Horse Riding

My friend Linda has been coming to Antigua for 20 years. Almost every morning she goes horse back riding. After a lot of deliberation, I decided that I had to go with her and give this dangerous and uncomfortable pastime another go! My history with horses is not positive and  they usually don't like me- a reciprocal arrangement. However, I wanted to see the hills around Antigua ...

We left at 8am and caught a "chicken bus" ( local transport) to San Juan Obispo - a little town about 20 minutes away. The horse farm is owned by 2 British eccentrics who have roamed the world and came to Guatemala years ago (this is a recurring theme here). Fred who accompanied me is a very sprightly 82 year old and Paula looks after the horses and their 11 rescue dogs!   

 

All geared up in boots, britches, and helmet.

Fred giving me last minute instructions. Notice the mounting steps in the background - a great invention for grannies! Paula and some of the dogs watching on. I rode a beautiful, well behaved horse called Cupaca

We rode through coffee plantations and farms where they grow coffee, beans , flowers....everything on very arid land. We were lucky to see Volcano Fuego ( left) puffing on a bright clear day. Antigua is 5000 feet altitude and we were way above the city.

Riding through town on the cobble stoned streets - a bit rough on the hooves but sounded great - clippety clop.

 

Fred chatted all the way about politics, history, the future of the world etc... but also gave me a thorough riding lesson including trotting and cantering. The horses wear those pretty hats to keep the flies away from their ears and eyes.

Graduation

Today I graduated from Spanish School! My teacher Gladys and I celebrated by going to a lovely cafe for coffee and cake as part of our last lesson. I have been thoroughly enjoying it and am going to continue studying with my "Easy Spanish Exerecises" book that I bought last week and hope to do more when I return home - maybe an ACE course. Learning a language is so good for the brain.

A Day in Antigua

Started my day at 5am watching Senors Nadal and Federa on the sat TV, sipping a hot cuppa (I have a coffee maker in my room). Breakfast at 7am was french toast with maple syrup. Every meal has been different- breakfasts can be pancakes, omelettes, beans, fruit ....of course lots of coffee.
 I then watched my friend Linda arrange flowers. Linda is a teacher from Toronto who comes here every year for horse riding and Spanish lessons. On Fridays she goes to the market at 6am and brings back flowers to make the house where we all share our meals look beautiful!

I am improving with my Spanish lessons and try to do 2 hours homework each morning, plus my 2 hour lesson in the afternoon.

I came up to the Central Park this morning to get my emails and spoke to a guy from Seattle and 3 young boys who were polishing his shoes. I took photos and so will get one printed for each and see if I can find the young hombres later around the park. Shoe cleaning is very popular here as most men wear leather shoes.

 Here are Carlos, Guillermo and Daniel at work. David is from Seattle and brings groups of teenagers here each year to assist with indigenous programs

 My friends Linda and Caroline starting work on the flowers.

Arranging the flowers in vases. Fresh flowers are huge here in every home, restaurant, hotel- the flower market is breathtaking. 

 These lovely ladies were in the park early to catch the touristos

 This is the old church next to where I am living called San Jose de Viejo.

At night they have weddings and  receptions inside the church and decorate it beautifully.

 Found this garden yesterday while expolorong with Linda.

This afternoon I`m having my first salsa lesson with Martin a flashy young dude who does New York style dancing so we will see how that goes! I have also started going to the gym as running on the treadmill is so much better than on these cobblestoned-streets. They had a marathon here last week - don't know how they did it!

Settling In

This morning I moved (again) but this time to a great location across the road from the yoga school and 50 metres from the Spanish Language school.
It is in a gated compound called Rosaria and run by Dona Olga. I have a large room + bathroom and verandah out onto a delightful garden. For the $18 per day I also get 3 meals cooked by the lovely Francesca. I had a yummy chicken dish for lunch (the large meal of the day) and am expecting just soup & salad at 7pm tonight for dinner. Its called a home-stay and other gringos are staying here, mostly doing language lessons at the numerous language schools here in Antigua. At lunch today was a young  Aussie woman,  here to volunteer in an orphanage while she learns Spanish during her Uni break and a doctor from Kansas City here for a 2 week vacation and spanish lessons. It is so nice not having to go out and get food or sit in restaurants every night- much more like being at home, but someone cleans my room everyday and cooks all my food!
Last night I had dinner with a group of ladies from 5 different countries and almost all are here doing good work for various organisations - two assist in the local hospital's children's ward, another began the family planning NGO and was a diplomat here in Guatemala City in her previous life.. a fascinating group of women.

 This is my apartment on the left. 

 

This is San Jose Vielo Language School where I am doing my Spanish lessons. You can see the little classrooms with a white board , a table covered in butchers paper ( great idea for tutoring) 2 chairs, books pens etc

This is a view of my street which is 5th Avenido south. All the properties in Antigua are behind walls. I can always find my new house if I head for the volcano.

