Guatemala| 2024-2025 Holidays to Guatemala with discounted prices

Highlights

Guatemala city with the old ruins of the Mayan city of Kaminaljuyú
Tikal and its well-preserved archaeological sites
Lake Atitlan and Chichicastenango with its Indian market and cobbled stone streets
Antigua is a colonial-style city, full of historic buildings

Geography

The northernmost of the Central American nations, Guatemala is the size of Tennessee. Its neighbors are Mexico on the north and west, and Belize, Honduras, and El Salvador on the east. The country consists of three main regions—the cool highlands with the heaviest population, the tropical area along the Pacific and Caribbean coasts, and the tropical jungle in the northern lowlands (known as the Petén).

Language

Spanish 60%, Amerindian languages 40% (23 officially recognized Amerindian languages, including Quiche, Cakchiquel, Kekchi, Mam, Garifuna, and Xinca)

Money

The monetary system of Guatemala is decimal based, with the primary unit of Guatemalan money being called the Guatemalan Quetzal. As of March 2019, 1 U.S. dollar is worth about 7.7 quetzales.

Climate

The rainy season is generally from May to November. Climate variations are due to altitude, but it is generally hot throughout the country. The north has a hot, tropical climate with maximum rainfall between May and September. The coastal regions and north east are hot, with a dry (November to April) and rainy season, with temperatures averaging 68°F (20°C). The highlands, including Guatemala City and Antigua, have a pleasant climate with less rainfall than the coast, and cold temperatures at night

Gastronomy

The Guatemalan cuisine incorporates Mayan ingredients such as herbs, species and vegetables blended with ingredients from the Spanish gastronomy. The Guatemalan gastronomy uses corn, the sacred grain in Mayan cosmology, as an important ingredient for many meals. Beef, chicken, pork or turkey meat is commonly used with savory sauces. Other staples used frequently are beans, avocado, rice, and many vegetables and herbs that make a colorful delight.
Although you can taste the eclectic Guatemalan food in numerous restaurants, perhaps the best place to taste it is inside a market, but beware, a strong stomach is required when you eat in a marketplace.

History

The history of Guatemala can be traced back to the arrival of the first human settlers, presumed to have migrated from the north at least 12,000 years ago. For much of that time, the civilization that developed there flourished, with little to no contact with cultures from outside of Mesoamerica. The Maya civilization dominated the region for nearly 2000 years before the Spanish arrived in the early 16th century, although most of the Great Classic Maya cities of the Petén region of Guatemala's northern lowlands were abandoned by the year 1000 AD. The states of the central highlands, however, were still flourishing until the arrival of the Spanish Conquistador Pedro de Alvarado, who subjugated the native states, beginning in 1523.
Guatemala remained a Spanish colony for nearly 300 years, before gaining its independence in 1821. It was then a part of the Mexican Empire until becoming fully independent in the 1840s. Since then, Guatemala's history has been divided into periods of democratic rule and periods of civil war and military juntas. Most recently, Guatemala emerged from a 36-year civil war, reestablishing a representative government in 1996.

Religion

Catholic 50-60% also Protestant 40%, Mayan 1%. Christianity was the only religion during the colonial era. The practice of traditional Mayan religion is increasing as a result of the cultural protections established under the peace accords. The government has instituted a policy of providing altars at every Mayan ruin found in the country so that traditional ceremonies may be performed there.
There are also small communities of Jews estimated between 1200 and 2000, Muslims (1200), Buddhists at around 9000 to 12000, and members of other faiths.

Culture

Guatemala's culture is a unique product of Native American ways and a strong Spanish colonial heritage. About half of Guatemala's population is mestizo (known in Guatemala as ladino), people of mixed European and indigenous ancestry. Ladino culture is dominant in urban areas and is heavily influenced by European and North American trends. But unlike many Latin American countries, Guatemala still has a large indigenous population, the Maya that has retained a distinct identity. Deeply rooted in the rural highlands of Guatemala, many indigenous people speak a Mayan language, follow traditional religious and village customs, and continue a rich tradition in textiles and other crafts. The two cultures have made Guatemala a complex society that is deeply divided between rich and poor. This division has produced much of the tension and violence that have marked Guatemala's history.

Music

Guatemala's national instrument is the marimba, an idiophone from the family of the xylophones, which is played all over the country, even in the remotest corners. Towns also have wind and percussion bands that play during the lent and Easter-week processions, as well as on other occasions. The Garifuna people of Afro-Caribbean descent, who are spread thinly on the northeastern Caribbean coast, have their own distinct varieties of popular and folk music. Cumbia, from the Colombian variety, is also very popular especially among the lower classes.
Guatemala also has an almost 5 century old tradition of art music, spanning from the first liturgical chant and polyphony introduced in 1524 to contemporary art music. Much of the music composed in Guatemala from the 16th century to the 19th century has only recently been unearthed by scholars and is being revived by performers.

Wildlife

Flowers of the temperate zone are found in great numbers. Of particular interest is the orchid family, which includes the white nun (monja blanca), the national flower. There is also an abundance of medicinal, industrial, and fibrous plants.
Indigenous fauna includes the armadillo, bear, coyote, deer, fox, jaguar, monkey, puma, tapir, and manatee. The national bird is the highland quetzal, the symbol of love of liberty, which reputedly dies in captivity. Lake Atitlán is the only place in the world where a rare flightless waterbird, the Atitlán (giant piedbilled) grebe, is found; this species, classified as endangered, has been protected by law since 1970. There are more than 900 other species of native birds, as well as migratory varieties. Reptiles, present in more than 204 species, include the bushmaster, fer-de-lance, water moccasin, and iguana.