Coming from Belize into Guatemala was a hard shock. The Jamaican tinge on English ended abruptly at the border as did the road along with the
housing. On the road from the border we encountered many farmers herding cows down the dirt track which was referred to as a road. After
several hours with us all cramped into a tiny van we arrived at our first port of call in this large and diverse country, Flores.
We found the people in Guatemala to be the most friendly, intriguing and humbling people that we met in Central America. They also came across
to us as some of the poorest. We also had to wait 2 hours once in order to change some dollars to Guatemalan Quetzal in a bank.
Guatemala was also slated as one of the most unsafe countries in Central America, however we had no issues during our time here, thankfully.
Our first port of call in Guatemala was the town of Flores. This town is partially set on an island in a lake connected to the mainland via a
bridge. This island has a nice close community feel to it and was where we stayed during our time here.
During our time in Flores we had the opportunity to visit the Tikal ruins. We were presented with the option to get up at 2:30am and head into
the park for a guided sunrise tour. Did we do this, of course we didn't. Straying away from the tourist trap option again we decided to simply
book a shared van to the park and go about having a self-guided tour through the ruins.
The day started out with a delayed shuttle which we weren't even sure was going to turn up followed by a semi ok 10 seater van arriving. After
a few more pickups we had left Flores and were on our way. There was a brief stop for petrol where we filled up with the engine on. Next we
stopped at the road that led to the Belizean border in order to pick up around 15 passengers. We now had 25 people crammed into just 10 seats,
there was the odd wooden stool and plastic tub being offered around by the locals for others to sit on. Once we were all aboard we continued on
towards the national park. On the way we had to reverse up the highway for a missed pickup of a passenger and a woman dragged her two year old
daughter by the arm over three rows of seats in order to get them both off the van. All in all an uneventful way to spend 90 minutes getting to
Tikal ruins. :)
This option also gave us the benefit of being the only two people in large sections of the park for long periods of time. This enabled us to see
some unique wildlife and have some surreal experiences which were largely missed by those who fell for the tourist trap option. Again it was proven
just how great an experience you can have by thinking outside the box and by DIY'ing an activity.
The ruins themselves were fantastic and we were able to sit atop of some of the pyramids and enjoy the view across the top of the tree canopy.
There were many differing types of ruins from ball courts to temples and arenas. The park itself was huge, yet we were able to explore all sections
of it.
Next we headed to Rio Dulce. On route we stopped at the Finca Paraiso "Hot spring waterfall". This was like visiting an entire spa.
There was a pool at the bottom where the cold river water met the hot spring waterfall. This made for a nice contrast between
temperatures and ensured that everyone was able to find an area the right temperature for them. Still one had to take a shower under
the gorgeously hot waterfall. Not satisfied with this we decided to climb atop of the waterfall to find the source of the thermal
activity. Getting them meant walking bare foot and topless through a muddy waterlogged forest. This was interesting bare foot.
Eventually we reached the source where there was silica mud. Unfortunately we had to cross an inferno stream at the top in order to
reach it. This definitely proved challenging. As in oh feck feck feck my lower legs are burning. When we eventually reached the other
side we covered ourselves in mud and proceeded to make our way back down. It was at this point that Kat decided to grab the only tree
in the forest not to grab. If you imagine a porcupine mixed with a tree then you should get an idea of what she grabbed. Of course
this led to Kat having hundreds of splinters in her hand. Once we made it back down to the bottom of the falls we washed the mud off
of ourselves and were supposed to look 10 years younger. ;)
From here we proceeded onto Rio Dulce. In Rio Dulce we stayed on a river side floating hotel. During the short time we were here we
didn't really do much as we could just sit and watch river life go by and take a much needed wind down and catch up.
Our next stop in Guatemala was Antigua. During our time here some new people joined our group. Antigua was a cobbled street
town in higher plains and thankfully this meant that the temperature had returned to be slightly cooler. This was our guide's
hometown and we enjoyed a meal or two at their restaurant and enjoyed meeting his family. From here we headed to the town
Chichicastengo where we got to explore a traditional Mayan market and Mayan take on a catholic church. This was very enjoyable
and strange. During our time here we knew that we were going to a nearby Mayan town and would be staying there that night.
Therefore we picked up some goodies and staples for these families.
Upon arriving in the Mayan town of San Jorge La Laguna we were greeted by our Mayan families for the evening. I'm not a fan of
homestays on the whole as I feel that they are always forced and mostly down for the wrong reasons. I would much rather be
invited into someone's house at random than go and enjoy a meal and evening with a family on a forced nature. Anyway, as always
we made the most of this opportunity and made tortillas with the eldest daughter in preparation for diner which was a lot harder
than it would seem. We also engaged with the entire family. Although, a cousin turned up who was heavily pregnant and moody as.
The family had two young sons. The next day we all met up in the morning to surprise all of the children in the town by throwing
a pinata. This descended into almost organised anarchy, especially where it split and all the treats spewed out. It was nice to
bring something different to the poor children in this town though.
From the Mayan homestay we headed down the mountain to the fishing town of Panajachel. This was only a short ride and in the absence of any proper transport in the Mayan town resulted in us all standing in the back of a locals pickup truck for the journey down the windy lane. This made all the more scary by the old heavy chicken buses following us with worn out brakes. During our time here we hit the town and enjoyed several drinks in some strange bars and got to know the group better. From here we headed out to the old Mayan settlement of Santiago on the other side of the huge lake. Here we visited some clothes stalls and learnt about the Mayan way of dress. We also visited some more churches and shrines to the Mayan gods.
The journey to Pacaya Volcano left us all huddled into a small van which had far more seats that it really should of had and was very noisy and left us having to put up with the smell of burning rubber. This was because of the near vertical hill climbs and descents which really put us on edge. Anyway, upon reaching the base of the trail we were presented with a 90 minute steep trek to the top and were offered a horse to ride in case we were unable to make it. Of course we didn't need this. Once we reached the top of the volcano we were pleased to be greeted by an almost sand, beach like expanse of volcanic ash and rock along with some openings closer to hot vents from the earth's core.
Guatemala had marked a different take on Central America coming from Mexico and Belieze, but a welcome one at that. From here we moved onto the poorer and less visited areas of Central America. Next Stop Honduras.
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