Parque Minerva

As you head north along 6a Avenida and then Avenida Simeón Cañas, it’s about 1.5 kilometers from the city center to Parque Minerva in the adjoining Zona 2 sector. The park here has some sporting facilities, including the Estadio Nacional de Béisbol (National Baseball Stadium), where there are games on weekends. Its informal atmosphere is a bit like that of old-time minor league parks in the U.S. Midwest.

Baseball is nowhere near as popular in Guatemala as in other parts of Central America, namely Nicaragua, but if you’re a fan of the game you might want to stop and check it out.

The park’s main attraction, however, is also one of Guatemala’s most unusual. The 2,000-square-meter Mapa en Relieve (Relief Map, 9 a.m.–5 p.m. daily, $2), is built to 1:10,000 scale and was created in 1905, well before the invention of Google Earth. It gives you a good idea of the country’s mountain topography and the contrasting flatness of Petén [1] and neighboring Belize [2], which, of course, is included as part of Guatemala in accord with the long-standing Guatemala-Belize [3] border dispute.

The scale of the mountains is somewhat exaggerated, with the volcanoes and peaks looking steep and pointy. There are observation towers from which you can get a better vantage point. The rivers and lakes are sometimes filled with water from built-in taps, making for an even more authentic experience.

It makes a good stop if you’re in Guatemala City [4] before heading out to the interior and want to get a feel for the country’s unique geography.