Today I visited Monterrico, Guatemala for some fun in the sun! Monterrico is on Guatemala’s Pacific coast and sports black volcanic sand. My teacher mentioned she had been and that it was nice, and the shuttle from Antigua to Monterrico cost a grand total of $20. Cheap, cheap, cheap.
So at 8:00am Brian, Kristine, Jen and I were ready to depart for the beach! Bags in hand, sunglasses on, and bathing suits ready to be used. To get from Antigua to Monterrico takes approximately two hours and having my iPod was especially useful to pass the time. Especially when my bus-mates were all trying to snooze, nursing a hangover, or taking photos. And I must admit the drive really was gorgeous, in particular just seeing how people in more rural areas live their lives. Which I found particularly fascinating. We passed by highway side tamale stands, slums, brown rivers, shipping container yards, and palm trees!
I’m not going to lie, as soon as we reached the point where you could feel the change in humidity from inland to coastal I was practically bouncing up and down! Mostly because I just could not get over the novelty of being so close to the ocean with only a two hour bus ride. As we neared the coast, the shops and houses appeared both more impressive (i.e. expensive) and yet shabby too. I don’t have any photos of this, so you’ll just have to take my word for it.
In particular these houses had coconut trees, livestock running around, and thatched roofs. All of which kept me enthralled for the remaining minutes of our ride. So when we finally arrived at El Resaurante Calle Real in Monterrico (our drop off and pick up point)
I didn’t even end up eating breakfast this morning, opting instead to get some extra sleep. Also we didn’t have the glorious cooking of Gladys to feed us. By the time I arrived I was ready to eat. So we stopped at the drop off restaurant to enjoy a mid morning breakfast. For me that meant some amazing papaya and banana smoothies to ease my hunger.
While eating I was entertained by this wee little Guatemaltico boy who was really entertained by chairs for some reason. Perhaps the best part was when he grabbed a jug of milk from the fridge and proudly walked it into the kitchen, literally two seconds later we saw the Mother bring the jug back outside. I couldn’t help but laugh.
After finally getting fed and entertained, I was definitely ready to hit the sand. Luckily, it was overcast. I say this because in case you hadn’t thought of this, like I didn’t, black sand is insanely hot! I mean even with overcast weather, the sand was incredibly hot until you hit the water. And when I say hot, I mean nearly burning your feet hot if you weren’t wearing shoes. So as we all winced to the beach we witnessed some of the biggest waves I have seen to date. Not that I’ve seen many, but these 5 foot waves were rather impressive to the uninitiated.
The waves were like 20 feet in the water and were so powerful that you didn’t want to go more than 8 feet in due to the incredible undertow. Brian entertained himself by digging a hole to find the water as well as semi-burying himself in sand. I assisted in completing the burial.
All in all, I think we managed to spend like two hours just enjoying the beach and waves until hunger once again attacked. By this time though, it was around one o’clock and it was definitely felt on our feet. The black sand was even hotter than before, if that is even possible and the clouds had melted away. This meant that without shoes your feet were almost guaranteed to feel uncomfortable and almost at the point of nerve damage.
The locals definitely got a kick out of watching us try to sprint in the sand in search of a beach-side restaurant. Jen had heard of a place from her teacher called “Johnny’s Place”, so we had to ask around to try to find it. In the end we did, but it was the opposite direction we had set out on to find a piece of beach. This meant we had to walk quite a distance in the hot sand. It was definitely a happy moment when my feet hit concrete again and I didn’t have to endure any hot sand. I have never been happier to step onto concrete.
We had lunch here under the thatched roof enjoying the sea breeze and the sound of the ocean creeping through. Although we definitely were getting the stink eye from the waitress for some reason. Perhaps she didn’t appreciate the fact that we were all perspiring profusely in the heat. Or that we, or rather I, was covered in sand. Jen snuck off into the hotel portion of “Johnny’s Place” to have a shower, the rest of us were not as bold.
After lunch I enjoyed an afternoon siesta in the sofa’s off to the side of the restaurant. I had barely started playing my iPod before I found myself deep asleep. Before I knew it Brian was trying to wake me up to catch our beach. Our gang of temporary beach bums now had to return to the reality of Antigua and Spanish classes the next day.
Once again hungry we found ourselves returning to a recently opened cafe one block from my temporary residence here in Antigua. It was just enough to tide me over until breakfast tomorrow. Frankly the food was delicious, but as of this moment I cannot recall what I had. Probably a smoothie. And it was likely amazing.
Also to anyone who wants to travel to Guatemala, I highly recommend going to Monterrico. The beach is amazing, but I think I understand now why the white sand beaches are so popular. Also apparently Monterrico has amazing mangroves, which I failed to check out on my one day beach adventure. Perhaps next time...
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