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Believe it or not, there have been sightings of Bigfoot in La Antigua Guatemala. If also want to see Bigfoot on your next visit to La Antigua Guatemala, then take one of the shuttles to Santo Domingo del Cerro. See, here in Antigua Guatemala we make everything really convenient and trouble-free for you.

Can you guess how big is this Bigfoot?

P.S. Don’t forget to visit GuatemalaDailyPhoto.com which will launch on April 1, 2011. We will have many surprises there for you.

Guatemala is a country of Desaparecidos (disappeared) and La Antigua Guatemala is not an exception. These colorful and friendly street vendors and their traditional carts vanished without leaving a trace or even causing a murmur. These honest and hard-working people simply desaparecieron (disappeared). They are missing… and missed.

My friend and colleague Miguel De León Soto, who’s also an Antigua Guatemala lover, send us these photos because he’s outraged the municipal government has removed these typical street carts without consultation. He believes these carts not only provide much needed services and products, such as fresh fruits, but they are also an integral part of our identity, and important ingredient of what makes La Antigua Guatemala rich and colorful.

I agree with him!

Come on, where are we going to buy these fresh fruits now?

It seems that in an electoral year, the Mayor Adolfo Vivar should be careful about the things he does and upsets. It looks like this is not the only steps backwards or in the wrong direction that Muni (short for Municipalidad or City Hall) has taken recently. Today I also discovered that they have taken a mayor leap backwards by replacing their nearly usable and friendly website which I reported back on August 2010 with a horrendous and user unfriendly flash website.

We live in a world that moved forward, away from the horrible and unusable flash websites, which gave us the Web 2.0 back in 2002 and then the Social Media Networks back in 2005. We are humans and we love to communicate and share and that’s why websites that provide the tools and the means for these basic needs are very successful, websites such as Facebook, Twitter and Flickr, just to mention a few examples. On the other hand, most of the time flash websites are unusable, unfriendly, horrible to navigate and inhibit communication. The prevention of a dialogue should be reason enough to take down a flash website right away, especially if it’s a government office which is incompetently serving its constituents communication needs.

The reason I checked the Muni’s website in the first place was because I wanted to grab the mayor’s email address so we can write to him and let him know we are not happy with the removal of the traditional street carts as suggested by Miguel de León, but believe or not there’s no contact form or email for any of the offices or branches of the municipal government. In fact, the only email address available anywhere on the website is for the web developer.

I promise I will get the mayor’s email address so we can write to him. Stay tune, I will update this entry with his email address.

This is what reported on August 24, 2010:

New Blog and Twitter presence of Municipalidad de La Antigua Guatemala Aside: Finally the Municipalidad de La Antigua Guatemala is sporting new presence in Twitter as well as a new website. If you are in Twitter you can follow @MunideAntigua for all the latest official buzz.

Now, the new web site found at MunicipalidadAntiguaGuatemala.com leaves much to be desired. The new web site is poorly executed, with awkward navigation, horrible animations, partially translated into Spanish menus and a poor structure all around. There is no English version of the website to better serve its foreign community. In my humble opinion, the new web site is almost as bad as the one it replaces.
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Furthermore, it’s my professional opinion that the Municipalidad de La Antigua Guatemala was poorly advised regarding its web site, its Twitter account, its new domain, et cetera.

Yes, even the new domain is the wrong choice. Instead of having a FREE or inexpensive .GOB.GT domain they have a U.S. commercial domain. Instead of having something simple as AntiguaGuatemala.gob.gt they have this cumbersome municipalidadantiguaguatemala.com business domain.

Nevertheless, I welcome the new steps the Municipalidad is taken to have a better web presence and communication with its citizens and the world. I just hope next time they hire someone with sufficient experience and knowledge to give them the website and presence that will benefit its citizens the most.

Photos by Miguel De León Soto. Check out Miguel’s Flickr gallery where he shares with us so many beautiful and touching images of La Antigua Guatemala.

The Ceiba tree (Ceiba pentandra) is very important in Guatemala. For one, the Ceiba tree is Guatemala’s national tree. There are Ceiba trees all over Guatemala. The Maya believed that Ceiba trees were portals to Xibalbá (The Underworld). Xibalba is described in the Popol Vuh as a court below the surface of the Earth associated with death and with twelve gods or powerful rulers known as the Lords of Xibalba (source: Wikipedia).

According to a recent article in Revue Magazine, Ceibas have been sacred trees for over 2,000 years and the Ceiba tree spines show up often in Mayan art and pottery. The Ceiba tree also appears in the 5 centavos coins.

Do you know how many Ceiba tree are there in La Antigua Guatemala municipality?

The food served at fair stands is becoming more colorful. Not too long ago I showed you black pupusas at Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, which are very unusual.

If you never seen a photo of the Guatemalan torrejas, follow the white rabbit to Torrejas, Torrejas, Anyone? to get an idea of how torrejas are normally served. Now, compare the photo from the link against today’s photo of torrejas and you will understand the above statement.

Okay, let’s take a sweet tour through the Guatemalan comfort fair foods. Please, make sure you have some napkins close by; we don’t want to have any salivating accidents over the computer equipment.

