Spread across a verdant and
mountainous chunk of land,
Guatemala
is endowed with simply staggering
natural, historical and cultural
interest. Though the giant
Maya
temples and rainforest cities have
been long abandoned, ancient
traditions remain very much alive
throughout the Guatemalan highlands.
Uniquely in Central America, at
least half the country's population
is still Native American, and this
rural indigenous culture is far
stronger than anywhere else in the
region. Countering this is a
powerful
ladino society,
characteristically urban and
commercial in its outlook. All over
the country you'll come across
remnants of Guatemala's
colonial
past, nowhere more so than in the
graceful former capital, Antigua.
It's this outstanding cultural
legacy, combined with Guatemala's
mesmeric natural beauty, that makes
the country so compelling for the
traveller. The Maya temples of Tikal
would be magnificent in any arena
but set inside the pristine jungle
of the Maya Biosphere Reserve, with
attendant toucans and howler
monkeys, they are bewitching.
Similarly, the genteel cobbled
streets and plazas of colonial Antigua
gain an extra dimension from their
proximity to the looming volcanoes
that encircle the town. This
architectural wealth is scattered to
a lesser degree throughout the
country - almost every large village
or town boasts a giant whitewashed
colonial church and a classic
Spanish-style plaza. Though most of
the really dramatic Maya ruins lie
deep in the jungles of Petén
, interesting sites are scattered
throughout the land, along the
Pacific coast and in the foothills
of the highlands.
The diversity of the Guatemalan landscape
is astonishing. Perhaps most
obviously arresting is the chain of volcanoes
(some still smoking) that divides
the flat, steamy Pacific coast
from the cool air and pine trees of
the largely indigenous western highlands
, with their green, sweeping
valleys, tiny cornfields, gurgling
streams and sleepy traditional
villages. Further east towards the Caribbean
, the scenery and the people have
more of a tropical feel and at Lívingston,
life beside the mangrove and coconut
trees swings to reggae rhythms and
punta rock.
The rainforests of Petén,
among the best preserved in Latin
America, harbour a tremendous array
of wildlife , including
jaguars, tapirs, spiders, howler
monkeys, jabiru storks and scarlet
macaws. Further south, you may be
lucky and catch a glimpse of the
elusive quetzal in the cloudforests
close to Cobán or see manatee in
the Río Dulce. On the Pacific coast
three types of sea turtle nest in
the volcanic sand beaches of
Monterrico.
All of this exists against the
nagging background of Guatemala's
turbulent and bloody history
. Over the years, the huge gulf
between the rich and the poor,
between indigenous and ladino
culture and the political left and
right has produced bitter conflict.
With the signing of the 1996
peace accords between the
government and the ex-guerrillas,
the armed confrontation has ceased
and things have calmed down
considerably, though many of the
country's deep-rooted inequalities
remain. At the heart of the problem
is the red-hot issue of land
reform - it's estimated that
close to seventy percent of the
cultivable land is still owned by
less than five percent of the
population. There is also a chronic
lack of faith in the corrupt and
inept justice system , which
has led to a wave of public
lynchings of suspected criminals
across the country. At the same time
the economy was destabilized
badly by Hurricane Mitch in 1998 and
is still chronically weak. Guatemala
remains heavily dependent on the
export of coffee, sugar and bananas
and has very little industry except
the foreign-owned maquila
factories which produce goods for
export and typically pay their
assembly-line workers under US$5 for
a twelve-hour day. Poverty levels
are some of the worst in the
hemisphere and there's general
discontent with the high cost of
living.
Despite these structural
inequalities, you'll find that most
Guatemalans are extraordinarily
courteous, and eager to help a lost
foreigner catch the right bus or
find the local post office.
Guatemalans tend to be less
extrovert than other Central
Americans and are quite formal in
social situations. Many will
automatically assume you are
wealthy, since very few Guatemalans
ever get to visit another country.
Though you may hear complaints about
rising prices, endemic corruption
and the lack of decent jobs, this is
not to say that Guatemalans are not
patriotic and sensitive to
criticisms from outsiders.