I went to my first yoga class on Sunday morning - great teacher from NZ and a fantastic class- will certainly go back regularly.

Today I had my first Spanish class with Gladys my professor. I have enrolled for 5 two hour lessons each afternoon and. I have one-on-one lessons in a little classroom within a beautiful garden.-there must have been about 20 lessons all going on at the same time. Today Gladys & I got to know each other - similar age, both divorced, grown up kids etc .It was great having all my family photos and videos on my I Phone so we could discuss it all in Spanish. Some people do 4 hours per day but 2 is heaps for this old brain at the moment.

Antigua

After only a few days I have fallen in love with this place. Every where I go is an adventure and everyone I meet is interesting. I went to a book store looking for a Spanish dictionary and was having a coffee in the adjacent cafe and met a lady from the US who gave me some great clues about where to go and what to see. She has lived here for 19 years and does massage from her home. So following her recommendation I went to the 5 star hotel called Santo Domingo which is regarded as the best hotel in Central America. It is set in a 15th century monestry which is also a museum. The spectacular gardens had toucans in trees and excavations are continuing in the grounds. I then caught a trolley to the top of the hill to a botanical sculpture garden with fabulous views of the volcaonoes. The sculptures were very modern and reflected the Spanish artist Salvador Dali, a favourite of mine.

 The Arch is a famous landmark here , notice the cobble stones.
Antigua is a UNESCO World Heritage Site

 Antigua is full of old churches that were all damaged in a huge earthquake in the 1717.

 A modern sculpture - its Trixie again Clare!!

 This is one of the 3 volcanoes that surrund Antigua.This one is called Fuego ( fire) and as you can see puffs pumes of smoke every day... 

This morning I had my cooking class which was so much fun and interesting. I had to do all the hard work like chopping onions and carrots and rolling the tortillas which reinforced again why cooking is not my favourite past time; but I thoroughly enjoyed the meal at the end, the glass of vino tinto, the company and the visit to the market later accompanied by the gorgeous French Canadian chef Pierre.

Working hard with Chef Pierre- notice his gorgeous chef´s jacket with Guatemalan trim ( I am ordering 2 for a couple of chefs I know back in Aus!!)

Los Parque Central where everyone meets and watches everyone else or listens to local musicians ...

I have purchased some traditional fabrics from a stall that I found with ladies from a women's coop funded by an NGO. So I am going to visit their village (San Juan la Laguna) next week which is up at Lake Atitlan and maybe do a weaving class. My other project is to enrol for some Spanish lesson following  a recommendation of a good Spanish School from a guy I cooked with this morning. Word of mouth is certainly the way to find out about things in this town and tomorrow I have been invited to a supper at 5.30 for a group of "ladies of a certain age" which sounds perfect for me. I am thoroughly enjoying travelling on my own but as some of you well know, I love a good chat!
I have moved back to Las Maria's Hostel as the other one was a bit noisy and this one has far superior breakfasts of eggs & beans with salsa & sour cream or plates of fruit & toast.
As I came into town this arvo to get more money out of the bank, (those Quetzales just seem to slip through my fingers at 8 to the $AU), I noticed that they are setting up for a music concert in the Parque Central tonight so that should be fun.

3 Countries in 1 Day

Belize- El Salvador - Guatemala
My stop in Belize City was interesting. The 3 Sisters Guest house turned out to be a real dive in a very unsafe area. I walked around and found an old colonial looking hotel overlooking the water and transferred there - the first place gave me my money back except for $5B that was very good of the lady. What a joy to find air con, a large bath tub and satellite TV. I went out and bought 2 cold beers and a bag of chips and watched the Aussie open tennis. Then I went up to the bar and had a vodka tonic and ordered chicken chow mien which they brought to my rooom- I think they call that room service - I wouldn't know..

The Chateau Hotel in in Belize City- very windy . My room up on right.

So yesterday I flew from Belize to el Salvador and then onto Guatemala City As soon as I exited the customs area a guy approached saying " mini bus to Antigua?" 1 hour later after we had climbed the hills we arrived in this most beautiful city. All the streets are cobble stones - rough on the feet- I only have thongs as I sent my shoes back with a huge box of stuff that I posted home. Will also have to go buy some warm clothes too as the temps down to 15 C after dark and in the morning.
I stayed in a beautiful b&b last night- see pics , and have just moved to chez Daniel which is also so stylish, clean and the best views of the volcanoes that surround antigua. I'm sure I'm going to be super comfortable here and am looking forward to the French breakfasts.

My garden at Marias Hotel

 My room at Marias Hotel. Note the collection of crucifixes and candles- very beautiful and stylish. 

The view from my door at Chez Daniel. This is the Volcano that overlooks Antigua

This lovely family allowed me to take their photo which I have had printed for them. The baby girl in the zebra suit attracted me of course...They sell their wares all day in the street. The big girl has been to school this morning-  I asked !!

