Guatemala, of the Nahuatl: Coactimaltlan: “Territory very hoisted”, or “Country of many forests”, is little habitual a tourist destiny that even satisfies the experienced traveller more providing unforgettable experiences to him, because the life of its people is continued seeming to whom took its ancestors before the arrival of the European and their landscapes are of a beauty without equal.
The country is located to the south of Mexico and the west of Honduras and El Salvador, just in center of the American continent. Count with more than 11.000.000 inhabitants and includes 22 Mayan ethnic groups, along with the judeo-spanish population (racially mixed) and a community garifuna (of Caribbean black). Its official language is the Spanish, nevertheless are spoken 23 additional languages, 21 of Mayan origin, 1 garifuna and 1 xinca. The climate is warm more in the coasts and valleys and tempering in lifted earth. The currency is the quetzal. The quetzal is also the national bird of Guatemala, freedom symbol.
Pre-Columbian archeology, Spanish colonial art, the colorful crafts, Caribbean, markets, supervisory celebrations, garifunas, Lagos, mangrove swamps, Mayan world, indigenous the mountain Pacific Ocean, landscapes, processions, towns, tropical forest, ancestral Easter, suits and textiles, traditions, volcanos,… this is only a small summary of the cultural and natural patrimony that offers this wonderful country.
You can discover the indigenous plateau: throughout the mountain range, from the borders of the lake of Atitlán to volcanos of Quetzaltenango, happening through the markets of Chichicastenango, San Francisco the Stop, Zunil, Almolonga and Totonicapán. Before flying to Tikal, it would be necessary to lose itself by the streets of the Old one, that were capital of the Post of captain-general of Guatemala. And in the return way, the best thing is to take a rest in the coast from the Caribbean, Livingston or the bay of Amatique.
If it is had more time, it is forced to visit Ceibal and Aguateca, immersed in the tropical forest of the Petén; Quiriguá, where are the Mayan wakes more discharges; and Copán, in Honduras: masterpieces of the sculpture. And also the coast of the Pacific: Nebaj, Cobán, Sweet River, Yaxchilán, Yaxhá, extensions to Belize, Honduras, the famous Mayan Route Guatemala - Mexico…
Its incomparable geography allows the traveller to give strolls on foot or in bicycle, car, to horse, as well as to dive or to make passages in canoe as much as it desires to him. But most captivating of this country they are its people who with their friendly and helpful character turn to Guatemala into a very special site.