Guatemala

“You are taking your son, where?” and “Is it even safe?” were just a few of the statements I received via text or conversation when I mentioned off-handedly that Singh and I were planning a trip to Guatemala. Dotted with volcanoes and forested highlands, this central American country has stolen my heart. I can easily say it is one of the most beautiful places I have been to so far in my travels. As for safety, I felt much more at ease walking around the cobblestone streets of colonial Antigua than I ever did riding the CTA to my crash pad in Chicago.

Our trip started off with a bit of a hiccup, though, as Hurricane Matthew decided to close the FLL and MCO airports the day before we were supposed to fly to our exotic destination. Normally not a huge deal for ticketed passengers, but for those of us playing the non-rev stand-by game, it was a bit of a stressor. Cancelled flights the day before always translate to full and overbooked flights the next day. And that was no different in this case. Our original plan was to fly from MCO-FLL-GUA on my airline, only paying the $48 dollars in tax when flying home to the US. Well, unsurprisingly, the early morning flight to Fort Lauderdale was oversold with at least ten on the standby list, all more senior than me. So the early morning flight turned into an even earlier morning drive. It made no difference to Singh as he slept the entire three-hour drive down the turnpike. I used to be based in FLL, and I was painfully reminded on that long drive why I transferred.

Once in my old airport, we went through security and waited at the gate. Despite a minor three-year-old melt down, we were able to snag the last open seats on the tight flight. The short hop from the tip of Florida to Central America was uneventful. Singh slept until the wheels dropped for landing and he was mesmerized as he looked upon rugged and unfamiliar tropical terrain out the Airbus window. I, too, was excitedly gazing out, wide-eyed and anxious to explore someplace new.

My main concern coming to Guatemala was the visa situation for my son. He’s adopted and isn’t a US citizen yet, meaning that he needs a visa for just about any country we visit, despite having a green card. Thai passports are basically useless, by the way. Supposedly for Guatemala we could buy a visa upon arrival for $24, so I was a bit skeptical as I walked up to the customs counter. The lady grabbed just my passport, took out the custom form and handed it back sans stamp and without even touching Singh’s. She waved me through despite me insisting on a stamp and showing her the maroon Thailand passport. She continued to wave me through and I honestly didn’t know what to say in Spanish about the situation, so I walked on through. In hindsight, this could have been because I had non-reved in my uniform (as I typically do) and the customs official thought I had just worked the flight…with my three-year old son. They must have different rules about flying in GUA.

We had arrived in Guatemala City, but that wasn’t our final destination. I’ve read enough about travels through this city to know that this wasn’t where I wanted to stay for our 4-day visit.  Many people feared for our safety during our trip and I would have agreed with them had I planned on walking around this city at night waving hundred dollar bills. So we hired a car to pick us up and drive us an hour and a half to the colorful city of Antigua for around $32usd. The shuttle was clean and waiting on us as we walked out into the chanting crowd of taxi drivers. A stress-free option for anyone traveling with a child and so much easier than trying to navigate the taxi scene.

Antigua is an absolutely gorgeous city. Bright and colorful buildings line the colonial cobblestone streets. Horse-drawn carriages mingle with cars as this quiet city sleeps in the shadow of a nearby towering volcano. The shuttle dropped us off at our hotel, Casa Santa Domingo, located just a few blocks from the city center. An old monastery turned hotel, Casa Santa Domingo was absolutely fantastic. Not much to look at from the outside, once you step inside the outer walls you are transported to a completely different world. Candles frame the brick walkways and luscious courtyards welcome you with wild Macaws and tropical foliage. The lobby is open and airy, requiring you to enter by walking under a tunnel of flowering tree branches and vines. Our room wasn’t ready when we arrived, so we dropped off our luggage and explored the labyrinth of ancient hallways and corridors. I booked our room for three nights at $100 per night via ID90 travel. A website with discounts available to airline crewmembers, ID90 allowed us to stay at this fantastic hotel as normally the rates run between $250-375 per night during the high season. I love my flight attendant job but it certainly doesn’t pay me enough to stay someplace at those high prices! So thank you, ID90!

