Verapaz: The Pilgrimage of The Senses

Some destinations seem endless, leaving you unable to fully digest the wonder of one thing before another appears on the horizon. Guatemala is like that: full of magic and mystery. Here, Panorama of the Americas takes you on a tour of one of its most beautiful and still relatively unknown regions: Verapaz. Enjoy this “appetizer” to an adventure that will awaken your senses and leave you wanting more.

By: Juan Abelardo Carles

Photos: Luis Zamora @luis_zamorav

The Verapaz region in northern Guatemala has high and low lands. Both await you behind lacy banks of sun and fog that part to let you in, but may not let you out. Everything conspires to keep you there.

Verapaz, in northern Guatemala, has everything you want in a destination: adventure, culture, gastronomy, and history, all waiting behind lacy curtains of sun and fog.

A Coffee-Scented Courtship

Seduction often occurs through one’s sense of smell, particularly the aroma of coffee. The initial trap on this tour is laid at Finca Casa Aurora, near Santa Cruz Verapaz, which has been producing coffee since 1887. The owners of Finca Casa Aurora transformed their old farm, built of stone, brick, and tile, into a romantic space with a restaurant and event rooms. They offer a curated menu, and you can finish your meal with coffee produced on the farm, including the Caturra, Venecia, Maragopipe, or delicate Geisha varieties. Round out your experience by touring the farm, where you’ll learn about the current coffee processing process, as well as conservation initiatives implemented on the farm.

If you manage to escape this charming ambush, you may not be so lucky on your next stop: Haci- enda Yalipur, or, rather, the coffee shop Hacienda Yalipur started in January 2024 in Cobán, capital of Alta Verapaz. Yalipur has been around since 1911, but only in the 1990s did they begin grow- ing cardamom on their coffee plantations. Aside from the delicious food menu, Yalipur offers tast- ings of its Pacamara, Geisha, Guapa, Maragopipe, Marsellesa blends and, of course, Caturra, the star of the house blend. You can also try Yalipur’s intense and seductive cardamom-flavored coffee.

Legend has it that the entrance to King Marcos’s Caves were sealed two thousand years ago, when the Mayan civilization was just emerging, and rediscovered in 1998.

Nature in Verapaz: Both Mystical and Extreme

After the initial spell is cast through aromatic coffee, the magic continues when you look out on the natural treasures of Alta and Baja Verapaz. The beauty here is more than skin deep; underground caves formed 65 million years ago when the Chicxulub meteorite struck the surrounding grounds, causing an impact that resembled ocean waves.

Among the most wonderful and accessible of the caves is Grutas del Rey Marcos (King Marcos Grotto), near San Juan Chamelco. Legend has it that the entrance to these caves was sealed two thousand years ago, when the Mayan civilization was just emerging, and rediscovered in 1998. It is said that the gods came to hide in the cave to avoid an ancient cataclysm, emerging later to teach people how to sow and build. People who enter the caves nowadays have reported “immaterial presences,” mystical experiences, and epiphanies among the cave’s shadows and nooks.

Semuc Champey is another of nature’s geological whims, sculpted and hidden under the green canopy of Verapaz. Here, the Cahabón River splits in two, with one branch going underground and the other flowing into a series of stepped pools. The composition of the riverbed, rich in calcium, gives the pools their marble-like appearance. Bathing in the opalescent waters, you might catch a glimpse of one of a hundred species of birds flying overhead, or hear the defiant howler monkeys, surprised by the hubbub of visitors.

Biodiversity is another of Verapaz’s strengths. Several natural sanctuaries, such as Ranchitos del Quetzal, in the Purulhá region of Baja Verapaz, offer lodging and tours of the beautiful surround- ings. You may even catch sight of the elusive quetzal jumping from branch to branch like an animated flower. At night the dynamics change as thousands of eyes surround you, wondering if you are preda- tor or prey. Keep an eye out on your walks for the Bothriechis aurifer, a poisonous snake with flamboy- ant greenish-black scales. If you spot her, she’ll rise up aggressively, as if to say, “Admire me, human, but come no closer if you want to live to tell the tale.”

Your visit to Orquigonia will be less dramatic; this natural enclosure is dedicated to the preserva- tion of orchids, a genus constantly threatened by deforestation and uncontrolled harvesting. The interpretive trail has nine educational stations and takes about an hour to complete. Watch your step along the way as 70% of existing orchids measure less than two centimeters. Tiny filigree jewels, hidden among the foliage and mist.

Historical and Cultural Heritage

The name Verapaz derives from the historical fact that the region was conquered through religious missions and not by arms. Franciscan and Dominican friars laid the foundations for the splendid mestizo culture that would later flourish and manifest itself in many ways. You’ll sense it, first, in the main square in front of the San Juan Chamelco church, built in 1544. Women are not allowed to climb the bell tower, and popular tradition says that, for each bell in the tower, a sacrificed maiden now lies in the temple’s foundations.

The name Verapaz derives from the historical fact that the region was conquered through religious missions and not by arms.

Apart from the church, San Juan Chamelco has chapels in various neighborhoods, which are cared for by local fraternal organizations. These chapels showcase the town’s traditions, including the remains of the original murals painted by the friars in the “Soldier’s Chapel” around the time that temples were founded, between 1550 and 1560.

In Cobán, if you’re lucky, you might catch a marimba performance. We attended one at the Rabin Ajau Hotel. The hotel’s owner is a founding member of the Friends of the Marimba Civil Association, a group that announces its regular performances on social media. Weaving is also among the living arts practiced in Cobán. Here and there you’ll see women demonstrating how they make the cloth for their huipile blouses. Concepción Hub, an expert weaver, showed us her work on the grounds of the Grutas del Rey Marcos.

The Baja Verapaz region offers other fine displays, such as the Museo Regional del Trapiche in San Jerónimo. This hacienda, founded by Friar Bartolomé de las Casas and his Dominicans in 1549, became the first sugar mill in Central America in 1601. The premises are home to elements of the sugar culture that flourished here as well as the remains of one of Guatemala’s first industrial facilities.

Dining in Verapaz

Your adventures in Alta and Baja Verapaz can be physically challenging, but don’t worry, the regional cuisine will restore your strength. At breakfast, there will be no shortage of beans, ripe plantains, and fresh cheese, accompanied by coffee or artisanal hot chocolate. At noon, fill up on kak’ik, a soup starring chompipe (a local turkey), accompanied by rice, tortillas, and corn cakes. If you have room, order the mole, a delicious ripe plantain swimming in a chocolate and spiced atole.