Well, we have absolutely loved Guatemala and must say are sad to go. The craft markets, quaint cafes, suberb coffee, cracking pastel painted spanish architecture, historic mayan cities, delicious food, but far above all of that its the beautiful and rich environment and people that make it shine.
The environment is unlike any I have seen before. One day we are in awe of the towering and perfect cone volcanoes around Lake Aititlan, the next watching spider monkeys show off in their natural environment and following that standing in Tikal, the ancient mayan city imagining the great civilisation that once inhabited these now ruins of grand proportions.
The best moment however for me, a moment I have fantasised about since I was a little girl, was holding a freshly hatched leatherback turtle in my hand moments before releasing it and hunderds of others into the sea. So small and fragile, only about 7cm long, with huge flippers and heads that their small frame can barely support out of the water. We were ridiculously lucky in Monterrico where every night we were there we saw hatchlings by the hundreds frantically flop thier way to the sea with the help of the turtle hatchery based on the beach.
The ot
her huge piece of luck was the arrival of a 30 year old Ridleys Turtle on the beach near our hotel to lay her eggs one night. She layed a mere 98 eggs in half and hour then flip flopped her way back to sea. That was a beautiful and magestic sight, and a sight that gets rarer and rarer every year so meant the world to me.
On top of these natural experiences we have been treated to listening to howler monkeys bark and scream like sand people at the ruins of Tikal, watched and been watched back by pairs of toucan high in the trees, watched coatils 1m away rummage for food, saw floating buzzing hummingbirds feeding on nectar, and spied freshwater otters swimming in the mangroves. These we all saw in their natural habitats which is a rare experience in these times too.
The people of Guatemala are the icing on the cake or should I say the delicious guacamole on the soft taco! We have met some interesting locals who were good representations of the diversity here. Our guide in Tikal was an excellent and knowledgeable man of mayan history, classic and recent years of Guatemalan history. On top of the immense detail he described to us on the ruins, forests and ancient people of Tikal he told us about the recent civil war, which only ended 12 ye
ars ago and the huge impact it had on the people.
He described the sad truth of how the hilltribes were murdered, tortured and displaced, and of the horiffic lengths the government troops would go to to decipher whether they were linked to the rebels or not. As many of the tribes lived in isolation and were therefore innocent of the political turmoil going on in their country at the time many were not affiliated with either side, governement or rebel. This was a unacceptable fact for those fighting who then committed horrible torture on the people of these tribes to determine the truth.
This answered a question that had been plagueing me from my first full day here when a young girl with no hands asked me for money. After giving her some coins I turned to our friend who had been working here for a month or so and knew many of the locals stories. The word in tourist cirlces was that that her parents probably mutilated her to make her a more effective beggar... A spine chilling thought that had Andy and I reeling. But in light of our guides tales I think its more likely now that she was a victim of civil war torture in an effort to have her parents confess an affiliation.
It reminds me of the witch test from the dark ages where a woman would be thrown into a river to see if she floats, if she does, shes made of wood, is therefore a witch, and will be killed, and if she doesnt float? There are no right answers with these sorts of horrific acts. This was 12 years ago and like Cambodia the people I see each day, driving the bus, grazing thier cows on the side of the roads, slapping out hundreds of hot tortillias in the toritlliaria, delivering the mail, experienced this, and like cambodia are some of the warmest, freindliest people we have seen on our travels. I like to think they have a tight grip on what truly matters in life.
There is still a class hierachy here based on race, commonly pure guatemalans (mayans) at the bottom, half casts (typically with spanish) in the middle and the remaining spanish from the colonial days at the top. This changes however when you head toward the carribean where we met a local carribean negro who explained that there unfortunately another tier is added which is the ancestral negro community there that sit below the mayan in that part of the country. We looked around and realised he was right. All the staff were mayan, none negro, however contrary to the majority of people on the street were negro. he estimated the population there in livingston to be about 75% negro and 20% or so mayan. Another sad truth. This is interesting because my first thought was that this was due to their arrival as slaves but his ancestral line and that of many of the negro in Livingston are not there as a resut of the slave ships but have been there for thousands of years, like in cuba our next destination.
Despite all these realities the people dont wear it on their shoulders. They are some of the warmest and kindest people we have met on our travels, right up there with Cambodians. It was an absolute treat to travel here and I emplore you all to see it once. My shoes have melted from scorching lava, my ankles are coated in mosquito bites but my heart and soul are filled with the fantastic experience that is Guatemala.
When the cab pulled up in Antigua on our first night I was awestruck when I looked across the street to see a huge ruined stone church, beautifully engraved with mayan detailing, a spacious courtyard with no roof but grass and epiphytes instead, lit magestically in the gloaming hour. Minutes later we came across a brass band in full kit striding down the cobblestone street blasting jingle bells merrily with locals jiving along beside it. From that moment I knew Guatemala was going to be one of my favourites.
