Guatemala's re-emergence

By WILL WEISSERT

updated 5:53 p.m. ET Nov. 14, 2005

ANTIGUA, Guatemala - In a word, Antigua is old.

It has been perched in the forested Panchoy Valley for more than 450 years, was one of the Americas' largest cities around the time of the Spanish Armada, and was nearly wiped off the map by an earthquake three years before the U.S. Declaration of Independence was signed. Even its name means "old."

But it's new to the thousands of tourists arriving from every corner of the globe every day.

"We had friends who had come down and talked about it," said Emily Smith, 35, of Chattanooga, Tenn., who was shopping for handicrafts with her husband and 4-year-old daughter. "But it's even more beautiful than we expected. We have fallen in love with it."

Nearly a decade after the end of a 36-year civil war that left 200,000 people dead, Guatemala is starting to shed its bloodstained reputation and earn new fame as a top tourist destination.

Oscar-winning director Francis Ford Coppola opened an exclusive jungle resort not far from the Mayan ruins at Tikal, in the northeastern region of Peten. And on Sept. 15, CBS began airing episodes of "Survivor Guatemala," filmed in jungle-shrouded Yaxha, between two lakes and near the border with Belize.

Few places in the hemisphere offer so much variety - ancient ruins, jungle rain forests, whitewater rapids, 33 volcanoes, beaches, colonial hideaways and the modern-day cultural influence of 22 Mayan cultures. A 2 1/2-hour flight from Miami, Guatemala is roughly the size of Ohio.

"The natural beauty and cultural beauty you see where 'Survivor' was filmed is available all over the country," said Daniel Mooney, director of INGUAT, the country's tourism agency. "Guatemala really is as good as it looks on TV."

Just under 1.2 million foreigners visited in 2004, nearly 300,000 of those Americans, and officials hope to surpass 1.4 million this year.

Those tallies have yet to catch Costa Rica, an ecotourism mecca that has for decades been considered the safest place in Central America. That country's tourism institute reported 1.7 million foreign visitors in 2004.

Still, Guatemala has come a long way since 1996, the last year of the war, when only about 520,000 foreigners visited. During the dark days of government-led anti-insurgency campaigns in 1984, fewer than 200,000 dared make the trip.

Popular with backpackers, well-heeled travelers, families and students studying Spanish, Antigua offers colonial beauty and breathtaking natural views set to the tinkling of xylophone-heavy Marimba music, which drifts in from all directions day and night.

Then called Santiago de los Caballeros, the city was the nation's capital until the 1773 quake prompted the government to flee to present-day Guatemala City, 30 miles to the east. The moniker Antigua Guatemala, or "Old Guatemala City" stuck.

Dozens of churches and the crumbling stone remains of Spanish conquest-era structures abound. Many tourists prefer to simply wander the cobblestone streets, however, peeking inside stores offering Mayan weavings and clothing in a dizzying area of colors - all handmade and available on-the-cheap by U.S. standards.

More adventurous visitors can opt for a steep climb on the dormant Agua Volcano, which towers 13,500 feet above Antigua.

An easier hike scales the gravel-covered slopes of the ever-smoldering Pacaya Volcano. Daylong excursions leave every morning from Antigua, though the volcano is about an hour bus ride away.

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