Guatemala City rewards foreign visitors with everything they need to enjoy the expat life. It boasts friendly locals, dazzling natural surroundings, a balmy climate and top-notch amenities.
Its only flaw, expats say, is the lack of personal safety. In 2008, the city reported 40 murders per week.
“Despite being in Angola and places that have been at war, this is one of the most dangerous places I’ve ever lived,” said Catholic Relief Services Country Representative Anne Bousquet.
“If they see you with a cell phone or a watch, a gun comes out,” she added. “As a foreigner living here, one has to take a lot of precautions.”
Abundant amenities
Save for the crime, Guatemala City is great.
“For any expat living here, Guatemala is a paradise,” said Mercy Corps Country Director Borys Chinchilla.
The city has abundant entertainment options including cinema, theater and at least three major cultural centers. Being the largest city in Central America, it also has countless bars, restaurants and discos. There’s also a zoo, a botanical garden, and several museums showcasing the country’s unrivaled indigenous cultural production including textiles, pottery, masks and some of the Mayan codices.
Guatemala City’s neighborhoods are organized into zones – called “zonas” in Spanish – that number from 1 to 21. Most development professionals live, work and play in Zona 10.
“About 99 percent of international organizations are based in Zona 10,” said Chinchilla, who is also a Guatemalan native.
The U.S. embassy is located in Zona 10, as are many international development organizations, hotel chains, and Guatemalan government agencies such as the education, defense, and foreign relations ministries. It’s also one of the safer zones in the city, although visitors and residents alike are advised not to let their guard down anywhere.
Zona 10 is filled with restaurants ranging from American fast food to gourmet Guatemalan cuisine, including Hacienda Real, which is touted as one of the country’s best restaurants.
For more economic options, one of the best places to break out the laptop and enjoy a drink or a meal is Panaderia San Martin. The café has an outdoor patio, comfortable couches and calming music, making it a sanctuary from Guatemala City’s pollution-clogged streets. Breakfast at this popular pastry shop costs $5, and a Guatemalan beer is only $2.50.
Mexican food is also popular in Guatemala City. Tacontento in Zona 10 attracts Guatemalans and expats hypnotized by numerous large flat-screen transmissions of the latest in soccer and other sports. It also has good taco plates, with prices starting at about $3.
As in other Central American capitals, malls are a major part of Guatemala City’s social life. The Geminis 10 mall in Zona 10 includes fast food, an Internet café, a hair salon and restaurants such as TGI Friday’s. Malls are also favored by Guatemalans and expats because they usually have their own security personnel and are relatively safe.
Accommodations
Almost all the major hotel chains are located in Zona 10. One of the chains recommended by development professionals is the Clarion Suites, where room rates start at about $90 per night and include breakfast and free airport transfer. The hotel also has facilities for meetings and events.
Other hotels within easy walking distance of each other in Zone 10 include the Holiday Inn, Westin Biltmore, Barceló Premium and Best Western. Room prices in these hotels start at around $90 per night and usually include breakfast, free Wi-Fi and transportation to the airport.
For more frugal visitors, Zona 1 offers cheaper accommodations and proximity to the city’s historic center with its museums, cultural institutions and El Parque Central, where locals gather to protest, socialize and peddle tamales. There is notably less police presence, and walking at night is not recommended.
Many younger expats and volunteers prefer to reside in Zona 1. Life here is conducted at a more typically Guatemalan pace than in the more Westernized and business-oriented Zona 10.
“The people that live in Zona 1 have lived there forever,” said U.S. Agency for International Development contractor Casey Wheeler. “It has a community feel to it.”
Zona 1 offers many budget accommodations, including multiple backpacker-style hostels. The Posada Belen Museum is a highly recommended bed and breakfast-style inn that is used by international tourists and volunteers. At about $50 per night, it costs almost half as much as the most affordable accommodations in Zona 10.
