Today we piled into a boat for our trip down Rio Dulce to Livingston. Livingston is in Guatemala, but it's a garifun community founded somewhat by african slaves from shipwrecks or 'planted´along the coast by the British to work the sugar cane plantations. We started just east of the only bridge across Laka Izabal near the mouth of the Rio Dulce river which is fed by the lake. Rio Dulce is quite wide all the way to the Caribbean Ocean, so we saw alot of large boats docked along each side at times. Most of the banks were still quite [View Full Entry]

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We left Copan Ruinas, Honduras about 8am, stopped once to stretch after about 2 hours, then arrived at Quirigua Ruins about 11:30am. The ruins are off the main road a ways on a dirt road, thru banana plantation(s), Dole I think. Although very small, Quirigua was still interesting with some cool stellae and zoomorphs (human-animal sculptures). The guide in Copan had told us his opinion was that the Mayans that made some of the designs in stone were probably on drugs... some peyote, mescal concoction popular at the time. Some of them were weird enough that he might be right! [View Full Entry]

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Manoli decided she wanted to try the Copan Canopy Tour (zip lines), so before we left for the ruins, we paid our $35.00 fees. Lisa arranged for a guide to the Copan ruins. We all left the hotel and walked to the ruins, about 15 mins away. Copan ruins were very impressive, especially the stellae or statue columns and the hieroglyphic (sp) stairway. We spent about 3 hours wandering thru the various parts. The buildings are not nearly as impressive as I think the others we'll see later, but the details on the stellae and the extra information provided by [View Full Entry]

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We found out that not only was the tour comprised of only 6 people, we had a big 40-passenger bus! We loaded up and left Antigua. The bus was very comfortable, with reclining seats, two table and chair sets in the back and a good-sized paperback library and a cooler. After about 2 1/2 hours, we stopped for a quick stretch and then continued to the Honduras border about 2 hours later. We waited on the bus while the tour leader Lisa showed our passports and paid our border fees, 10 Quetzals each ($1.50) to leave Guatemala and $3 US [View Full Entry]

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We tried to wake up before 5am to see the sunrise on the lake, without the noise, but didn't quite make it. We strolled down to the lake thru the very quiet streets, arriving around 6:30am. Although somewhat overcast it was still very pretty. Afterwards, we decided to hike to the nature preserve Richard had told us about. A bit tiresome uphill in the high altitudes, but very scenic. Unfortunately, when we got to the reserve, we found out they didn't open until 2pm, and it was not quite 8am at the time. Oh well, it would have been nice [View Full Entry]

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After relaxing and getting some orientation and tips from our hosts, we walked into town. Although very touristy, Panajachel (our town on Lake Atitlan) was still colorful and interesting. We stopped first at the Crossroads Cafe (Americn owner Michael) for a couple of cafe con leches to go, then strolled about half way down the main street towards the lakefront, checking myriads of gift shops and Mayan street vendors. We stopped for lunch at "Sandra's", the place the Inn recommended. The British owner was friendly and the food was great. Supposedly Lebanese, but very tasty and varied. We had the [View Full Entry]

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We'd arranged for and paid for a "collectivo" to Panajachel, Lake Atitlan. Much more private, comfortable, and quicker than the chickenbusses. Even at $22.00 each it was worth it. The only unusual part of the trip was that a Dos Lunas Hostel staff member took us to Antigua in his own car, then bought our tickets to Lake Atitlan (actually the town of Panajachel). We left Guat. City at 6:00am and arrived in Antigua by 7:00am, good time. Since the next collectivo didn't leave until 8:00am, the agency said we could go to the main plaza for some coffee and [View Full Entry]

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Well, it's time to head out to the jungle. We will be in Guatemala City, Guatemala tonight and Lake Atitlan tomorrow. Hope to post something again by tomorrow, with pictures of the beautiful lake and the Mayans. We hope you enjoy following our trip. You can leave comments for me (and everyone else) to see by clicking on 'Add Comment' when viewing a specific journal entry. The attached picture is our trip itinerary. See you all in a few weeks! J.C. & Manoli Petty [View Full Entry]

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Our trip started very close to disasterous. The flight from Pensacola to Houston left 2 hours late due to bad weather in Houston where the flight originated. We deplaned in Houston at 6:45pm and had to get a shuttle to Terminal B, then tram to Terminal D/E and catch our flight to Guatemala City by 7:10pm! We made it, out of breath at 7:05! Breathing a sigh of relief, we boarded the plane and proceeded to taxi in line for over 2 hours! [View Full Entry]

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We arrived in Guatemala City at 11:50pm and easily found Victor from Dos Lunas Hostel waiting for us outside. Things were finally going our way again! Hostel Dos Lunas was under major renovations, but the staff was very friendly and the room was nice and clean. Within 30 minutes, we were asleep. [View Full Entry]

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