To begin with, we found no accessible surf in Guatemala,
and there is not much here for cruising boats. A number of us anchored in Puerto Quetzal for several days.
Puerto Quetzal is an industrial/military port with big ships and large cranes and stuff. We met a guy who had
a 220 ft. tugboat there. He gave us a tour and all the cruisers partied on his boat one night. The boat, Megaton,
has 11 diesel motors! It was interesting to look at a real working tug especially since it was air-conditioned!
The
highlight of Guatemala is Antigua, a city everyone loves. It is very old, with the traditional square that has the
church, shops, a park and restaurants. After a long bus ride, we stayed overnight in a pretty little hotel about a
block from the square. The city has an old-world charm of timelesness. Some cruisers even stayed here for months.
There are language schools here that feed, house and teach you Spanish for very very little money. While we were there
they had a parade that featured pretty young girls riding around the square in cars and pickup trucks. They even had a
brass band that almost played in tune! We met other boats in Puerto Quetzal, Starship and Scalawag, and cruised further down the
coast with them. |
