I know some of you are about to board a plane already, so I'm sending this out now!
When you get to Guatemala City airport, pass through baggage claim and customs. You will leave the doors of the airport where you will see people behind a barrier waiting for their loved ones to come out. A man should have a sign with at least one of your names. His name is Edgar, and he is the Casa Colibrí shuttle driver. His phone number is 4739-9949. If for some reason you need to call him, ask one of the security guards in the airport there to let you make a phone call and dial just those eight numbers. Edgar's car is a new gray 15-passenger van. He will take you to the lake, on tomorrow's trip only passing through Antigua to pick up other members of our party. If you ask him, he can also take you to an ATM. The total trip to the Casa Colibrí from Guatemala City Airport, without stops and without traffic, is 3 to 3 1/2 hours.
If anything happens that doesn't match the descriptions I've given you or if you feel uneasy at any point, please call me at 4633-5890 (from U.S. phones 011-502-4633-5890). However, the trustworthy owner of the house, David Yates, has told me that Edgar has always driven his guests without any problems.
See you very soon!
Showing posts with label transportation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label transportation. Show all posts
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
Wednesday, December 14, 2011
Transportation and Antigua Guatemala - our new transportation hub
Antigua - Guatemala's #1 tourist destination. It wasn't contemplated in our original plans, but for some of you we think that it could be a fortunate coincidence and result of logistical issues.
Everyone has a different flight time both in and out, but we don't want people travelling alone or trying to find their own way from the airport to La Casa Colibrí. So we have tentatively bunched people up on private shuttles with particular schedules. We will cover the cost of these private shuttles. Some of you whose flights don't line up perfectly with the shuttle schedule will have a morning or a night to spare. We don't recommend that you spend that time in Guatemala City (see the Security in Guatemala Post), and we DO recommend that you spend it in Antigua Guatemala. Antigua, as it is known, is located about 45 minutes to one hour from the Guatemala City airport, and while it is not exactly on the way to the lake, it is in its general direction. On the map below, you can see Antigua Guatemala about 40 km west of Guatemala City, and Lake Atitlan about 100 km west of the city.
Everyone has a different flight time both in and out, but we don't want people travelling alone or trying to find their own way from the airport to La Casa Colibrí. So we have tentatively bunched people up on private shuttles with particular schedules. We will cover the cost of these private shuttles. Some of you whose flights don't line up perfectly with the shuttle schedule will have a morning or a night to spare. We don't recommend that you spend that time in Guatemala City (see the Security in Guatemala Post), and we DO recommend that you spend it in Antigua Guatemala. Antigua, as it is known, is located about 45 minutes to one hour from the Guatemala City airport, and while it is not exactly on the way to the lake, it is in its general direction. On the map below, you can see Antigua Guatemala about 40 km west of Guatemala City, and Lake Atitlan about 100 km west of the city.
Antigua is a stop for almost all tourists to Guatemala for its colonial architecture and ruins, near-perfect climate and picturesque surroundings and its cosmopolitan culture. It is a World Cultural Heritage Site. It was the colonial capital of Guatemala and at points of Central America. Severely damaged in an earthquake around the time of the American Revolution, it was abandoned for today's Guatemala City. This spelled short-term doom for the city but long-term benefits, as the lack of development preserved the colonial architecture for centuries. Today this architecture, "charm," "feel," makes Antigua an excellent place to stay. I am very wistful of my Peace Corps days when I had an excuse to go to Antigua every couple months for Peace Corps meetings there.
What should you do with a few hours there? These are just some quick personal highlights and ideas (Q. 7.8 = $1.00):
Convento de las Capuch
inas. A beautiful 17th-century convent on 2 Calle, 2 Avenida still in excellent condition. Hire a tour guide for Q. 50 and he or she will tell you about every detail of daily convent life and the structures built to facilitate them. Q. 40 for foreigners.
Central Park. Just hang out for a while and people watch in the beautiful central park. But do expect to be offered things to buy by indigenous women. Free.
Walk to Cerro La Cruz. This is about a 30-40 minute hike from the central park to the city's viewpoint. 1 Avenida Norte. Free.
Watch Volcan de Fuego in the morning. True to its name, most mornings Volcán de Fuego is angrily steaming southwest of the city.
Iglesia La Merced. One of the biggest and most beautiful churches in Antigua. End of Calle del Arco. Q. 5.
Iglesia San Francisco. Church with extensive grounds with ruins and a museum to Hermano Pedro, Guatemala's only official saint. 7 Calle, 1 Avenida. Q. 10.
Catedral. It's interesting to look at both the current cathedral, which is lit up beautifully at night, and the cathedral ruins behind it. Off the Central Park. Q. 3.
La Azotea Coffee Plantation. A bus will pick you up in the central park and drive you to one of the many coffee plantations around Antigua, but this one separates itself by having English-language tours, an informative coffee museum and an annex Mayan music museum. Jocotenango. Q. 50.
Valhalla Macadamia Nut Farm. This is a little further away and requires a taxi ride or chicken bus trip, but it's interesting. Learn about organic agriculture, macadamia nuts and business as social enterprise. Free; food to buy; taxi might cost Q. 40 each way, chicken bus Q. 3 per person each way. Ciudad Vieja camino a San Miguel Dueñas.
Chocolate-Making. I haven't done this, but apparently it is very popular nowadays.
And to eat:
Doña Luisa Xicotenatl. Very good place to go for breakfast or brunch. Breakfasts, sandwiches, pastries. Great ambience, can be crowded. 4 Calle Oriente. Q. 40 pp.
