Product Description
Highlights
Dig into the history of coffee at a local plantation co-op – get your hands dirty harvesting the beans, discover the art of the perfect roast, then sip a freshly homebrewed cup. Take home a tip or two for preparing authentic Guatemalan dishes after a cooking class with a passionate local chef. Explore the chaotic and colourful Antigua Market and snack on the most popular Guatemalan dishes.
Overview
Experience Guatemala’s celebrated colonial gem and its surrounds on this delicious three-day stopover. Get an insight on the culinary influences of the city in a hands-on cooking class in a celebrated restaurant. Next, travel just outside of town to a coffee plantation and see how coffee is grown, harvested and produced by a member of the coffee cooperative. Lunch with a farming family and enjoy a cup of their home-grown brew. Tour the vibrant food and vegetable market and sit down with locals in the ‘comedores’ section to sample genuine, grass roots, regional specialties.
Breakfast Included: Lunches Included: 1 Lunches Included: 1
Antigua
Bienvenidos! Welcome to Guatemala. As the seat of the Spanish colonial government, Antigua was once the most important city in Central America. In 1773 Antigua was destroyed by an earthquake, but many of the colonial buildings have been carefully restored and the architecture from its glory days can still be seen.
On arrival at the hotel, you will be presented with a Welcome Pack containing all the information you will need for this Bite-size Break. Your adventure begins with a welcome meeting at 5pm on Day 1. Please look for a note in the hotel lobby or ask the hotel reception where this meeting will take place. After meeting your guide, take a short trip to a well known local restaurant for a hands-on cooking class with the chef. Learn about the interesting mixture of Spanish and Mayan influences on Guatemalan flavours while whipping up tasty courses from meats, vegetable, herbs and spices hand-picked from the market that day. Reward your efforts with a tasty dinner.
Antigua
Guatemala’s fertile valleys provide the perfect conditions for growing coffee, and it produces some of the best in the world. Get to know this addictive little bean a bit better with an excursion to a coffee plantation. Accompanied by a member of the coffee farming cooperative, you’ll dig into the history of the plant with a hands-on crop to cup experience. If the season’s right, get your own hands dirty planting coffee seedlings or harvesting the beans. Next, see how these bright red berries are processed, dried, roasted and ground by hand. Finish off with a home-brewed cup and a snack prepared by the family. In the afternoon, check out the chaotic and colourful Central Market for a slice of local life. Your leader will guide you through the many fresh fruit and vegetable sellers until you reach the lively food stands in the ‘comedores’ section of the market. Here you will try some of the most popular regional Guatemalan dishes alongside the locals. The evening is free for your own exploration. Your leader will have plenty of suggestions for things to do and places to eat.
Antigua
Your Bite-size Break comes to an end this morning and you can leave at any time.