PUERTO QUETZAL, GUATEMALA

 

30c but only 27% humidity. Very tolerable!

We arrived in port around 7am. Today’s bonus is that we docked starboard side so we could see everything from our veranda.

 The early morning view of the mountains was so impressive and it seem like every mountain is a volcano.

 

 

 

 

 

In fact as I’m taking pictures and watching the mountains the big one in the centre sent up a massive plume of smoke/steam. It turns out that it does that every 30 - 40 minutes.

Antigua is about 1 ½ hours from here so we decided to walk the local area again instead of spending all that time and money going to a big city.

The port of Quetzal is extremely clean, modern and green. They irrigate on a daily basis.

Again there was a market very near the port and so we spent a good time just meandering through the many outdoor shops, admiring the handiwork of the very talented Guatemalan people. Every thing is done with detail and very, very colourful!!

The market area was very clean and included a number of places to eat and a couple of very clean washrooms. There was also an open air WiFi post, all under a large roof, so we did some updating. WiFi on the ship is very expensive. The cheapest package is 35 cents a minute minimum 500 minutes. The WiFi post charged $10.00 / hour.

The Guatemalan people are descendents of the Mayan peoples and still carry all the traits. They are very dark, very short and not many of them speak Spanish or English. Just enough English to say, ‘just for you good price’ and ‘what you offer’. The ladies usually looked at Lucy from foot to head and commented to their coworkers something about the height of that foreigner. But then again I can’t really translate the Indian language that well…

I came across this cute photo op. There were two young kids sitting under one of the display tables watching a movie on the DVD player.

  We ended up purchasing something from this guy and he was more than happy to have his picture taken with us. Bargaining is expected. In fact, they usually start at a price and as you walk away the price drops rather significantly.

I could have purchased a T-shirt that said, “Guad ever” or “Guads up?”

 

 

The ship stocked up on fresh fruit and produce. It was good to see all that vine/tree ripened fruit being taken on board. Watermelons, papayas, bananas, mangos and melons. We watched them take the boxes through security. Each box was checked and sniffed by the drug dogs. Looks like all of our boxes cleared.

We did take a stroll along the seashore along a paved trail. The water certainly isn’t as clear and pretty as on the Atlantic side.

This is one country we would like to come back to. We saw so little of it in one day. It almost not enough to say that we’ve been to Guatemala and yet, yes, we have. Hard to fathom.

Siesta anyone?









On the way back to the ship I took this picture of the massive bumpers that keep the ship from scraping on the concrete.

Once back on the ship we waited for departure which was delayed by the fact that one of the tour buses got stuck in traffic and had to be escorted back to the ship with a police and military escort. The did make it back and we were off.

The day was most pleasant weather-wise because the humidity was way down and there was a wonderful, cooling ocean breeze blowing.
 

Today we had dinner after the 7pm show. Tonight we heard renowned virtuoso pianist Hyperion Knight. He is a graduate of Julliard and did a concert on classical music through the ages. Again we are amazed at the quality of entertainment on board.

 

During dinner we met a couple from Haifa, Israel. They were very interesting to visit with. There are just ending Passover so there were restricted as to what they could and couldn’t eat. Then we were joined by a couple from Orlando, Florida. They and the Haifa couple had visited before. Very interesting hearing these people’s stories.
 

We visited on the upper back deck until close to 11pm and everyone thought it was time to sleep.

Tomorrow, Mexico.