The first 3 weeks of Guatemala, San Marcos, Xela, and Guatemala City


Happy Holidays and Prospero Ano Nuevo to everyone. Its been a bit since my last post, so going to cover considerable ground here, even including an outline for those who want brevity!

*) Hilarious Caricature

1) Where are we now

2) Handling House and Dog in Austin

3) Update on last 3 weeks

4) General Itinerary for next few months

5) Come join us!!

*) We had this caricature done a few days ago and though the resemblance was uncanny (haha), I didn't realize we were in alternate universe mode where my name is Dake. I spelled it for the guy a few times, but when he turned it around for the reveal, we thought it was so funny, we didn't correct it. These are the moments in life and love and travel that we live for. 

1) We are currently in Guatemala and will be spending NYE in Antigua, a wonderful colonial town known for its welcoming people, architecture, Spanish schools, volcanoes and ex-pats! Some friends are joining us and we are so excited to hang with them the next few days. Post to follow. 

2) After hustling almost everyday to get our house and BEST-est dog EVAAARRR, Tapas, situated, we got it handled. Luckily, a good friend needed a furnished place for a few months, so instead of converting it to an Airbnb, we minimized and cleared out most personal affects and they moved in a few days after we left. Both our friend and we are so appreciative and thankful for each other. My Mom is watching Tapas for now and after a recent conversation, I can happily report my momma is LOVING her so much and enjoying the companionship. We miss Tapas dearly, but glad she is in a loving home with someone who appreciates her while we travel.

3) Speaking of travel, we have been in Guatemala for the last three weeks after being delayed on our layover for two days in Houston, we each received a $900 credit from United, $175 food vouchers and two nights at a hotel for being one of the 1st volunteers to take a later flight because the plane was too heavy (never heard of that). We were happy to oblige, so we visited friends in Houston and enjoyed relaxing for 2 free days.

Our first destination was San Marcos la Laguna de Lago Atitlan. Its a cute little village with hippie vibes. This is where you go to focus on yoga, meditation....oh and bohochic Tulum style dance parties. Its kinda pricey, for Guatemala, but its pretty awesome nonetheless. Lots of vegan and vegetarian restaurants and plenty soul searching and body improvement workshops. Its pretty magical. Next, we did a week in Quetzaltenango, Known as Xela, pronounced "Shell-ah". This is real Guatemala. Its the 2nd largest city in the country and the highest major city in all of Central America, clocking in at 7644 feet. Its a workout to walk down the street at that altitude. Prices were low, restaurants were pretty good, hot springs felt so nice, people seemed intrigued as its not quite on the backpacking route yet, but things are changing. We walked some dogs for a day and let them run wild around a cemetery, that was soooo fun. On Xmas eve, going to Xmas day at the stroke of midnight, the city exploded with fireworks in every direction. Check the videos below, it was astoundingly warzone-ish. Next we headed to Guatemala City for a few days of cosmopolitan life in Central Americas largest city. Wow, we are impressed with the area we stayed in, Zone 10. I would compare it to Roma Norte/Condessa area in CDMX with fantastic restaurants, shopping, walkability, a 6 story classy mall named Oakland Mall (kinda funny) with a European style indoor-outdoor eatery including, Japanese, Arabic, Greek, Mexican, Italian cuisines to name a few. And the prices are even better than Mexico here. Anna got her nails did yesterday with Gel-X, costing only $30US when in the states its pushing $120. On average, its about a fourth of the cost of living here than in the US. SO, we actually save money when we travel most central and south American countries!!

4) We love suggestions from you and invite friends to come meet us along the way, so hope to see some of you and our general itinerary the next two months is as follows: 

El Salvador: January 

Santa Ana 4th-11th

Juayua 11th-15th

Playa El Zonte 15th-20th

San Salvador 20th-27th

Nicaragua: February Mainly

Leon Jan 28th-Feb 2nd

San Juan Del Sur 3rd-15th

Ometepe 15th-19th

Granada 19th-22nd

Mexico City Feb 22nd-28th for a wedding and hang out with friends

Costa Rica: March 28th-14th (including Envision)











































Location: Antigua Guatemala, Guatemala

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

OOOOOKKKKAYYYY, THIS is the big update! haha.

Image
We have been in CDMX for almost two weeks and are sad to leave on Saturday, but there are so many more magical places in Mexico.  I'll be updating with stories and much more frequently on my Instagram, @sirjackson_esq (pic of profile below), but saving some great photos for FB. At end of this post we will have our general timeline for the next 3 months, so PLEASE if you will be here or have great friends we should meet, hit us ups!! One of the 1st things we like to do is either do a walking tour or a open air double decker bus to get the "lay of the land." about 5 years ago, we did a great walking tour, so we decided to to the bus for $15, you can do all 4 routes and its good for 24 hrs, and hop-on hop-off, so you can stop pretty much anywhere along the route so see the amazing architecture! We are staying at a wonderful place called Sonder Cóporo. This is a world wide extended stay modern apartment brand and we are impressed. A full month for a one bedroom studio is abou
Read more

Antigua, Antigua, Antigua

Image
  Wow, just WOW.  Antigua Guatemala is such an amazing place and I'm seeing it on quite a few lists for Digital Nomads. Less than an hour west of Guatemala City and 1.5 hours west of Lake Atitlan, it has so many activities, shops, cafes, vibrant people, expats and thrill seekers. We spent NYE there with new and old friends in a beautiful house in the city center. Amazing activities included were: 1) Stepping into the world of Lord of the Rings at Hobbitenango 2) Eating a pizza cooked in the heat and at the top of Volcan Pacaya!! 3) Eating some of the best Texas BBQ at Pappy's…in Antigua (10 patty burger) 4) Blasting off SO MANY fireworks at the stroke of midnight 2023 5) Seeing ancient skeletons in multiple crypts. Our two good friends Adam and John came to hang with us for NYE and long with a new friends we met in Xela a week earlier.  It was so great having friends there to celebrate with us and experience Antigua, sunsets, amazing food and good laughs. There is a hill just o
Read more