Our layover in Los Angeles was just over five hours. That’s a long time to sit in uncomfortable chairs in a small terminal where almost everything was closed for the evening. At some point Brett and I talked about what time we thought we would be in Antigua in the morning. We were scheduled to land in Guatemala City around 6:00 in the morning. We thought that would probably be early enough that traffic wouldn’t be bad yet. We knew it would take some time to clear customs, especially with needing to verify every passenger held a recent negative test for covid, etc. We thought we would probably be leaving the airport by 7:00 and be in Antigua (20 miles away) by 7:45 or 8:00 – just in time for breakfast. We thought that was a fairly conservative estimate. We thought we had it all figured out.
Everything’s Coming Up Roses
We were the first plane to land in Guatemala that morning. Immigration and Customs were completely devoid of passengers. Charmaine and I were the first people off the plane. We breezed through immigration and the covid health check and then waited for our bags to arrive in baggage claim. Brett and Jess stayed on the plane to gather their kids (who where all flying coach) before coming through, so we pulled their bags off the carousel to make things go faster once they arrived. All of our bags had been checked as First Class, so they came out first. And I mean first. Every one of the first 10 bags to come through were ours and theirs. We pulled them off and stacked them against a wall. The drug dog came around and indicated (sat down) by one of Brett’s bags. The soldier running the dog asked me if I had food in the bag. I said I didn’t think so, but that we could open the bag and look. He seemed happy with my answer (and probably that I didn’t freak out) and went to investigate other travelers. At that point Brett and Jess came through and we headed through customs. That only took moments and we were on our way. It was nearly 7:00 on the dot. We were feeling pretty confident about our earlier estimates about how long each thing might take. We may have even patted ourselves on the back at that point.
We were outside the terminal by 7:15. That’s pretty close to what we thought it would be. A driver named Ruben was already there and waiting to pick us up in a large silver van. Some local airport guys helped load our luggage and then asked Brett for a tip. We had no money and couldn’t tip. Ruben paid them a few Quetzales from his own wallet and we headed out of the airport and on our way. We didn’t know it yet, but our plan to be in Antigua for breakfast was about to get away from us.
The Best-Laid Plans of Mice and Men
To leave the airport, you drive along one side and then you’re forced to turn right – even when you want to go left – and you have to drive all the way to Avenida Las Americas before you wait in a super long line of cars and trucks to do a U-turn. It wasn’t even 7:30 in the morning yet, but traffic was intense. We worked our way slowly toward the U-turn and then really slowly back out of the city. And I mean slooooooowly. The more time passed, the worse the traffic became. After about 2 hours in the van (on our 20 mile trip), Antigua seemed further away than when we started.
Traffic only got worse as we started our descent into the canyon toward Antigua. Eventually we were mostly just stopped. Ruben was surprised by it. He said it’s almost never bad traffic in that location, but there we were. After sitting motionless for 10 to 15 minutes, an ambulance passed us. We figured that was probably related to the traffic. Another twenty minutes passed before an undercover cop and a second ambulance passed us. We finally started creeping forward, but our three lane road was merging down to just one lane, because of an accident somewhere down the canyon. Around a few more corners (and another hour later) we saw the wreck. There was an overturned semi truck facing the wrong way. I’m not sure how it happened, but I suspect it rolled down the hill from the other side of the divided highway and just came to a stop on our side. It was really smashed up and wonder if the driver made it out. It didn’t look like it, but we hoped for the best.
After passing the accident there was no more traffic and we cruised the rest of the way into Antigua. I think it was after 10:00 when we arrived, but I wasn’t paying too much attention. My mouth was completely dry. I was probably dehydrated. I needed a drink. Delta’s lack of drinks had turned me into the equivalent of a very hangry man, but for thirst.