• Buñuelos
• Torrejas
• Corbatas
• Churros
• Platanos fritos
• Rellenitos
• Algodones
• Dulces típicos

What other dishes available at the fairs should I include in the Guatemalan comfort food list?

I read this tweet about the Earth Hour (Hora del Planeta):

@AndyStalman: Mas que apagar las luces habría que encender las conciencias! #HoraDelPlaneta

Which I roughly translated to “Instead of turning off the lights we should turn on the consciences.”

I thought, why not do both. I mean it certainly can not hurt to turn off the lights for one hour and perhaps the idea behind these kind awareness campaigns is to turn on the consciences.

So, with these thoughts in mind, I share with you another free wallpaper from Antigua Guatemala to use on your laptop or desktop computer, sort of something to tickle your own thoughts about it. Enjoy! and feel free to share with as many people as you like.

Here’s an overview of how Earth Hour was observed in La Antigua Guatemala last year.

Is Earth Hour observed where you live?

That’s what I call baroque style to the fullest. Do you know in what building one can find this baroque niche?

Okay, it’s Friday and it’s time to give a free post card away again. Today’s game is very simple: the person that can name the most typical candies and nuts in Spanish from the photo above, wins this photo as a post card, which I will mail using the snail-mail postal service, including the Guatemalan postal stamps.

Good luck to all participants!

As I mentioned before in the Casa Antigüeña series, building codes in La Antigua Guatemala prohibit new construction of two-story houses (wink, wink). They say nothing of really high ceilings in single story homes. Then, it’s only a matter of time before an attic is made and no sooner it becomes a second floor loft that can be used for a guest room or studio.

So this room can be called an attic (ático), loft (desván or tapanco) or simply the second floor.

Following the advice provided by RWOrange on Dining in the Garden from a few days ago, I decided to pay a visit to Epicure since it’s been a while since my last visit. Also, what better way to continue the dining in the garden series than having lunch in the lush garden in the back of Epicure. Click the thumbnails below to get an idea of how exuberant the garden really is.

I had Epicure’s al dente pasta with a Camembert creamy sauce. It was simply delicious.

As far as I know, Epicure is the only place in La Antigua Guatemala where one can have British-style fish and chips, including the malt vinegar. Do you know of any other place in Antigua Guatemala where fish and chips is available?

Honest, I am very proud of our progressive little town, better known as La Antigua Guatemala. Take for instance the Día Internacional del Agua or World Water Day campaign that basically ask something direct and concise: Ducharse en vez de bañarse (Shower instead of bathing) to save water.

You can also follow the different campaigns elsewhere in the world by scanning the hash tag #worldwaterday in Twitter.

Here’s the water series I published before to clarify the water situation in Guatemala. As always, follow the white rabbit to the water series to see the photos and read the researched information.

1. Who owns the water in Guatemala?
2. Public Water Faucets Are Today’s Fountains
3. Water Tanks and Colonial Style Social Networks
4. Local Bottled Water Station Hunapu
5. Abundant Water for Fountains Around Antigua
6. The Venerable Colonial Pila is Now Used as Decoration
7. Guatemalan Water Wells Wet Wealth

What kind water awareness campaigns did you see in your town today?

It’s been a while since I shared with you a shot of a doorway. For a long time, doorways and windows used to be among my favorite things to photograph around Antigua Guatemala. Heck, I used to be regular contributor for Doorways Around the World. Anyway, believe it or not, I don’t think I have seen today’s photo ever. What about you, have you seen the photo above before?

We are so lucky in La Antigua Guatemala that almost every day of the year we can dine in the garden. The weather and temperatures conditions through out the year in Guatemala allow for outside dining. Of course, unless you rent an apartment or house in La Antigua Guatemala, the closest you can come to experience of the dining in the garden is if you visit the cafe at Vivero La Escalonia or Sabe Rico restaurant.

I am sure there are other restaurants with dining areas in the garden; can you share with us any other names?

It is sad and tragic that in Guatemala some people have to take their body guards with them everywhere they go.

These Guatemalan coffee-style satchels are perfect for coffee lovers… and they are ecological too since they’re made from recycled coffee sacks. Besides these Guatemalan morrales, the Spanish word for satchel, you can also find bags, purses, and backpacks made from the recycled coffee sacks.

Last time I talked about these recycled coffee satchel I received several inquiries about exporting these kind of bags to Europe, Canada and the United States. I wonder if I should look into since there seems to be a great appeal for them. What do you think? would you buy satchels, bags, purses or backpacks made from this recycled material?

Okay, enough I say; it’s been way too long since I gave away free wallpapers; since December 23, 2010 to be exact, it was the Christmas present from AntiguaDailyPhoto. Honest, I should give away free desktop/laptop wallpapers at least once a month, don’t you agree?

Download the three free wallpapers from Antigua Guatemala from here:

1. Yellow wall
2. Chipped wall
3. Zapote wall

Enjoy and share them with your family and friends. Moreover, if you want to download all the free wallpapers I have shared with you previously, feel free to browse the Wallpapers category and if you like what you see, share this link with your family and friends as well.

Also, it is time to feed the Only in LAG category and what better way to do it than with a Cucuruch’ants procession video produced by Guy Howard and his wife, which they entitled “Cucuruch’ants.” Enjoy!