Guatemala Guide
The Verapaces
Cobán
The heart of these rain-soaked hills and the capital of the department is COBÁN, Guatemala's principal centre for gourmet coffee production. Your initial impression of the town may not be that favourable – heavy traffic crawls past the central plaza and the main downtown shopping district is pretty nondescript – but away from here Cobán soon reveals its charms. It's not a large place (the population is around 65,000) and suburbs fuse gently with outlying meadows and pine forests, giving the town the air of an overgrown mountain village.
If the rain sets in, Cobán's atmosphere can become a bit subdued, and in the evenings the air is often damp and cool. The sun does put in an appearance most days, though, and the town certainly makes a useful base for a day or two. Sights include an excellent little Maya archeological museum, an orchid nursery, a coffee farm, and you'll find genteel cafés where you can sample a cup made from the world-renowned Verapaz bean. Outside the town, the spectacular mountains and rivers hold all kinds of exciting ecotourism possibilities, many of which can be done as day-trips.
Read more ▼
- Practical Information ▼
- Sight(s) ▼
- Sports and Outdoor ▼