Puerto, Quetzal, Guatemala

Central America Map

            Wednesday, 5 Feb 2020 – We were scheduled to stop at Puerto Quetzal at 8:00 AM.  Guatemala is a country in Central America bordered by Mexico to the north and west.  With an estimated population of around 17.2 million, it is the most populous country in Central America. Guatemala is a representative democracy; its capital and largest city is Nueva Guatemala de la Asunción, also known as Guatemala City.

Puerto Quetzal is Guatemala's largest Pacific Ocean port, with a population of about 19,000.  It is important for both cargo traffic and as a stop-off point for cruise liners.  As an industrial port area, Puerto Quetzal has no attractions of note and nearby Jan Jose Town is not recommended for tourists.  However, the cruise pier features a pavilion with a craft market and vendors offering Native Indian crafts such as textiles, clay, woodcarvings and leather goods.

 Maya Ruins, Iximche

At breakfast, we met Gary & Carol, from Phoenix and cruising to Santiago.  Since we had never been to Guatemala previously, we had booked an 8:30 AM excursion, “Maya Phenomenon & Ancient Ruins.”  The excursion began with a 2.5 hour bus ride to the Mayan site of Iximche, while our tour guide, Dorio, narrated the trip.  We rode past the town of Antigua, which had been completely destroyed by one of Guatemala’s currently active volcanoes, but later rebuilt.  Upon arrival at Iximche, we followed Dorio through the Mayan ruins, as he stopped frequently to share information with us.  Local Maya Shamans say that Iximche is a site of great universal energy.  Dorio gave us a demonstration of the site’s “great universal energy,” but Sally and I were both a little skeptical.  Iximche is 7,000 feet about sea level.  Although there were a few bench seats along the way and I carried a seat for Sally, we pooped out before the end of the tour, and started our walk back to the bus.  We briefly toured the museum before re-boarding our bus.  The bus then drove a short distance to the Pueblo Real Restaurant, where we enjoyed a nice meal.  We sat with Tommy & Ruth from San Antonio, TX.  Tommy is retired from the petroleum industry and Ruth owns a yarn business, among other things, and is still working.

We were back onboard by 5:20 PM, so tired that we skipped dancing tonight.