The environment is unlike any I have seen before. One day we are in awe of the towering and perfect cone volcanoes around Lake Aititlan, the next watching spider monkeys show off in their natural environment and following that standing in Tikal, the ancient mayan city imagining the great civilisation that once inhabited these now ruins of grand proportions.
The best moment however for me, a moment I have fantasised about since I was a little girl, was holding a freshly hatched leatherback turtle in my hand moments before releasing it and hunderds of others into the sea. So small and fragile, only about 7cm long, with huge flippers and heads that their small frame can barely support out of the water. We were ridiculously lucky in Monterrico where every night we were there we saw hatchlings by the hundreds frantically flop thier way to the sea with the help of the turtle hatchery based on the beach.
The ot
her huge piece of luck was the arrival of a 30 year old Ridleys Turtle on the beach near our hotel to lay her eggs one night. She layed a mere 98 eggs in half and hour then flip flopped her way back to sea. That was a beautiful and magestic sight, and a sight that gets rarer and rarer every year so meant the world to me.On top of these natural experiences we have been treated to listening to howler monkeys bark and scream like sand people at the ruins of Tikal, watched and been watched back by pairs of toucan high in the trees, watched coatils 1m away rummage for food, saw floating buzzing hummingbirds feeding on nectar, and spied freshwater otters swimming in the mangroves. These we all saw in their natural habitats which is a rare experience in these times too.
The people of Guatemala are the icing on the cake or should I say the delicious guacamole on the soft taco! We have met some interesting locals who were good representations of the diversity here. Our guide in Tikal was an excellent and knowledgeable man of mayan history, classic and recent years of Guatemalan history. On top of the immense detail he described to us on the ruins, forests and ancient people of Tikal he told us about the recent civil war, which only ended 12 ye
ars ago and the huge impact it had on the people.He described the sad truth of how the hilltribes were murdered, tortured and displaced, and of the horiffic lengths the government troops would go to to decipher whether they were linked to the rebels or not. As many of the tribes lived in isolation and were therefore innocent of the political turmoil going on in their country at the time many were not affiliated with either side, governement or rebel. This was a unacceptable fact for those fighting who then committed horrible torture on the people of these tribes to determine the truth.
This answered a question that had been plagueing me from my first full day here when a young girl with no hands asked me for money. After giving her some coins I turned to our friend who had been working here for a month or so and knew many of the locals stories. The word in tourist cirlces was that that her parents probably mutilated her to make her a more effective beggar... A spine chilling thought that had Andy and I reeling. But in light of our guides tales I think its more likely now that she was a victim of civil war torture in an effort to have her parents confess an affiliation.
It reminds me of the witch test from the dark ages where a woman would be thrown into a river to see if she floats, if she does, shes made of wood, is therefore a witch, and will be killed, and if she doesnt float? There are no right answers with these sorts of horrific acts. This was 12 years ago and like Cambodia the people I see each day, driving the bus, grazing thier cows on the side of the roads, slapping out hundreds of hot tortillias in the toritlliaria, delivering the mail, experienced this, and like cambodia are some of the warmest, freindliest people we have seen on our travels. I like to think they have a tight grip on what truly matters in life.
There is still a class hierachy here based on race, commonly pure guatemalans (mayans) at the bottom, half casts (typically with spanish) in the middle and the remaining spanish from the colonial days at the top. This changes however when you head toward the carribean where we met a local carribean negro who explained that there unfortunately another tier is added which is the ancestral negro community there that sit below the mayan in that part of the country. We looked around and realised he was right. All the staff were mayan, none negro, however contrary to the majority of people on the street were negro. he estimated the population there in livingston to be about 75% negro and 20% or so mayan. Another sad truth. This is interesting because my first thought was that this was due to their arrival as slaves but his ancestral line and that of many of the negro in Livingston are not there as a resut of the slave ships but have been there for thousands of years, like in cuba our next destination.
Despite all these realities the people dont wear it on their shoulders. They are some of the warmest and kindest people we have met on our travels, right up there with Cambodians. It was an absolute treat to travel here and I emplore you all to see it once. My shoes have melted from scorching lava, my ankles are coated in mosquito bites but my heart and soul are filled with the fantastic experience that is Guatemala.
2 comments:
Goodness! You have covered quite a distance! I now desperately want to go to Guatemala particularly for the wildlife. We missed out on the jungle in Peru because it was the rainy season and difficult at that time of year so maybe next time it'll be Guatemala. What an inspiration!
Emm, it is quite striking how similar the Guatemalan and Cambodian history is don't you think? You have observed already the similar warm characters they have and their approach to living....... there was a photo exhibition here in Phnom Penh a couple of weeks ago. Photos and art from Guatemalan, Peruvian and Cambodian artists..... surviving genocide and civil war was the common theme.....
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