Guatemala City, Guatemala, September 7th 2024

A 90-minute hop north-west with Volaris from a sunny start in San José to Guatemala City.

Crazy airline system insists you check-in digitally before you get to the airport. That’s all well and good unless the system won’t accept your passport scan and you’re going to have to pay for a printed boarding pass at Juan Santamaria airport.

Zone 10 may be the safest part of Guatemala City but it’s also the most modern and most boring. I‘ll leave downtown for another day but an amazing view of the city coming into land and the giant volcano cone that became shrouded in cloud.

Unfortunately, no time on this trip to get to Semuc Champey but what I’ve seen so far reminds me of an up market Havana.

And then I found the Red Lion Pub around the corner from the hotel replaying the Ireland v England game and a delightful Yorkshire fellow virgo landlord who has been here 36 years …