We are so excited to be able to host so many visitors this year!! In Oct, my parents came and then our friends Matt, Tara, and Grace visited at Thanksgiving, and in early Jan, our friends Tonya, Anthony and Iva came. We had such a great time with everyone! Needless to say, we are a bit behind in updating the blog after all this activity and it will be a bit out of order here as we are catch up.
Tonya, Anthony, and Iva arrived at about 9:30 on New Year’s Eve, just in time to watch the crazy midnight fireworks from our roof. We visited some of our favorite spots in Antigua, like El Arco.Visiting the parrots at the Santo Domingo HotelWe also hiked up to El Cerro de la Cruz. It’s on the north side of town, so we spent most of the time just walking through town and ended with a short climb up the hill. This is a very popular overlook and many famous photos of Antigua are taken from here. It was really hot this day; after this, we had cooler weather. Volcan de Agua is directly behind them, a landmark to the south of Antigua.Friends for 30 years!After the hike to El Cerro, we stopped at a bakery for lunch (Canela). Iva and Willa found a great place for a private lunch. It looks like they are discussing life’s issues here.
On their last day, Iva went to school with Sadie and Willa, so the 4 adults took a hike up to San Cristobal el Alto. This is a hill that rises up south of town beside Volcan de Agua. It was the perfect day, totally clear and not too hot, which was great because we ended up hiking over 7 miles!
The top of this hill was our goal. There is a road with many switchbacks. The bare spot on the left is the remnant of a small landslide. You can see coffee growing on the right side of the hill.The hike up the road to San Cristobal; It was quite steep at times, not much traffic at all. The views just kept getting better and better!The view of Antigua from San CristobalWalking through the street of the village of San Cristobal. It’s on a ridge with the land dropping away on both sides. Only one street, but many side paths. Most towns in Guatemala have a central plaza with a church. We suspect that the ruins on the left are from the original church, probably hundreds of years old, damaged in an earthquake.A cemetery in the village overlooking the volcanos. It was so lovely with all the flowers and the views!This is the farm and restaurant in San Cristobal where we at lunch and watched Fuego (volcano on the left) erupt. Stunning!Soaking in the views!Downtown Antigua. The arch is above and to the right of the center. The futbol stadium is at the top right. Central Park is the green area to the left of the center.View of our neighborhood from San Cristobal. I am obsessed with these volcanos!! Fuego is on the left and Acatenango (dormant) is on the right with the double peak. Behind Fuego are clouds of ash and smoke. If you look closely on the left side of Fuego, you can see the smoke rising from the lava running down the side. At night, we can see the lava and fire!Fuego erupting!Anthony starting the hike down with Fuego erupting in the background.
This hike was a highlight for us all–thus so many photos! We also visited Lago Atitlan, which will be the topic of our next blog.
Los Gringos Aguacateros 