I just admire these ones again from the outside. I have a map to help me navigate the locations, and off I go!
First is this one called Iglesia San Pedro Apostol.
Across the street is the Tanque de la Union, an old communal laundry that is said to be haunted.
Next up is the Iglesia San Francisco…the outside is gorgeous and the ruins beside the church are really cool. I’ve been inside before, so I snap a quick pic and move on.
Then this one…. Iglesia Escuela de Cristo. Looks pretty solid, so it withstood the earthquake. Both times it’s been closed to the public.
Over to Nuestro Senor de Belen Convent…. I didn’t see this one last time and it’s in a quiet area in a square with a cute park. The architecture is really amazing though.
Continuing on past Convento Capuchinas; I went in last time and it’s super cool.
It has a beautiful garden area and a restoration of the cells where the nuns lived.
A block over is the El Carmen church – definitely one of my faves. Just look at it…it’s totally in ruins but what still remains…. wow!
Next door to this church is a claustrophobic market that’s very hot inside; I decide to skip it this time. I’m already too damn hot. It’s a scorcher today; I’m wearing my hat but I need to find shade anywhere possible and drink tons of water. I see on my map that there’s a new church to check out close by. This is the Templo and Convent de Santa Teresa de Jesus, also in ruins.
I make my way back to Parque Centrale to the Catredal San Jose…it looks closed today; last time I visited the new part but I want to see the ruins in the back. Not this time. <sigh>.
At this point I need a break from the heat so I head back to the hotel to cool off and rehydrate. And then I’m off again, in the opposite direction and I see another cool one – Church of La Campana de Jesus. I can’t go inside though.
I make my way over to the market; I’m not really needing to buy anything today but it’s still fun to have a look around in the chaos of a city market.
PRO TIP: some cool things to buy here in Guatemala are : colorful woven textiles, Ron Zacapa rum , mud clay ceramics, jade( Guatemalan jade is rare and valuable) ceremonial masks, worry dolls(you tell your worries to the dolls, put them under your pillow while you sleep, and in the morning, you will have clarity). And let’s talk about Quetzalteca. It’s strong and sweet and made from fermented sugarcane juice. I drink it straight from the bottle but you can mix it so it’s not as potent. They are cheap, and the bottles are beautiful to collect.
Just past the market is this cute little church – Santa Lucia.
It’s not as intricate as the others, but still pretty and I get to have a look inside. Beside this church is a road that a lot of the chicken buses travel through from the nearby bus station. They are old school buses from the US that have been auctioned off and sent to Central America to be used for public transport.
PRO TIP: Chicken buses are a cheap way to get around the country and very stylish…each bus is fully painted and decorated. Today, it’s unlikely you’ll see any chickens on them..only if you’re lucky. And no air conditioning, just open windows! They’re usually crowded but what a fun experience.
I head back towards the hotel and stop at 2 new churches as my final destinations. The San Jeronimo Convent Ruins is the first one, and it’s similar to some of the other ones I’ve seen but the gardens are lovely with a nice fountain in the middle of the courtyard.
It seems to be a popular spot for locals to hang out on their lunch breaks, and a romantic spot for making out. I never know what I will find when exploring around the crumbling walls and hidden rooms. Haha.
My last stop is La Recoleccion – I almost don’t go in because I have no Quetzals left (local currency) and I don’t want to use my US dollars. But I strike a deal with the guy at the gate and I’m off to explore these ruins. I walk through the archway and up the staircase.
This church is from the 17th century and the remains are from the earthquakes in the late 1700’s.
And all I can say is Wow. I’m literally climbing over the fallen walls. There are so many cool photo ops in here, and the cool thing is I have the place to myself. This is probably my favorite church complex in Antigua. The best for last!
I’m getting hungry so I head over to La Merced church to see if there’s any food stalls set up. Last time I got a delicious bag of fresh mango, but I don’t see any today. There is a stall that has some local snacks but I don’t have enough money on me. I do have a few small coins though, and that’s enough to get me a cup of atol de elote, a warm sweet corn drink. I love it! Some other awesome local treats to try are kak’ik(turkey soup), chicken pepian, and Guatemalan style tamales.
PRO TIP: It’s always a good idea to carry local currency. Sometimes you can only pay with cash. It can be a challenge to figure out how much to withdraw from the ATM, and how much to carry with you. For that reason, I try to pay with credit cards as much as possible.
I’m back at the hotel and I’ve switched rooms because tonight I’ll be sharing with someone from the tour. This room isn’t as nice but it’s bigger.
Our tour meeting is in the early evening in the hotel lobby. This is the crucial moment. Am I going to get a cool group of people this time? Everyone introduces themselves, and it’s as follows:
Manuel from Portugal, James from Ireland, Adam from the UK, Paige from the USA, Eilidh (pronounced Aylee) from Scotland, Poline from Belgium, Kelly and Bill from the USA, and my roomie Ivonne from Germany. Marvin is our tour leader for the next 17 days, and he seems like an awesome guy – he’s from Nicaragua and lives in Costa Rica. 6 of us decide to go out for a late dinner and Marvin recommends a place called https://laspalmasantigua.com/
I order the chicken quesadillas, not bad. It’s a nice evening to get to know my fellow travelers; I think it’s gonna be a fun group. When we leave the restaurant, it is absolutely pouring and most of us don’t have any rain gear with us. We stop at a super market and pick up matching rain poncho jackets, and make our way back to the hotel, navigating the slippery sidewalks and cobblestone roads. And there’s no time to party hard tonight, because we need to leave at 3am tomorrow morning for the long drive to Honduras…OMG this is going to be torturous….
Everywhere On Earth With Erin 