1st day in Guate

After sick passengers, rush hour on the runway, missing my connecting flight in Miami and staying the night in Gloria Estefan land, I finally made it to Guatemala on Tuesday.

I know this for sure because there was huge sign for Hooters that said "Welcome to Guatemala." You can count on those hooters girls for anything!

Poor Guatemala City, it has such a bad reputation. Most travelers just land here and then immediately leave for their next destination. I'm glad I decided to enjoy the day here and wait until the next day to head out for Quetzaltenango.

I met a girl from Philadelphia staying at the same bed and breakfast, who coincidently was also headed to Quetzaltenango the next day, and we quickly became friends. We decided to explore some of the capital. It seems that our options by that point were rather limited- we ended up at the zoo, a very impressive and well-kept zoo at that.

It took a while, but eventually, amidst all the Mc Donald's, Pollo Campero, and other fast food chains, we found a place to get some typical food- beans, plantains and of course, Gallo beer.

At 6:30 it started to get dark so we quickly made our way back to the B&B. Hmmm, we knew what bus to take, but really had no idea where to get off. A woman on the bus said she was getting off where we were and that she would show us the way. She did more than that, we talked for a bit, she showed us her lovely house and then showed us the way back to the B&B.

It couldn't have been a better first day in Guate: monkeys, frijoles and amazingly warm people.