People in Ireland warned me that Buenos Aires was very dangerous, then when I was in Buenos Aires people warned about Brazil, Sao Paulo about Rio, Rio about Mexico and so on. The problem with Guatemala City was that everyone warned me about it, even Guatemalans. I ended up spending over a week there and really enjoyed it. I think if I had been staying at a hostel I would have done like most other backpackers and left after 1 night as I could see why it is considered so dangerous.
Almost every business in Guatemala City has private security for protection. They all have shotguns, its a strange sight at first but eventually you get used to seeing shotguns everywhere. What makes it stranger is that some of the security guards are only teenagers, some aren't wearing uniforms but all of them are armed generally with have shotguns. So far I've not been brave enough to take a photo of them.
Instead of a hostel I was staying with a couchsurfer. He runs an English school so I was helping out at his classes everyday, mainly having conversations with his students in English. It was a great opportunity to get to know some local people and see a different side to Guatemala city. It was also interesting to be helping them learn my native language while I was trying to learn their language. I had the luxury of living in a very good neighborhood, having my own room and having Harold (my host) drive me everywhere. Generally I use public transport but I'd be advised by a lot of people that it wasn't so safe in Guatemala City so having the use of car for my stay was really useful. Later in Antigua I read an article about the chicken buses in Guatemala City and why they are so dangerous. According to the article 120 bus drivers were killed in 2009. See below:
Harold was hosting two other CS'ers when I was there so he ended up showing us around the city and taking us to places that would be have difficult as regular tourists. The most memorable of which was a popular bar that had live music every Thursday. Guatemalans like to sing along to music so as soon as the band started playing their first song the audience start singing and this continued for the rest of the night.
After English class on Friday we did a trip to Pacaya with some of the students. Pacaya is an active volcano that was dormant for a century until it erupted violently in 1965 and has been erupting continuously since then. The last eruption was in May 2010. Previously it was possible to get close to the crater and at times see streams of lava flowing but since the erruption they have imposed some rules mainly that it is only possible to climb the volcano with a guide. It was disappointing not to see any lava but I'm not sure if my converse would have survived. The heat from the volcano was pretty intense at times and has been known to melt some peoples shoes.
Almost every business in Guatemala City has private security for protection. They all have shotguns, its a strange sight at first but eventually you get used to seeing shotguns everywhere. What makes it stranger is that some of the security guards are only teenagers, some aren't wearing uniforms but all of them are armed generally with have shotguns. So far I've not been brave enough to take a photo of them.
Instead of a hostel I was staying with a couchsurfer. He runs an English school so I was helping out at his classes everyday, mainly having conversations with his students in English. It was a great opportunity to get to know some local people and see a different side to Guatemala city. It was also interesting to be helping them learn my native language while I was trying to learn their language. I had the luxury of living in a very good neighborhood, having my own room and having Harold (my host) drive me everywhere. Generally I use public transport but I'd be advised by a lot of people that it wasn't so safe in Guatemala City so having the use of car for my stay was really useful. Later in Antigua I read an article about the chicken buses in Guatemala City and why they are so dangerous. According to the article 120 bus drivers were killed in 2009. See below:
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| Guatemala News Article |
Harold was hosting two other CS'ers when I was there so he ended up showing us around the city and taking us to places that would be have difficult as regular tourists. The most memorable of which was a popular bar that had live music every Thursday. Guatemalans like to sing along to music so as soon as the band started playing their first song the audience start singing and this continued for the rest of the night.
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| Live music in Guatemala City |
After English class on Friday we did a trip to Pacaya with some of the students. Pacaya is an active volcano that was dormant for a century until it erupted violently in 1965 and has been erupting continuously since then. The last eruption was in May 2010. Previously it was possible to get close to the crater and at times see streams of lava flowing but since the erruption they have imposed some rules mainly that it is only possible to climb the volcano with a guide. It was disappointing not to see any lava but I'm not sure if my converse would have survived. The heat from the volcano was pretty intense at times and has been known to melt some peoples shoes.
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| Climbing Pacaya |
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| The fog was pretty bad |
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| This was where my shoes started to get very hot! |
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| Group photo near the summit |
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