Things I did in Antigua, Guatemala

Things I did in Antigua:

Get lost in the Supermercado. It’s fun because it is such a maze (ing!) and the market has everything you could think of.

Common Hope Pueblo Tour. Every Monday morning at 10AM and Thursday afternoon (not sure the time), you can do a free tour of Common Hope (aka. Familia de Esperanza or El Proyecto). Common hope is a charity devoted to helping kids graduate. By having a child involved in the program, the families and communities also receive support from Common Hope. On this tour, I visited one of the partner schools and a tour of the foundation. What’s best? I was received this big hug from a group of youngsters. You were supposed to also do a house visit, but the family was not there when we arrived.

Cerro de la Cruz. This is a great way to view the entire city of Antigua. Go on a good day so you can see all the majesty the Agua Volcano.

HIKE A VOLCANO!

Antigua’s rainy season is May – September. It is very important to check the weather and go on a good day. Don’t trust the tour agencies if they say the weather is fine – they just want your money. There is no need to worry about booking your hike the day before with all the tour agencies in town.

Pacaya Volcano. I was lucky I picked the morning tour on a beautiful day because my tour group got a full view of the other three volcanoes (Acatanagua, Feugo, and Agua). My guide said the mornings are the best because in the afternoons it will either rain or likely be hot. By the time we were on the descent, the clouds were already forming over the other volcanoes. At the top of the hike, you get to roast marshmallows over the molten rock!

Acatenago Volcano. This tour involves a long climb up to the top (5 + hours) and an overnight stay. Since I visited during rainy season (May – September), I passed on this hike due to my unwillingness to do this with thunderstorms in the forecast. I didn’t have the luxury to pick a good day because I only had weekends available. It is said to be a trip of a lifetime to climb above the clouds and to see the tip of the Agua Volcano. You can even see lava from the active Feugo volcano if you are really lucky. The hike is strenuous. If you end up like me in the rainy season, you also may come back drenched, muddy and possibly dead (not joking). My teacher warned of the dangers of the hike.

Here is a picture of Acatenago behind Agua from my Pacaya Hike!

Let loose and put your party shoes on!

After arriving in Antigua on a Saturday night, I was asked by a fellow hostel friend: “Do you want to go to a party, then an after party, then a party after the after party…then a party after the after party, party?!” How could I resist

The party = Hostels (Doozy Koala or Tropicana): Every Saturday the Doozy Koala* had a themed party (Animals, Enchanted Forest, Cowboys and Indians). Everyone seemed to be there. Locals, the employees, the guests and more. The Doozy had a great back patio and fire pit. One night it was raining so hard, people ended up going to the Tropicana Hostel instead. No matter where you are, you will find people dressed up in crazy costumes and throwing glitter on you.

*The Doozy Koala is located on 2nd Avenue and 2nd Calle (Street). It was so new the date of my travel (May 2017) it wasn’t listed on HostelWorld yet.

The after party = the Lucky Rabbit Night Club. This is one of Antigua’s two night clubs. What is up with these places with animal names? This place is basically a filler between bar close at the Doozy (11PM) and the start of the party after the party (1AM~).
The after-after party = The Pool Party. When I got more details on the after-after party, I found out it was a pool party! When I asked if I should go put on my swimsuit, I received laughter as a response. Turns out, it wasn’t an actual “pool party”. It was simply a party in an abandoned (empty) pool. This wasn’t just any party, there was actually a DJ show in the pool. Quite an interesting and amazing experience I’ll never forget. If you could manage to stay up until dawn (like me!), you can even see all three volcanoes. I was lucky enough to see El Fuego puff smoke one time!

I also really enjoyed the local Irish Pub, Reilley’s, which offered 2 for 1’s before 7PM . This also served as the local sports bar for nearly all sporting events, which was great considering all the finals going on during my stay.

Santa Catalina Arch.

Central Park. Central Park is typically bustling with people, ice cream carts, and vendors selling selfie sticks, jewelry and scarfs – just like the one in New York! Ha. I captured this photo while it was raining and everyone was taking cover. It was the only time they moved out of the way and finally realized my picture was more important then their moseying around. 😏

Last, but not least… Attended Spanish School! Antigua is well known for the amount of Spanish schools (what an odd thing to be known for, right?). Guatemala is said to be a great place to learn because the natives speak relatively slowly with little accents. I ended up switching schools after the first week because I got over walking clear across town after it first rained during one of my walks. When I got home completely soaked I made up my mind to change schools the next week. That said, I really liked my first teacher, Orlando. He was so nice and extremely helpful. My second teacher basically copied everything from her book. Then, I copied what she wrote and used google translate after to verify my understanding. I found this marginally more helpful then duolingo – maybe I should’ve just dealt with the rainy walks. Anyhow, here are photos from my favorite school (PLFM) and teacher (Orlando).