The busy market

Last night after I had settled in I went to a lovely restaurant recommended by Melina my NBF, and had pepina pollo- guatemalan chicken, drank some red wine and listened to great Cuban revolutionary music played & sung by a guitarist and drummer. I have booked in for a 3 hour cooking class on Saturday morning to learn how to cook that dish and also chili rellanos- my favourite Spanish dish.

Big Changes

So the big news of the week is that I have jumped ship!! Things had turned pear-shaped on the boat due to the arrival of new crew which would have made it too crowded for my liking, so I made the big decision to get off in Belize and continue my adventures on land.
So here I am at Cay Caulker, a small sand and coral island inside the barrier reef of Belize. All a bit of a culture shock as the Belize people are so different- a real mix of Creoles, descended from African slaves and British pirates; and also mestizos- people of mixed Euro and Central American heritage; and the indigenous Garrifuna of Mayan descent- a true melting pot.
This island is known for its diving and snorkeling trips where you can dive the Blue Hole and swim with the hammerheads; but really, it is a back-packer pick-up joint  (bit like BB), only the black dudes are doing really well. All a bit seedy - even the little boys are crude to us older white women- I had to pull in my teacher horns yesterday as I cycled past a group of boys playing soccer who called out some quite rude stuff!
I am staying in an old wooden Queenslander- type hotel right on the beach called the Tropical. I have a large, clean room with 2 huge beds, a bath and ceiling fans and a deck with views overlooking the lagoon and the reef for $40/night. There are only 3 streets on the island running parallel and you can see the ocean from both ways in some spots; so my 1 hour bike ride was enough to explore the whole island. The best thing is the street food vendors - lots of bar-b-que stalls set up all along the beach front. Last night I had a great meal of blackened barracuda steaks, with garlic vegies and yellow rice. I followed this later with a piece of chocolate coconut pie from a lady who bakes all day and then sells her cakes outside the picket fence of my hotel.

 My room is upstairs on the right

 View from my balcony with hammock.

Typical street scene on Cay Caulker, after a huge tropical storm last night that turned the island into a white sand puddle

I am leaving here tomorrow morning on the ferry to Belize City and staying there in a a guest house called The Three Sisters (why did I choose that one!). In a few days, I will fly up to Guatemala City and bus onto Antigua - a city known for its Spanish language schools, heritage architecture and volcanoes. I have found a yoga school there where I will spend some time recuperating from the past few weeks. For those who know me well, all will be revealed on my return over a few glasses of vino; for those who don't - you can read the details in my soon to be released book called " The Travels & Travails of Ali Dreyer" .... more later

Isla Mujeres

We are still enjoying our time here on Isla Mujeres- a very comfortable safe place. The locals are exceptionally friendly. In this part of Mexico, the people are of Mayan heritage and are they short! I was standing behind a granny the other day and she was just up to my shoulder- that would make her about 4’6’’. The locals are also getting ready for 3 Kings day tomorrow, 6th Jan and so there are huge round cakes for sale everywhere. This day marks the 12th and last day of the Xmas celebrations.

Paddy has spent the past week trying to fix the freezer and finally gave up yesterday and called in a local refrigerator guy who is going to replace the compressor today – all up about $350, which is a great price.

I have been keeping busy reading my tome (Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy) and also started some sewing & knitting projects. It was interesting finding the “merceria” as I had to ask several ladies using my best body language and limited Spanish where I could buy needles, thread, wool  etc. I was finally sent to a little tienda who stocked almost everything I wanted except material, so I am using an old pillow slip to do my embroidery sampler for Obelia, my 8 year old granddaughter, so we can have sewing lessons on my return.

We are ready to start heading south to Belize and will probably leave on Saturday( it is bad luck to leave  port on a Friday) . We will stop at Cozumel, and maybe one or two other islands off the east coast of Mexico before entering Belize. It is famous for its coral reefs, diving and snorkeling.

 lots of Iguanas here
 

 Some of the colourful houses on the island

The best fish tacos I have ever had! The fish was grouper washed down with a mohito- great lunch!

Feliz Ano Nuevo

New Years Eve

We started our day with a snorkel on a wreck about 300 metres from the boat- heaps of pretty fish & coral. We then decided to do the Cancun shopping run so caught the ferry over, taxi to Walmart, Home Depot & Auto Zone. Back late afternoon and went to Paraiso Marina where some cruisers were enjoying early cocktails and Paella, cooked by the French/Spanish owner of the place.

We then went into the main square in town where there were over a hundred table settings with white cloths and beautifully decorated. These had been booked by the local families but nothing was going to happen till 11.30 pm.  As midnight approached, the throng started to gather for the festivities, so we sat on the church steps and could hear the mass inside. Once that was over, the crowd emptied onto the square and at midnight the fireworks started. Of course the crowd was also full of tourists in all sorts of party attire and stages of inebriation.  An amazing Mexican pop/dance band started playing so we moved closer to the stage and ended up dancing in the mosh pit till well after 1am – not bad for an old fogie and a grandma!