This past weekend, the group took a weekend trip to Antigua, the old colonial capital of Guatemala. The Spanish declared Antigua the capital in 1543 after a disastrous mudslide in the capital city before. In the early afternoon on Friday, we arrived in Antigua by bus and got the chance to wander and explore the city. We ate bagels for lunch in the central park with its fountains and beautiful trees (pictures included) and a cathedral in the background. Then, we walked around to see a few of the old churches and visited an old convent. The convent, named "La Capuchinas" was a convent built in 1736 and run by nuns from Madrid. Destroyed repeatedly by earthquakes it is now a museum reflecting religious colonial life. Also, the city had a lot of tourists (much more than Xela), but the air was fresh and seeing the beautiful buildings was nice.
Pictured below - Rachel and I in the central park, the old Capuchinas Convent in Antigua
On Saturday morning we drove out of the city to a hotel called, “Earth Lodge.” We spent the day doing easy hikes around the area, playing games like darts and “bananagrams,” and relaxing in hammocks. The hotel is a pretty cool place because it’s one of the few places that are environmentally friendly in Guatemala. Also, they donate a lot of their funds to help local kids get through school.
The view during the drive from Antigua to the Earth Lodge -
Pictured below, the sign welcoming us to Earth Lodge and a few of us on our little hike near the hotel
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