Sabe Rico. Also in the sandwich / pastries area, but more innovative and completely natural ingredients. 6 Avenida Norte. Q. 60 pp.
La Fonda de la Calle Real. Quality Guatemalan dishes from different parts of the country. Calle del Arco. Q. 80 pp.
Frida's. Mexican food and innovative margaritas. Calle del Arco. Q. 80 pp.
Sobremesa. Innovative dishes and an enjoyably eccentric American owner. 3 Calle Poniente. Q. 120 pp.
There are plenty of nightlife options too, drinking and Latin dancing, depending on what day of the week you are there. Ask me for more specific info.
Here are some websites to look at:
AntiguaGuatemala.info
Monday, November 21, 2011
Security in Guatemala
This is an important topic to breach considering Guatemala is, unfortunately, in the headlines quite a bit for insecurity issues. About two weeks ago the country elected a former general who has been suspected of war crimes in the '80s as President. This when 15 years ago the country was fed up with the military and drastically reduced its size. But today, the biggest problem the country faces is the crime that results from the fight over controlling the market for the U.S.' continuing appetite for illegal drugs from Colombia and other countries, and so the former general was elected.
Luckily for us,security risks are mitigable. As a Peace Corps Volunteer and now an officer of a U.N.-related agency, I have received security messages and trainings ad nauseum. And the lessons are simple for you all to follow:
1. Stay out of Guatemala City. Most of Guatemala is very calm; for example, where I live most people leave their doors unlocked all day. Lake Atitlan, thank God, is also safe. But the capital is another story. I've been the victim of two robberies on public transportation in the capital. I have to work in the capital quite often, but good news for you, there's no reason at all for you to be in Guatemala City as a short-term visitor except as a transit hub. We will take people directly from the airport in Guatemala City to Lake Atitlan, and as an alternative use Antigua (which is SO much nicer, with cheaper accomodations!) as a central hub. If you are planning to spend time in Guatemala City on your trip, please talk to me about it before reserving anything. Unless you think that you are going to get a huge craving for Quizno's or KFC while in-country, you can probably do without the visit.
2. Remember that in developing countries, not everybody has an iPhone or BlackBerry. I recently got a BlackBerry and just learned how handy they are, but in rural areas of developing countries, they stand out a lot. In Guatemala, few people have cell phone plans, so everybody buys the cell phone at its actual cost. An iPhone goes for $750 (the minimum monthly white-collar salary is $250 per month...) Don't go walking down busy streets with your head buried in the latest story from the New York Times.
3. We'll choose our public transportation use carefully. I am all about public transportation, as you all know, but here you do have to choose carefully. I'm sure many of you will want to take the famous "chicken buses" which I became very familiar with over 2 years as a Peace Corps Volunteer. Do it, but don't take a lot of valuables with you, and please don't go all the way to the capital. If you want to take a taxi, that's completely acceptable - they're way way way cheaper than in the States.
4. Don't go overboard on the alcohol, and don't be out alone late. Should be pretty self-explanatory. Peace Corps records show that a high percentage of security incidents involving Volunteers occurred when people were drinking, and at midnight or later.
Everything near the wedding site will be very safe and you won't have to worry at all. 99% of Guatemalans are the NICEST people you will ever meet, including my future in-laws, and you can predict where the 1% will be. Using common sense we will all have a very nice visit without any incidents. Any questions, feel free to ask me.
Luckily for us,security risks are mitigable. As a Peace Corps Volunteer and now an officer of a U.N.-related agency, I have received security messages and trainings ad nauseum. And the lessons are simple for you all to follow:
1. Stay out of Guatemala City. Most of Guatemala is very calm; for example, where I live most people leave their doors unlocked all day. Lake Atitlan, thank God, is also safe. But the capital is another story. I've been the victim of two robberies on public transportation in the capital. I have to work in the capital quite often, but good news for you, there's no reason at all for you to be in Guatemala City as a short-term visitor except as a transit hub. We will take people directly from the airport in Guatemala City to Lake Atitlan, and as an alternative use Antigua (which is SO much nicer, with cheaper accomodations!) as a central hub. If you are planning to spend time in Guatemala City on your trip, please talk to me about it before reserving anything. Unless you think that you are going to get a huge craving for Quizno's or KFC while in-country, you can probably do without the visit.
2. Remember that in developing countries, not everybody has an iPhone or BlackBerry. I recently got a BlackBerry and just learned how handy they are, but in rural areas of developing countries, they stand out a lot. In Guatemala, few people have cell phone plans, so everybody buys the cell phone at its actual cost. An iPhone goes for $750 (the minimum monthly white-collar salary is $250 per month...) Don't go walking down busy streets with your head buried in the latest story from the New York Times.
3. We'll choose our public transportation use carefully. I am all about public transportation, as you all know, but here you do have to choose carefully. I'm sure many of you will want to take the famous "chicken buses" which I became very familiar with over 2 years as a Peace Corps Volunteer. Do it, but don't take a lot of valuables with you, and please don't go all the way to the capital. If you want to take a taxi, that's completely acceptable - they're way way way cheaper than in the States.
4. Don't go overboard on the alcohol, and don't be out alone late. Should be pretty self-explanatory. Peace Corps records show that a high percentage of security incidents involving Volunteers occurred when people were drinking, and at midnight or later.
Everything near the wedding site will be very safe and you won't have to worry at all. 99% of Guatemalans are the NICEST people you will ever meet, including my future in-laws, and you can predict where the 1% will be. Using common sense we will all have a very nice visit without any incidents. Any questions, feel free to ask me.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)