Last day in Antigua - we made it to Cierro!!! :O (Day 205 of the world tour)

27.03.2020

This morning we didn't meet Irving on the rooftop for breakfast, so there was no long conversation either.

Since we were "early" done, Jonas wanted to try one last time to hike up to the viewpoint. We had already made 5 unsuccessful attempts, but it seemed like the police didn't become active until 9:00 am.

Since it was only 8:30 am, we gave it a chance because it was our last full day in Antigua :O

It wasn't far to the stairs and there we gradually encountered some joggers or dog owners who were running down the stairs from the top. That gave us courage! :)

So we trudged up the hill, always expecting to be stopped (maybe the people only went DOWN the stairs because they were sent back?) :D

But then the incredible happened :p

We made it to the viewpoint and even up there, there was no police!!! Yay!!!

There is a cross up there and you can look down on the city, it's a really beautiful view. But what we were actually most happy about was the fact that we made it at all, after being turned away a few times :D :D

From this viewpoint, we continued up the hill, past a horse-with-rider statue, and then eventually onto a road that leads to the next village.

Jonas was in a really good photography mood and so trees, views, and especially cacti were photographed. We hadn't seen such a dry forest for a long time after all the jungle and tropics ;-)

After about 1.5 hours we were back at the hostel. We filled out the form that we had to bring for the flight on Sunday, and then we went into town to shop for the last time and to book transportation to the airport for tomorrow.

The first hostel we went to for transportation (the same one we were at two weeks ago) was unfortunately closed, so we walked around a bit until we finally found a travel agency that was open, because it is also a hostel <3

Sergio, the owner, greeted us warmly and proved himself to be a good Catholic when he found the biblical connection while noting down our names ;-)

Since "Ann" is not understood by many nations, I am always "Anna" in Central America :p and, as some may know, that is the mother of Maria, the grandmother of Jesus. Sergio was visibly happy that I had such a great name :D

When Jonas then mentioned his name, Sergio went wild^^ He asked Jonas if he knew where his name came from, and when Jonas shook his head (more because of Spanish than because of the question itself), Sergio (also in Spanish) told the story of Jonah in the belly of the whale and how he was shy but at the same time courageous and smart, and yea... Jonas didn't look quite as euphoric as Sergio, but it was already a really funny and cool atmosphere ;-)

The transportation is scheduled for 1:00 pm and we hope the driver finds our accommodation and that he is on time, because he has to be back in Antigua by 4:00 pm because of the curfew :O

If for some reason this driver doesn't come, it will be difficult to find a spontaneous alternative :p The drive takes about an hour each way, so if we can leave at 1:30 pm or 2:00 pm, it will already be tight for the driver :p

We're just hoping for the best ;-)

For lunch, I cooked noodles with tomato SOUP. The sauces were much more expensive and besides, they were big jars that we wouldn't have finished anyway :D But the soup was just as good and surprisingly delicious :D

The rest of the day was as usual YouTube, hysteria from the WhatsApp group, and a bit of sports ^^

Tomorrow it's time to pack and if everything works out, we'll check in tomorrow evening from the accommodation at the airport in Guatemala City for the last time on this trip from abroad :O

Crazy how fast all of this went now!