You've Guat the lot

TERRIFYING roars echo across the rainforest canopy as though we've just stepped into a Jurassic Park movie. Thankfully these were not dinosaurs making the hairs on the back of my neck stand up, but the chilling greeting of howler monkeys as we stepped into an ancient Mayan world reclaimed by nature. Sleeping to the same sound that night was no less frightening.

- By CHARLES WADE-PALMER

Guatemala is an adventure. A raw, rough and ready tourism melting pot of exotic animals, landscapes and history. Howler monkeys provided the soundtrack to both our trips into the jungle to marvel at the jaw-dropping remains of an ancient civilisation. But the beauty for those visiting this proud Meso American country isn't in its Unesco World Heritage Sites alone.

In fact, three days and a domestic flight earlier, it was volcanoes stealing the show. Having arrived in the onetime capital of Antigua at night, breakfast some hours later offered views I could not stop snapping.

“It's puffing!” someone cried as I sipped on locally sourced coffee. One of the two volcanoes dominating the landscape was adding to the clouds of sky above with plumes of smoke, a momentary event that never got old.

It was an altogether less active volcano - but no less otherworldly - that we scaled on horseback. Without so much as a single instruction, exploring the steep ashened trail on Tequila was unforgettable, unlike most run-ins I've had with her namesake. Perhaps it's a daily game of hers to test tourists’ nerves.

Preparing for our arrival on terrain resembling Tolkien's Mordor were a pair of lads rustling up pizza cooked into the volcano itself.

Back on solid ground it was easy to see why Unesco granted Antigua its World Cultural Heritage status. I couldn't put my camera down as every pastel-coloured building was prettier than the last, and behind each property was an enchanting leafy courtyard.

One such shopfront was Ek Chuah where we did a chocolate-making, eating and drinking workshop with singing and dancing thrown in for good measure.