Singh had an absolute blast running around the courtyards and waving at parrots. Being a former monastery, the cool factor of this hotel shot through the roof once we saw that there was an actual crypt on the grounds. As in right around the corner from your room were catacombs and tombs you could walk through with real skeletons just chilling in the dark. Both Singh and I were beside ourselves with excitement. I’m not sure how many fieldtrips he went on at the orphanage, but I doubt he experienced anything like this. Every other word out of his mouth was either “whoa!” or “hey!” as we climbed down spiral staircases and crawled through tight tunnels.

We weren’t disappointed in our room, either. What looked to be a two-room suite, Singh immediately jumped on the king sized bed while I admired the Spanish-style fireplace and cute balcony. After changing out of my uniform, we set out to explore the city. We walked a few blocks to see the famous archway, took a few photos, and browsed the local artisans along the tight sidewalks. I stopped in a local hole-in-the wall to sample some Guatemalan rum and wasn’t disappointed. When in Rome, right?

For dinner that night we ate at the hotel restaurant that was half inside, half outside. A tree grew through the floor and roof of the restaurant, it’s weeping branches hanging over our vegan dinners. Candles lit the tables as we finished our food and gazed outside at the surrounding mountains and volcanoes. Although he is only three, it definitely seemed like he enjoyed the mountain vistas—quite a change from the flat scenery of Central Florida. As the sun set we headed to bed, looking forward to an early start the following morning.

Your best alarm clock is a toddler. For some reason they wake up at the same time every morning, despite being an hour behind your normal time zone. The case was no different with Singh, and he was up bright and early as the sun rose over the distant volcanoes. Today’s adventure was taking us to Pacaya, a volcano about 45 minutes away. We met our tour guide, Miguel, and loaded into his van. Booked through Viator.com, another great discounted travel tour site, we were getting basically a private climb up the volcano for just $75. And Singh was free. Unbelievable! Guatemalan Tours was the company we were working with and they were just fantastic.

The ride was a bit bumpy through the mountains but the views out the window did not disappoint. I’m not ashamed to admit that I haven’t seen many volcanoes in real life. Kilimanjaro is probably the best example I can think of for seeing one “in the wild” and that volcano has been quiet for centuries. The magma-filed mountains that we were driving through had all been active within the last ten years. Pacaya, the volcano we were set to climb had last erupted in 2010.

Advertised as a stressful climb accomplished in roughly 3 hours, I didn’t think twice about booking this trip. Yeah I had a toddler with me, but so what? I brought along my little backpack for him to sit in, put on my hiking boots and followed Miguel up the trail. Mountain climbing and trekking is a passion of mine and a trip isn’t complete without some adventure in the woods or summiting some mountain. They offer horses you can rent to take you up to the top, but we wanted none of it. Singh did enjoy nuzzling the playful ponies as we started our climb and I’m pretty sure he gave them some of his gummies. I do regret not bringing my trekking poles, though, as having a toddler on your back who likes to wiggle around can throw off your balance as you hike at a steep incline. But man, was this climb awesome! Even Singh had a blast as we climbed up through the tropical trees and out into the open plateau on top with fantastic views of the crater. In the past, you could actually climb down into the crater to see the red lava, but due to the recent eruptions the best we could do was watch smoke billow out of the top. Still crazy awesome.  And the climb wasn’t complete once we reached the top. Miguel pulled out a bag of marshmallows, walked us over to an outcropping of stones and we began to roast them over the heat emanating from below our feet. I’m unsure who was more excited about this, Singh or me. Might have been me because we had vegan marshmallows and we were roasting them OVER LAVA ROCKS. Can anyone say bucket list?

