Getting to the airport, flight delays, and our first half day in Antigua
Airport with an Infant
Long day/s š“
Letās start off with some realities of traveling with an infant:
- 1:30pm: leave home. Benjamin dropped baby and I off at the airport, drove to where we park our car, then ubered back to the airport. We did it this way because we arenāt taking the car seat to Guatemala, and Ubers donāt have car seats.
- 5pm: exhausted baby meltdown at SeaTac airport right before boarding. Luckily she slept about an hour on the plane!
- 8pm: land in LAX
- 11:15pm: board our next flight to Guatemala. Then begins the struggleā¦
We sat on the tarmac for a LONG time and *finally* got baby to sleepā¦ then 15 minutes later had to de-plane and go to a new gate/new plane due to a mechanical issue. We finally took off at 3am. Despite some sleepy tears at certain points throughout the long day, baby did a great job rolling with the punches and people around us were remarking about how well she was doing on practically no sleep. (We all felt like crying sleepy tears too!)
At the airport in LAX, we befriended a nice Guatemalan lady who lives in LA, and she told us to call her if we need ANYthing while weāre in the country. Just the beginning of the kind people weāve encountered so far!
Spoiler alert: That will be my most notable first impression of Guatemala – kind people, and perfect weatherāIt gets up to the 80s (F) during the day, and 50s at night!
Exploring Guatemala
When we landed in Guatemala City (La Aurora International), we got an Uber straight to Antigua (baby slept the whole car ride) and then started our day by having some breakfast and delicious coffee at our hostel. After that, we walked to some of the main attractions in Antigua:
- Santa Catalina Arch
- Parque Central (Antigua Guatemala Central Park)
- Plaza del Arch
And all the stops along the way! Another thoughtful local encounter while we explored the town: a woman we passed on the sidewalk saw us coming and stepped to the left so that we could walk in the shade. So sweet! š¤āļø Another person stopped us and told us we need to wear hatsā¦ and she is totally right! We grabbed them next time we stopped by our hostel.
When we got back to the hotel around 1:30pm, we put baby down for a nap and went to hang out by the pool. The power ended up going out so the baby monitor turned off and we had to migrate back towards our room to listen for signs of baby waking up. At the 2hr mark in her nap we got tired of waiting and went in the room to lay down for a nap too šš„±
After another hour (baby was TIRED!), we all got up and went to get some food at the restaurant right next door, walked around town again as the sun set, then headed back to our place to enjoy the evening.
Great first day in Guatemala!
Antigua Accommodations: Selina Hostel Antigua, $132/night for a private room with bathroom
Follow along for updates on our entire trip to Guatemala with our 11-month-old daughter!
If youāre like me and you read travel blogs wondering, “Should I use this itinerary?” – because how do you know if the blogger would do it the same way a second time? I’ll just say, I highly recommend this route! Our original plan included some beach time down on the Pacific Coast, but youāll see we changed our plans mid-trip. I’m so glad we did!
