My Copa Airlines flight CM321 departed Havana on time at 8:45 AM and landed (with spontaneous passenger applause too I might add) at Panama City’s Aeropuerto Internacional de Tocumen at 10:30 AM, which is precisely the time when they are boarding flight CM544 to Guatemala City.
As luck would have it, my incoming flight gate is at the opposite end of the airport, so I have to hustle the entire length of the joint …. and all travelators are not operational – go figure. I get to my gate and slip straight on to the ½ full flight to find a little kid sitting in my seat. I show what looks to be the accompanying mother of the child my ticket and seat number 10D, but she just shakes her head and ignores me. I get the attention of a trolley dolly who tries to seat me in the “shit house” seats i.e. the very last ones that rest up against the cattle class toilets and rear galley. I decline the offer.
It wasn’t until a Spanish speaking woman comes up and wants her 10F window seat in the same row that I have the disputed aisle seat, that the hostess asks the woman for her boarding pass. The woman rolls her eyes, huffs & puffs and makes a big show of not being able to find her boarding passes, meanwhile my new row-mate and I are performing the airline seat-swapping dance trying to not block the remaining passengers from getting to their seats.
I come to find out during the flight that it wasn’t until the Cabin Manager came up and threatened to offload the mother and her two kids, as they are required to have their boarding passes available upon request, that they were produced. You wouldn’t read about it – I watched the hostess walk the trio to the very last low of seats on the plane.
We arrive just on 1PM at Guatemala City’s Aeropuerto Internacional La Aurora, spend over an hour clearing Immigration and then play the Guatemalan Customs “Ring A Bell And Win A Prize” game in which I declared I had prescription medications, a pocket knife, scissors and a piece of artwork. The attending officer takes a disinterested glance at my Customs Declaration, then asked me to push the button on her workstation, that would illuminate a large red or green light, thus randomly selecting you for further investigation. I went “Green means Go” and was outta there like an Ethiopian after a chicken before anyone had second thoughts. The American Airlines pilot behind me wasn’t so lucky, he not only got the big red light, but also copped the loud obnoxious fail buzzer sound as well.
My final destination for the day would be Hotel Posada De Los Bucaros, located in the adjoining town of Antigua, that according to my transfer driver, on a good day would take under an hour. Today wasn’t my day it seems, as it took just over 2 hours in bumper to bumper traffic to cover the 41 kilometre (26 mile) journey. Not that I had a care, I just took it all in from the co-pilots seat.
I got my accommodations sorted and hit the streets with the intention of securing some of the local Guatemalan Quetzales (GTQ) currency, which currently runs 5.35 to the AUD or 7.645 to the USD. This turned into a bit of a mission as either the ATM’s would only allow 200 GTQ – if they had currency available, that’s if the ATM was working at all. The bank was a no-go as it had a queue for Africa at 15 minutes to closing and I didn’t have my passport to proceed with any transaction. In the end I settled on taking what was available – 200 QTC’s, and will sort it out on Monday.
My hotel supplied walking map which listed the Hotel Posada de Don Rodrigo as a local dining option. Its non-descript unassuming hole-in-the-wall façade gave no hint as to the how large, intricate, ornate and old the actual building is.
I found my way to the dining facilities, that are literally hidden away in the rear corner of site, was seated with an ice cold Gallo cerveza and took in the available surroudings with the varied menu.
Alas, I could not make my mind up with so many good looking options. Time to enable my back up plan. I resorted to my usual fall-back position and simply asked for the Chef to choose for me, and hand on heart, I was not disappointed in the slightest.
A starter consisting of made-from-scratch asparagus soup with a fresh tomato & chilli salsa picante got the meal going. A stuffed pork Chile Relleno with homemade chicken chorizo sausage, guacamole, rice, bean paste and the best tortillas I’ve had in a long while. It was an awesome way to top off a long day.