Miguel insisted that Singh climb a bit instead of ride on my back and he absolutely loved it. Our guides definitely earned a fantastic tip because they walked with Singh all the way down the mountain, and there were a few times where he decided to just kind of hang on Miguel instead of walk, but our guide did just a fantastic job. The decent took around 30 minutes and before we knew it, we were back at the van. We rode through the valley of volcanoes back to Antigua while being serenaded by a snoring Singh. That night we opted for room service and some Disney movies on the ipad as we failed lighting the fireplace.

Our final full day in Antigua started early as Miguel picked us up to travel two hours to visit Lake Atitlan. Since the drive was a bit long, we stopped halfway at a small restaurant in the middle of the mountains. There we had fresh fruit and freshly made tortillas. I may never eat regular tortillas again because these were divine. Couple that with the freshly ground Guatemalan coffee, all for just a few bucks, and I was in heaven.

As we drove closer to the lake, we were greeted with stunning vistas and unbelievable landscapes. Crossing over the last mountain ridge you can see the entire lake, which is the deepest in Central America. Created by the blast crater of a super volcano, it is now home to two towering volcanoes with several small towns dotted along the shores. We drove to the bottom and boarded a tiny boat to ride to the town of San Juan, known for their fabric dyes. Did I mention that Singh loves boats and planes? He eagerly looked out over the water as we sped across the glass-like lake. I couldn’t stop looking at the surrounding volcanoes. Miguel told us all about the creation of the lake and how it’s beauty has inspired many artists and writers over the years. The most notable, he said, was how the author of The Little Prince was inspired to write the story after living off the shores for several years of Lake Atitlan.

Our little boat pulled up to the tiny dock of San Juan and we disembarked to explore the city. The tiny village was built on the hillside of a towering volcano that was obscured by the passing clouds. We walked through tiny shops and bought a few trinkets and coffee to take with us on our travels home. Singh enjoyed some snacks as we walked around the sleeping city. We were exploring Guatemala in the off season, which made it affordable and enjoyable. I hate crowds and throngs of tourists. It felt like we had the whole city to ourselves for just the tour price of $75. Again, you just can’t beat that.

Our journey back to Antigua started with the bumpiest boat ride to the van. There are no shock absorbers on these tiny boats so you feel every wave and every whitecap. The waters may have been smooth on our way to San Juan, but they were very chopping on the return trip. I held onto Singh a bit tighter on our adventure back across the lake. After a quick lunch of noodles (Singh’s favorite dish) and the best hearts of palm salad I have ever eaten, we hopped back in the van and journeyed to Antigua. This time instead of being serenaded with snores, we were entertained with toddler songs of “Happy Birthday” and “If you are happy and you know it.”

Both of us crashed hard once we got back to the room. Another round of room service completed our last night in this beautiful Central American country.

Our shuttle picked us up early the following morning and we started our journey back to the states. Oh yeah, and remember how they didn’t stamp my passport or issue a visa for Singh? Yeah that proved extremely problematic when we were trying to leave. We had to go through several checkpoints and each time we had to go through the same song and dance and explain why we didn’t have stamps or a visa. Lesson? ALWAYS GET YOUR PASSPORT STAMPED.

We flew back via FLL since that’s where my car was and Singh was done with the travel process by the time I pulled into our driveway in Orlando. A three-hour flight and a three-hour drive is about all a toddler can take before he’s just done. And thankfully he was done after I parked and could take him right up to bed.

Looking back at my short trip to Guatemala with a toddler, I can easily recommend this adventure to anyone looking to take his or her child on an attainable trip outside the US. Singh and I shared such an incredible bond as we climbed up that volcano that I know all I want to do is travel the world with this kid by my side. At home we both get easily frustrated with each other but when we travel we are on the same team. We both love experiencing new things together and I know he feels the love I have for him as I do what I can to show him the world. And as I sit back and reflect on my short trip I realize that not only has Singh stolen my heart, a piece of it was stolen by Guatemala and I hope we make it back there soon so we can explore even more of this beautiful country.