The coastal area around Monterrico is a totally different Guatemala. Life here is soaked with a muggy, tropical flavor - it's a place where hanging out in a hammock is both a major goal. Among the main cash crops here is pachete (loofah), which get as big as a man's leg. In season, you see them everywhere growing on trellises and drying in the sun. The architecture, too, is different, with rustic wooden slat-and-thatched roofed houses instead of the dull cinder block, corrugated-tin models common elsewhere. When the sky is clear, keep your eyes peeled for the awesome volcanoes that shimmer in the hinterland. This part of Guatemala is also treated to sensational lightning storms from around November to April.