John Heaton's Guatemala Diaries bring Guatemala to life

John Heaton is the creative force behind Antigua Guatemala [2]'s fabulous Quinta Maconda [3] and Izabal's Rancho Corozal [4]. He also has been guiding savvy travelers to Guatemala's interior for years, using his own experiences gleaned from traveling around this fascinating country. Now, Quinta Maconda - Signature Journeys and Hideaways has taken to Facebook.

Check out their Facebook page [5] and read up on John Heaton's diary entries from his Guatemala travels dating to 1978.

Here is an excerpt:

GUATEMALA

There is no place as beautiful and ugly and dramatic and as full of life and death as Guatemala. It is art! Guatemala is a mystical lady, but one of ill repute. She wields charms and seduces to no end. She is tantalizing, haughty, daunting, vibrant, and treacherous. Those who dare to get involved and immerse deep into this land ultimately pay a price. Some will just evaporate, be disappeared, or simply leave; few will come out untouched.

This is no alluring description like those found in luxury travel magazines. Then again, we are not dealing with an ordinary destination. For those who crave the edge, Guatemala is as sharp as it gets. A land where extremes rub elbows- Beauty and the beast. They dance a whirlwind while trying not to step on each others toes. When they Ultimately do, the music stops with deathly silence. And, as if nothing, it resumes, as bewitching as ever. Life goes on. This is Guatemala’s reality: harsh, raw, vibrant, bewildering and unforgiving; all amid a land of majestic volcanos and jungle mists, one where highland Maya ancestral traditions and unfathomable beauty lie.

For those who live this country, it is essential to deconstruct, to shelf genteel upbringing, worldly manners and grow tougher skin. It is part of ones check list before entering the stage of this real theater, one filled with Botero-esque actors playing Garcia Marquez meets Mario Puzo. Games of masks and mirrors prevail and one can be struck by the disappearance of a friend and moments later by the praising of henchmen - or even, by the kidnapping of a brides rose's! Yet, in some strange way, one remains awed by the beauty of it all.

This is a land where adventure echoes and curiosity is its fuel. There is no roar of the lion, but the tremors of earth itself, the rumble of volcanos spewing glowing lava, dawn mists ripping from the canopy of primal forests, dugout canoes gliding silently on the mirrored waters of jungle streams and pagan effigies serving as the protectors of the dispossessed. Extraordinary landscapes, ancestral cultures and eternal contradictions: Magical surrealism is Guatemala!

Almost a quarter of a century ago, it was a perfect canvas for me. A land where passions could be expressed freely and be transformed into art and enterprise. Away from gilded boxes, conservative nay-saying and unwarranted pretensions. This was terra incognita: wild, unfashionable, yet terribly alluring and at the antipode of western habits. And mostly, then, I had her all to myself. That is when Guatemala became my adopted home: under the volcanos, amidst the ruined monuments of a small Spanish colonial town named Antigua. Struck by devastating earthquakes over the centuries, time stopped with each tremor and created a rare and stunning setting of old stones, myths and legends.

Read more at John Heaton's Quinta Maconda - Signature Journeys and Hideaways [5] on Facebook.