I´ve been away for almost a week on a trip with the quetzaltrekkers through the villages of the Cuchumatane mountains, which less than 20 years was the scene of many devastating massacres during the civil war between the rightwing government army and the socialist Guerillas. Many young men were conscripted by force into the army only to have to kill their neighbouring villagers. Horrific happenings, and the people who survived all this still have the memories fresh in their minds. Hardly surprising that the villagers were a little wary of us as we passed through. Spent an inter [View Full Entry]

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This was supposed to be a training hike, but with the cancellation of a tour group it became a fun trek up the hill behind Xela. Cerro Quemado - burnt hill - is 3300 metres of wrecked mountain, blown apart many thousands of years ago when it was estimated to be 6500 metres high and the highest mountain in the Americas Starting at Casa Argentina we had a 10 minute walk through town to the bottom of the hill, then it was up, up and up, first through pastures, then pine-rhododendron forests the trail winding through random volcanic rocks, steam vents [View Full Entry]

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Santiaguito, west of Xela, is one of the top ten most active volcanoes in the world. Penny and I both had interesting trips their last month. Here are some photos and a short commentary... Santiaguito, my second trip in my time here in Guatemala, is one of Guatemalas more active volcanoes. It erupts approximately every half an hour, spewing out ash and hot rocks. It was our goal to go camp at the lookout point to see the red hot rocks and lava rolling down the mountain at night. However, we were destined not to make it as a good few [View Full Entry]

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Write up to come... [View Full Entry]

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Went to visit lake Atitlan with the kids from the home (hogar) a couple of weeks ago. We all piled on a chicken bus with the kids literally swinging off the rafters!Stayed at the house of the ´mum´of the hogar and got up at 4.30am to see the sunrise over possibly one of the most amazing looking lakes in the world, surrounded by cone peaks of volcanoes.Great for swimming too, although had to fish out a couple of the kids who have no idea how to swim but none-the-less launched themselves off the jetty! [View Full Entry]

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The weekend started the usual way, 4.45 Quetzal Trekkers HQ. Eager clients, frazzled guides, a 10 minute ride to Minerva with Victor. Victor is a softly spoken Guatemalan pick-up driver, our main man, Minerva is Xela's biggest bus terminal dominated by a grandiose Parthenon like structure, one of many constructed by a past dictator whose headless statue graces one of our local parks. Our ride with Victor is a fun way to start a trip, hanging on the back of a pick-up zooming through the early morning streets. The only other people about are shady figures setting off fire crackers in [View Full Entry]

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Jamies first three adventures on Santa Maria [View Full Entry]

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Time is passing in Guatemala, The trip to Tajumulco in the weekend went great (muy bueno). For me (Jamie) it will probably be the 1st of many as this is the trip I have been assigned to guide for the Quetzal Trekkers. Tajumulco is the highest point in Central America, 4220 metres. [View Full Entry]

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Hola guys! First email out of guatemala. Please excuse the atrocious typing to come, most of the letters have rubbed off the keyboard ( how I wish I had learnt touch typing!) nad some have been replaced in twink but not always correctly. Jamie and I arrived in Xela (pronounced shay-la) our final destination after a long but not entirely unpleasant journey via auckland and LA. spent an after noon sleeping on the grass by samta monica beach (aka Baywaytch Beach) and was surprised to open my eyes and find myself staring up at a Pohutakawa tree ( I wonder what [View Full Entry]

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So away we go chasing Quetzals. Quetzals while being the basic unit of money in Guatemala are also large trogons of Central America and South America having golden-green and scarlet plumage and long tails. The latter are beautiful birds virtually impossible to find the former are common gold coins which are virtually worthless. So far we have merely managed to get our hands on a few of the coins. We arrived in Xela (Shay-La) yesterday pretty shattered. The twelve hour flight from NZ to LA went without hitch. I (Jamie) was stoked with the new Air NZ entertainment system, plenty of [View Full Entry]

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