Off to Flores

a man in the ruins of a cathedral

Last Walk through Antigua

The top of a ruined pillar

A man beside a wall of a ruin with a pigeon sitting directly above After a final full breakfast at Yellow House Hostel, we head out for one last walk around the Old Town. We travel under the Santa Catalina Arch, making our way through the Central Plaza, stopping to check out the large Quetzal statue through barred windows in the Cathedral of Antigua.

We head behind the Cathedral and pay the $3.50 entrance to check out the ruins of the old Cathedral (destroyed by an earthquake in the early 1700s.)

We go into La Merced Church on the way back to our hostel. I notice that the statue of Christ in the tomb is brown. That was because the people associated white figures to the Spaniards and their cruelty to the indigenous peoples.

looking through the doors of a cathedral ruin arches and the sky view from the cathedral ruin

inside a ruined cathedral

detail of a carving from the Cathedral a statue of a quietzal bird

The Mermaid fountain in the centre of the park

The front altar of La Mersed Church

The Brown Jesus in the glass tomb

Airport Time

Our taxi picks us up at the hotel at 10:30am, to drive us to the airport in Guatemala City, They say it will take up to two to two and a half hours to get there depending on traffic but we are there in an hour.

In the airport we find a place to sit. There is a lady in her 20s from Switzerland sitting beside us. She is upset because she has to fly through the States and she needs some special Visa even though she is just changing planes in the US. While she is at the United Airlines desk trying to work things out, another couple from Houston, Texas sits by us. The couple is upset because Spirit Airlines wants to charge them another $100 because their camera is considered an extra personal item. I assist them in repacking and they manage to take the camera lenses apart, put on a few more layers of clothes, stuff their pockets to make space in their backpacks and repack the now dismantled camera. Mission accomplished without paying the extra $100…the happy couple (now looking like Michelin Men), head over to their gate.

an overstuffed neck pillow The Swiss lady (Daria) returns. They have changed her flights to later in the day. She can’t get data on her phone so John and I try to help her by using our phone to Skype the visa office but the wait time is over 30 minutes. John and I have to catch our flight so we wish her luck in getting home.

The small plane on the tarmac John and I are charged $20 US each to check our carry-ons on our flight on TAG Airlines. They also charge extra for every pound over 20 pounds. We do a bit of repacking (I stuff so much into my neck pillow that I cannot do up the zipper) and then we are only charged $2 for the overage.

As it turns out we are on a smaller propeller plane that has no room for any carry-on luggage in the cabin. The flight to Flores is 50 minutes.

Flores

Kimberly standing at the waterfront in Flores We land in Flores which reminds me a bit of Puerto Maldonado in Peru. Our accommodations are on a lake and the area is more of a jungle area…no volcanoes or high elevation. It is also warm and humid.

I get an email from Daria (the Swiss lady), she says that she finally got the visa and is now waiting for her flight. Yeah!

After checking in, we book our Tikal and Yaxha tours at the Los Amigos Hostel tour agency before walking around the waterfront and taking advantage of happy hour mojitos at our hotel on their terrace overlooking the lake.

We head to Los Amigos for supper.