Apartments are much cheaper in Zona 1 than in Zona 10, where the monthly rent may be as much as $1,500 to $2,000 for a small flat. Many expats have also opted for Zonas 14 and 15, which are close to Zona 10 and offer more residential housing options and gated communities.
Taxis in Guatemala City are easily accessible on the street or by phone, and trips from Zona 1 to Zona 10 cost only $3 or $4. The city’s bus system is notorious for crime and is not recommended as transportation mode.
Community
Guatemala has been a magnet for development professionals and volunteers for almost 50 years. Visitors will encounter organizations and individuals from Europe, Asia and North America working in the development field, in addition to a large cadre of Guatemalans working for local and international agencies.
“For many years, Guatemala has been a hub for development,” said USAID Development Communications Specialist Wende DuFlon. “USAID’s regional office started here in 1960, and we had all the regional programs until the last four years.”
Several groups bring elements of the international development community together in Guatemala City. But they tend to meet irregularly.
“There’s a group of women partners of USAID that tries to meet, but because everyone is so busy, it’s hard,” said Population Services International Country Representative Pilar Sebastian.
Some expats find connections through church and, if they have children, schools.
“There’s a community here around the Union Church, which is the only church with services in English,” Wheeler said.
Most expat children attend either the Mayan School or the American School. Wheeler said the Mayan School is “like being in school in the U.S.,” adding that foreigners account for about 80 percent of its students. The American School is also mixed but has a larger percentage of Guatemalan students.
“If you have kids, it’s especially easy [to connect with expats],” said Judith Heichelheim, PSI’s deputy regional director for Latin America and the Caribbean. “I find the community to be very friendly.”
Antigua
When they do get together, most of Guatemala City’s expat community congregates outside the city limits. Nearby expat and tourist mecca La Antigua Guatemala – commonly known as Antigua – serves as a safer and calmer space for expat entertainment, socializing and living.
The UNESCO World Heritage site was the colonial capital of Guatemala – and the rest of Central America – from 1543 to 1776, until an earthquake prompted the Spanish to move the capital to Guatemala City.
Antigua is a common weekend getaway for expats living in Guatemala City.
“That’s where everybody migrates to,” Wheeler said. “Even if they are working in the city [Guatemala City], on the weekends, that’s where everybody is at. There’s a whole community feel to it.”
Antigua is loaded with hostels, hotels, cafes, restaurants, bars, art galleries and shops. Many of them are owned by expats.
“Eighty percent of the businesses are owned by international people,” Chinchilla said.
Although not crime-free, Antigua is one of the few places in Guatemala where you can wander the streets in relative safety. If you want to drift from an art gallery to a café or to a music recital in a 400-year-old church on cobblestone streets without worrying about being assaulted, Antigua suits your needs much better than Guatemala City.
Many expats working in Guatemala City completely ditch the city after work and decide to live in Antigua full-time. Despite the hour-long drive between Guatemala’s colonial and current capitals, development professionals said the commute is worth is.
“Antigua for the last 30 years has been a nice place for foreigners to go,” DuFlon said. “It’s getting hotter and hotter. There are tons of bars, restaurants, shopping, discotheques.”
One of the best ways to tap into both Antigua and Guatemala City’s cultural and entertainment offerings is through the monthly English-language magazine Revue, which lists business, cultural, entertainment and gastronomical events in the two cities. Harder news on political, social, and economic issues as well as latest job postings can be found in the country’s main newspaper, Prensa Libre. Guatemalan and international nonprofits have used the newspaper to list their local vacancies.
About the author
Andrew Wainer@AndrewWainer
Andrew Wainer is director of policy research for Save the Children. He was formerly a senior immigration policy analyst at Bread for the World Institute, which provides policy analysis on hunger and strategies to end it. He has also worked as a journalist and social researcher in Latin America and the United States. Andrew’s research and journalism has appeared in the Los Angeles Times and the Wall Street Journal, among other publications. He holds a master’s degree in Latin American studies from UCLA and is fluent in Spanish and proficient in Portuguese.