Fishing and Golfing in Guatemala

ideal golfing conditions every time. The temperature starts warm early in the morning and remians that way until late in the afteroon.

For a population of about 14 million living in a country roughly the size of Tennessee, golf remains largely an elitist sport, but that is starting to change.

The country is home to five courses and to date has comfortably accommodated the country's two thousand or so active players. The most recent addition to this stable of International courses is La Reunion located just 11 miles outside the old capital and world heritage site of Antigua.

The course is based within the 1380—acres of a former coffee plantation and in the shadows of four towering volcanoes—Agua, Fuego, Acatenango, and Pacaya. It has been appropriately named "Fuego Maya" or Mayan Fire - and was designed by renowned course architect Pete Dye.

The course is relatively long, although even an average golfer should be able to complete the round in under 4 hours.

The avergae golfer enjpys almost perfect conditions almost every round that he plays here.

The air temperature is comfortably warm from early in the morning until sunset - and then becomes refreshingly cool later in the evening.

A perfect end to a great round is to sip a cool glass of Gallo at the nineteenth hole and debate about the shot that got away and what could or shuld have been.

Maybe next time.

Although lacking the links (excuse pun) to the Royal & Ancient, there are indigenous links to the ancient Mayan calendar, which consists of 20 months of 18 days each. The final 5 days of the lunar calendar are then consumed by "Wayeb" which is held as a sacred time for relaxation and contemplation for the coming journey or the following calendar - much as the palyers mull their next round of golf.

Despite its only now emerging golfing population, Guatemala is starting to display its talents on the International golf scene - the country recently qualifying for the first time ever in an International event with the success of two budding stars Pablo Acuña and Alejandro Villavicencio who will represent the country at the Omega Mission Hills World Cup to be held in China November 27-30 which has a prize of $5.5 million.

If you want to try your hand on this remarkable course perhaps as an "off" day from fishing in Guatemala, The GreatSailfishing Company is pleased to arrange tee times for you - and even has a selection of golf sets for you to choose from (it can be difficult to rent clubs in Guatemala), just ask a nd we will be happy to accommodate you !

The fishing this past week has ranged from outstanding to tough - as has the weather !

Trpoical storm IDA caused some havoc as it moved away from the Central AMerica coast and into the Gulf of Mexico - and Guatemala was affected like other countries in the region !

At the start of last week the fishing was strong with over 20 billfish raised each day - but as soon as the front and the weather came in, the seas built and unfortunately the fishing slowed. The Netland group saw decent fishing their first day, with a half dozen sailfish and a good sized Blue Marlin that took over two hours to bring to the boat for release.

Following days however brought ever increasing seas, and most boats stayed closer to shore - either combining some inshore fishing action with a run offshore in search of billfish and other pelagics.

The strong winds have now subsided and so the bait is balling up and becoming easier for the predators and anglers to find - so we are hopeful to see consistent fishing more on a par to the early part of last week than the latter days.

The winter almanac is forecasting the coldest winter in North Anerica in a decade - so this could be an ideal time to consider a fishing trip in balmy Guatemala while we still have prime dates available !