Accessible Everything - An accessible & inclusive travel blog for people with disabilities

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Lucas “LazyLegz” Patuelli

Antigua, Guatemala - Antigua “Sin Barreras” (Happy Birthday Josefina!)

By Craig Grimes

Friday 14th March 2008

Normally when I’m using a level access shower I sit on a plastic patio chair as I find them stable and easy to transfer in and out of. I’d asked the hotel to provide one, but instead they provided me with a plastic buffet which was no use whatsoever so I jumped out of my chair onto the floor and that’s where I showered. Luckily the floor wasn’t too bad so it wasn’t all that disgusting.

After my new shower experience, I went out with the girls and helped them explore a little with all of my whole two days worth of experience……. Firstly we did the typical Craig thing and wandered around looking at the various churches and the main archway in Antigua. We also came across the “Antigua Sin Barreras” (without barriers) signs in the streets indicating dropped kerbs for wheelchair users, how you are supposed to get across the cobbled street easily to the other side is anybody’s guess, but the intentions are there.

After the square we went to Antigua’s market, where the access was quite good (apart from a couple of steps) as the floor was well paved.

Surprisingly, after the market, we carried on wandering around, popped back to the hotel to meet Edurne and then….. kept on wandering around and bumped into Easter procession.

After sooooooo much wandering I began to get tired and so I chilled out in the Kafka bar (mentioned yesterday) to have a couple of cuba libres and try to get information for the rest of our trip. Whilst I was relaxing and making notes and friends the girls came across an Easter concert in the Central Square and a couple of Soldiers…..

The girls came back to find me and after a swift drink we went out to celebrate Josefina’s birthday at a Japenese restaurant and another couple of drinks before going wearily back to our hotel.

Posted in Antigua, Guatemala, Accommodation, Central America, Travel | No Comments

Antigua, Guatemala - A day of Rest

By Craig Grimes

Thursday 13th March 2008

This day was pretty much a rest day and chilling out after a tough Wednesday while waiting for Laia, Roser and Josefina to arrive. I got up and left Edurne’s hotel and went down the street until I came to the end where I stumbled across a small café/community centre. Although the front of the building was a café offering food and drinks to the general public, it was also kind of a community centre where people could take art and music classes. It was a strange kind of mix, where in the café area they were selling art and musical instruments, a bizarre accompaniment to hamburgers.

Afterwards, I continued my aimless wandering and exploring looking for a bank to change money and after a few hours I got bored so I went back to the Black Cat to have a beer. While I was there I met a group of 4 backpackers, 2 from Canada, 1 from Holland and 1 from N. Ireland, we sat around talking and exchanging travel stories until I decided it was time to go see if the girls had arrived from Nicaragua.

On my way out of the Black Cat I realised that my worst dreams had come true and that it was raining. I’d already thought about the issues of trying to get around Antigua when the cobbles were wet and it was just as bad as I thought it would be! Just trying to get from one side of the street to the other was a complete nightmare, slipping, sliding and stumbling all over the place. Luckily for me a youngish Guatamalan guy (in his mid 20’s) saw me struggling and ask me if I needed help. As he helped me we got chatting and, although this isn’t very advisable, (what can I say, he seemed and was harmless) he accompanied me back to Edurne’s hotel. I say it isn’t advisable because you never know what can happen in a strange country when you meet someone you don’t know on the street. In this case, he was just a genuine person that was trying to help, and after meeting up with the girls, he helped us take all of our bags to the new hotel, Amigos 3.

Meeting up with the girls that had arrived from Nicaragua was great in so many ways, firstly because it meant that I didn’t have to relay on strangers to help me in the street and secondly because I could move into our new building site hotel which was slightly more accessible. To say thank you to our new found friend, we took him out for a cocktail when we had dinner and after we went looking for a night cap. We came across another place which turned out to be the Kafka Hostel on 6th Avenue Norte, No.40. I’d already heard about the hostel but hadn’t managed to find it and although it had a step to get into, I could easily get into the women’s’ WC without any problems. The ambience was great, lots of young friendly travelers and staff with great music, I really recommend popping in if you get the chance.

That was about the end of the evening, a couple of Cuba Libres and off to bed. I took very few photos in the first couple of days that I was in Guatemala, but now the photo fest begins………

Posted in Antigua, Guatemala, Accommodation, Central America, Travel | No Comments

Antigua, Guatemala - The search for an accessible hotel

By Craig Grimes

Wednseday 12th March 2008

The first thing that hit me in the face (thankfully not literally) as I went out of the hotel door on Wednesday morning was the cobbles… The streets in Antigua are basically all cobbled, not just your standard annoying cobbles either, super irritating cobbles made of volcanic rock that are spread just far enough apart to get your casters stuck in and very slippery when wet as I found out the following day.

Below: Antigua Cobbles and a “Chicken Bus”

As I was wandering around by myself trying to find a hotel the situation with the streets made it even harder. This combined with the blistering sun made the whole experience exhausting. We had decided that our budget for the day was $20 per day for everything including, food, accommodation and any travel costs (We soon found this impossible upped the budget to $30 per day), so finding a relatively accessible hotel within our price range and that had availability the week before Easter proved very hard. After going to a few hotels and finding the price way too high or that they were fully booked I decided to stop of for a well earned breakfast.

I found a small arched entrance and decided to investigate the café inside, there were two small steps to get into the courtyard but then there was a level area where I could sit. The courtyard to the café (Rick’s Bar) was beautiful with plants and trees all around. There were a small group of 3 Americans sat having breakfast too and so I decided to ask them where they were staying and if the hotel had availability. They were very helpful and after another coffee I set off to the hotel where they were staying. Once at the hotel, it turned out that they were also fully booked, but they had another hotel that wasn’t yet open but there were willing to rent me rooms. I decided to investigate and went with the owners to the potential building site.

We entered through a garage door into the area that would eventually be the reception and towards the back of the building. Although the rooms were basic, they were clean and already had beds in them, the kitchen didn’t have anything, but they offered to put in a fridge and a cooker if we stayed. The bathroom wasn’t big enough for my wheelchair so I couldn’t shut the door behind me, but I figured that I could jump across from the WC into the shower and that it would be good enough for a couple of days. I told the owners that I’d go back with Edurne later in the day so that she could approve my chosen hotel.

I carried on roaming the streets of Antigua and asked at a few more hotels and hostels but nothing came up, however I came across another great little place. Bacchus, wine, cigar and martina bar is located on 3rd Calle Poniente, No. 12 where they have wine and cigars from pretty much all over the world. After a glass of red, interesting conversation with the Canadian owner (who advised me to try the Black Cat Hostel) and an elderly Mexican customer I carried on my journey to look for the Black Cat, although the hostel was totally inaccessible I decided to stay and have a quick beer there. They advised me to try the Jungle Party Hostel, so I popped in there on the way back to Edurne’s hotel. The hostel really wasn’t my cup of tea, rooms with two bunk-beds in and I could only see 1 shared bathroom for the whole hostel with 2 showers and 2 toilets (1 of which was out of order) and the price was higher than what I’d been quoted at the building site hotel which will be called Amigos 3 when it’s open.

After meeting up with Edurne, we went together to Amigos 3, negotiated the price down slightly and agreed with the owners that we needed 2 rooms for 2 nights starting from the day after. Business was concluded and we went back to Edurnes hotel, had dinner and then crashed after an exhausting day of cobble hopping…..

Posted in Antigua, Guatemala, Accommodation, Central America, Travel | No Comments