You will visit:
Sightseeing Tour of San Antonio Aguas Calientes:
This village is famous for their quality of the weavings made by local indigenous women. It is necessary to point out that some of these women gave organized themselves in cooperatives. This is a quiet little village with modest buildings. You will find some textiles shops a few feet from the park.
Sightseeing Tour of San Juan El Obispo:
This village is famous because here you will find the first Palacio Arzobispal (Archiepiscopal Palace) that was built in
Guatemala, it is of Renaissance style.
Bishop Francisco Marroquín lived here; he was the first Bishop in
Guatemala and was the founder of the first school of the “First Letters”. At the moment this building is administered by an order of nuns who in exchange for a donation will allow you to enter and admire the relics that they keep in this place. (Your donation will be used in charity).
Sightseeing Tour of Ciudad Vieja:
Here you will be able to appreciate the Church of the Immaculate Conception, with Baroque style. It was built in the XVIII century. The small village of San Miguel Escobar, jurisdiction of Ciudad Vieja, is believed to have been the second settlement of the City of Santiago de los Caballeros de
Guatemala.Sightseeing Tour of San Pedro Las Huertas:
This colorful little village during the winter has been threatened by the avalanches that descend from the Agua Volcano, being the most recent disaster the one that happened in 1969 that left buried numerous houses by the great amount of sand and volcanic stone that descended from this volcano. The earthquake of February 4th 1976 greatly affected this village, too.
The outstanding characteristic of this village is the Central Plaza with a beautiful public fountain which supplies potable water to the villagers and also has numerous washing places.
Your will also admire a beautiful cross carved in stone that rests on a sober and elegant limestone pedestal. Other interesting places to visit: the Municipal Palace, La Calle Real (royal street) that crosses the village from east to west and the Temple dedicated to the apostle San Pedro, built in 1672, whose façade still preserves the features of its Baroque style of the XVII century, with the espaldaña more elevated than the richly ornamented bell tower.
Macadamia Farm Tour:
This farm is dedicated to the plantation and processing of the macadamia nut. Here you will have a guided visit where you will learn the plantation process and the qualities of this appreciated nut. They also offer breakfasts where you will be able to eat some of the products elaborated with the macadamia nut.
Filadelfia Farm/Coffee Farm Tour:
It has the most modern machinery for the processing of coffee. They offer a complete tour with specialized guides that will take you in a journey of the process of coffee in
Guatemala.
After this we will return to the hotel to rest a little while and then we will have dinner, and why not? We will visit the Central Plaza that along the illuminated monuments become whimsical for the pictures.
Travel Lodge in Antigua.
Day 3: Continuing your
Guatemala Travel:
After breakfast we will get ready to travel towards the heart of the
Guatemala highlands, driving through incredibly colorful landscapes; indigenous people wearing their typical suits that shepherd their sheep and cows, hillsides planted with vegetables and flowers, towns that witnessed our history which is now captured in the paintings and crafts made by local artists.
Arriving to Panajachel village approximately at 10:00 a.m. and after short break begin our tour through the Atitlan Lake, to visit multicolored villages filled with tradition and charm.
Panajachel is a little village located in the shores of the most beautiful lake in the world, Atitlan Lake, which is surrounded by 12 villages (named like the 12 apostles) and by beautiful volcanoes such as Santiago, San Lucas Tolimán and San Pedro.
San Juan La Laguna Sightseeing Tour:
We will explore this eco paradise hidden in the heart of the central highland, living witness of the amazing cultural inheritance of Guatemala’s natives. One of the few Guatemalan artisan groups still using natural dyes, the Adimat women's cooperative is known for its dedication to maintaining traditional weaving practices.
This group of 25 women in the community of San Juan la Laguna produces popular goods such as scarves, yoga mat bags, hammocks, and placemats. Women collect the berries, bark and other materials they use to dye their products from the mountains overlooking Lake Atitlan, on the shores of which their community is located.
The Adimat cooperative has been recognized by various area organizations and government representatives for its support of local development initiatives. In particular, the group uses profits from its sales through Mercado Global to fund a scholarship program for orphans and other local children who would otherwise not be able to attend school. With the help of these scholarship recipients, the cooperative also organizes a monthly litter removal campaign in the community and along the shores of lake.
Santiago Atitlan Sightseeing Tour:
Santiago Atitlan is located on foot of the volcanoes Toliman and Atitlan and in front of the volcano San Pedro. Their residents belong to the ethnos Tz'utuhil and they still conserve their popular culture and traditions of the pre Hispanic times.
In this region of
Guatemala, you will be able to appreciate the typical suits in their entire splendor, such as in Santiago where men wear white pants at knee-length with lilac vertical lines, long sleeve shirts and a hat. Women wear white “huipiles” (tunics) with geometric drawings, a red girth and a beautiful headdress.
In Santiago we will visit Maximon, famous character of the Mayan spirituality
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that represents the duality: the well and the wrong and is “Great Grandfather” of all the people of Santiago's town.
At the present time it is worshipped as a pagan god by the natives, and it is represented carrying cigarette and liquor. This perverse" "saint's image is harbored in a pagan chapel in the town. Here we will have the opportunity to observe the rituals, petitions and offerings that the residents offer him.
Also, we will visit the Catholic Church where the Catholic rites mixed with Mayan rituals
Then we will move to San Pedro's town that is located also in the Riveras of the Atitlan Lake, in the skirts of the San Pedro volcano.
