18^th – 19^th January

We were now in the Pacific Ocean and steaming North towards our next destination – Puerto Quetzal, Guatemala. Being a bit closer to land meant, of course, more seabirds and these ones were too irresistible not least as they very obligingly were smoothly gliding right alongside the ship, so guess what, yes, here are a select few!!

I also celebrated my (and Sir Simon Rattle’s) 65^th Birthday (and brother James’s 68^th) on the 19^th. We decided to visit one of the restaurants which you can book on board where for a small cover charge you can enjoy a very up-market dining experience and not feel quite so rushed as in the main dining room. We were joined by our usual dining companions, Alastair and his sister Christine and our two lovely Geordie ladies from Newcastle, Judy and Evelyn and had a wonderful time. A (small) cake was provided and I even had a birthday card from the Captain (Captain Cook!). Prior to dinner I was lucky enough to have the entire Table Tennis crew sing me Happy Birthday too. So a lovely day. Some photos from the dinner…..

La Antigua Guatemala

20^th January, 2020

We arrived off the coast of Guatemala at the port of Puerto Quetzal in the early morning to be greeted by the sight of some spectacular mountains, indeed volcanoes, one of which was sending up some slightly worrying puffs of smoke at regular intervals.

Puerto Quetzal itself is not a particularly enticing destination in itself (it is basically a commercial port, though the tourist centre at the dock was very good), but is a useful port for exploring the western side of Guatemala in the day we had ahead of us. It is on the same latitude as Castries, St Lucia and Bangkok in Thailand and 57 miles south of the capital, Guatemala City. OK, that is the geography sorted, now for a bit of history (you can always skip to the photos if you wish….).

The Maya people lived in southern Mexico, Guatemala and northern Belize and as early as 1500 BC they started living in villages then graduating to cities with temples, pyramids and palaces; Tikal in northern Guatemala was the great ceremonial centre. The Mayan civilisation was at its peak from about AD 300 to 900. For reasons not really known the Mayans declined very rapidly as an influence in Central America and were a spent force by the time the Spanish arrived in the early 16^th Century. The latter were led by Pedro de Alvarado and his army of 300. The second site chosen as the capital suffered a mudflow and was abandoned and the capital moved to La Antigua Guatemala. That then suffered a catastrophic earthquake in 1773 and was virtually destroyed at which point Guatemala City became the capital.

In 1821 Guatemala gained independence from Spain, was briefly part of the Mexican Empire and a member of the United Provinces of Central America with its first of many dictators in 1839. This habit persisted until quite recently, in 1996 with constant coups and military governments and revolutionary forces competing with each other meaning the general populace suffered from poor development, income inequality and inadequate education. Things have improved in recent years, but the contrast is still there to be seen especially between the wealthy, powerful landowners and the Maya Indians of the mountains.

Val and I decided it was best to join an excursion organised by the ship, so after a brief look around the shops at the dock, we found our minibus and climbed aboard for our 90 minute drive to La Antigua Guatemala, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Although much was destroyed by the earthquake in 1773, there is much still to see in what must have been a magnificent city in its prime. The Cathedral was founded in 1542, reduced to rubble in 1773 and partially rebuilt in the early 19^th Century. Many of the old churches have been left as ruins, though often used for ceremonies and art exhibitions. You will note from the photos that most buildings are single storey though that belies the space behind the walls where there are usually rooms around a central courtyard/garden.

There were plenty of lovely shops, not least the Jade Museum, a wonderful sweet/dessert shop and a chocolate museum/shop. There was also a wide variety of restaurants and cafes and churches, monasteries and old government buildings, so plenty to see and do, helped by our lovely guide, Andrea, whose English was impeccable.

OK, you have been very good, so here are the photos….

We then joined our minibus for our journey back to the ship with yours truly trying to get a photo of the volcano out of the back window of the bus. We also passed an unusual rock which looked very like either Queen Victoria or George Washington or a local Mayan lady – I will leave it up to you to decide.

We got back in one piece and Val embarked whilst I bought a beer and used the local, painfully slow wifi to send the last posts for the blog.

Next stop is Manzanillo in Mexico – more soon.