Sailing along the coast of Panama, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala, where we will anker in Puerto Quetzal. The name Quezal is the name of the local currency and the local bird. From there we’ll go on an excursion to Antigua.

The wind is very strong today (32miles/hour), leaving whitecaps on the surface of the water. By now we are halfway done with our cruise, 2400 miles to go, 2400 miles already done. Time flies! And last night, we changed time, falling back 1 hour!

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Sailing along the coast of Panama, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala, where we will anker in Puerto Quetzal. The name Quezal is the name of the local currency and the local bird. From there we’ll go on an excursion to Antigua.

The wind is very strong today (32miles/hour), leaving whitecaps on the surface of the water. By now we are halfway done with our cruise, 2400 miles to go, 2400 miles already done. Time flies! And last night, we changed time, falling back 1 hour!

Antigua, Guatemala, was a very surprising day trip. It is a 1.5 hour bus-ride from the harbor, up the mountains along a few of Guatemalas 37 (!) volcanoes. Guatemala is roughly the size of Ohio; 17 million people live there, 62% Ladino people (half Spanish, half Mayan) and 37% Mayans. And yes, it’s spelled Ladino, not Latino 🧐

Biggest exports (#4 in the world) are sugarcane and bananas, but also cocoa and coffee! No wonder, Guatemala means “land of many trees”

Antigua is surprisingly small, a town that was built for 5500 people, a grid of 9 avenues and 9 streets, all houses are single story. No wonder, it is in a very active earthquake and volcano area; on our way to Antigua we passed an area where a volcano eruption killed 300 people in 2018. 3 villages have been completely destroyed.