San Pedro La Laguna Sightseeing Tour:
San Pedro La Laguna is a well-known town because the local artists who greatly manifest the primitive painting, capturing in their paintings the daily life of these indigenous towns with their typical suits, traditions and flowers.
San Pedro is a spectacular place located in the skirts of the volcano of the same name and gives you the opportunity to do a photography tour and to take magnificent pictures of the lake.
Travel Lodge in
Panajachel.
Day 4: Continuing our
Guatemala Tour:
08:00 a.m. Departure Time toward to
Chichicastenango, here you will enjoy the multicolored market and their traditions. The magic that surrounds the ancient, indigenous commercial process in a mixture of scent of flowers and incense that jointly with villagers and astonished visitors turn the event into a magical moment.
It is time to eat and exchange experiences.
At 02:00 p.m. we will board our travel bus and head to
Antigua Guatemala.
Travel Lodge in
Antigua Guatemala.
Day 5: Adventure Tour and Travel toward the Maya Land:
07:00 a.m. We will depart towards Copan through the east part of the country, amidst a changing landscape going past the mild weather of Antigua and
Guatemala City until arriving at Chiquimula located in the east part of the country with its dry and warm weather.
Then we will travel towards El Florido where we will cross the border to enter Honduran territory and we will head to our hotel to rest awhile.
In the afternoon we will take our tour to Copan, accompanied by our expert guide who will lead us through the ceremonial center, the ball court, the hieroglyphic stairway and the acropolis where you will be astonished by the revelation of one of Copan’s best kept secret: the discovery of the Rosalila Temple which was hidden for centuries and that now shows us the greatness and pride of the Maya people.
After this we will have time to go shopping and have dinner.
Travel Lodge in Copan, Honduras.
Day 6: Continuing your
Guatemala Vacation Tour:
After breakfast we will head towards Izabal Lake, the biggest lake in
Guatemala, which is connected to the Atlantic Ocean through the Río Dulce.
A journey through colorful villages will lead us to the ancient Maya city of Quiriguá, located in the province of Izabal,
Guatemala. This site is characterized by its great sculptures, which are considered to be masterpieces of the Maya Culture.
According to the archaeologists, the last seven steles represent monumental orders from the last Maya kings of the classic period called Xul-Cielo and Xul-Jade.
The monuments were used by the kings as central points for religious celebrations and as special places for the promulgation of political propaganda by means of the presentation of extensive hieroglyphic texts and royalty. These sculptures are not only important as works of art, but also are important sources of iconography and are essential for the reconstruction of historical and political characters.
After our tour in Quiriguá we will travel to Río Dulce and we will check in the hotel of your election.
Lunch and free time for the rest of the day
Travel Lodge in
Rio Dulce.
Day 7: River Boat Tour:
We will watch the sunrise at
Río Dulce while having breakfast. After breakfast we will take a tour through the
Río Dulce River visiting the Castillo de San Felipe de Lara, fortress built by the Spaniards to protect the merchandise that arrived and left for Spain, and that was coveted by the pirates of the time.
Continue our journey going through the island of the birds, where we will have the opportunity to take pictures to some of the birds that inhabit this island.
Arriving at Livingston village and its Caribbean environment where we will enjoy a sightseeing tour through the main areas and we will finish having lunch-enjoying a traditional Garifuna dish.
After this we will go back to
Río Dulce and board our bus and head to Flores. A few kilometers from
Río Dulce we will find the border for the provinces of Izabal and Petén, where you will notice a change in the vegetation with a warm-humid climate.
Upon our arrival we will stay at a hotel in the beautiful island of Flores, located in the Lake Petén Itzá.
We will rest for a while and time for dinner.
Travel Lodge in Flores.
Day 8: Beginning of your Adventure Tour:
Wake up in the heart of the Mayan World. After breakfast we will board our vehicle and we will be transported towards
Yaxha National Park, where the Survivor series “The Mayan Empire” were filmed.
Yaxha archaeological site is located in the shores of the lake with the same name.
Walk through the causeways under the exuberant tropical forest where howling monkeys flood the environment with their roars to impress the females or to warn a male intruder in their herd.
Climb Maya temples that are accomplices of the photographers and offer wonderful views from top, and enjoy an unforgettable
Yaxha sunset tour.
After sunset we will go back to our hotel. You will have some free time to eat dinner in the restaurants located in the island of Flores, which offer a wide variety of typical dishes of the region, such as the White Fish (Pez Blanco) which is endemically to the lake. You can also find international dishes.
Good night.
Travel Lodge in Flores.
Day 9:
Tikal Adventure Tour:
After breakfast we will travel toward
Tikal National park where begin our guided tour through the paths and main areas of the most important city of the Mayan World.
Here you will find that nature and archaeology are wonderfully blended. You will be able to see abundant wildlife, the Mayan forest, and millennial temples, silent witnesses of the birth and splendor as well as the collapse of one of the most important civilizations in the world, experience all these in our Tour in
Tikal, the “City of the Voices”.
After the tour is time to get back to Mundo Maya International Airport, to take our flight to
Guatemala City and Antigua.
Travel Lodge in
Guatemala City.
Day 10:
Transfer to La Aurora international airport.
Your adventure in the Country of the Eternal Spring finishes.
Nice trip.
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