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Blogs from Pacific Coast, Guatemala, Central America Caribbean
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Caye Chaulker en Guatemala; vrije tijd!
Published: March 12th 2013Central America Caribbean » Guatemala » Pacific Coast » El Paredón
March 12th 2013
De cursus is voorbij en relaxeren is begonnen! De laatste 3 dagen van de cursus zijn we voor ontspanning naar Cay Chaulker geweest. Een eiland in de Carribean met alles erop en eraan; blauwe luchten, witte stranden, palmbomen en harpoengeweren. De 'waddeneiland'-impressie was redelijk adequaat, er is behalve luieren en stappen weinig te doen op dit eiland. De tweede dag hebben we een snorkeltour gedaan om aan het eiland te ontsnappen. Het op één na grootste rif ter wereld (the Great Barrier Reef is de grootste) ligt langs de kust van Belize. Zodra de internetconnectie het toestaat komen er filmpjes aan met schildpadden en mantas.. Geweldige duik gehad! Vincent is na een bezoekje aan Miami bij de groep gekomen. De vrees dat er een andere “Crazy Dutchman” bij de groep kwam bleek volledig gegrond! De internationale ... read more
Akazul and tortugitas
Published: December 24th 2012Central America Caribbean » Guatemala » Pacific Coast » Hawaii
December 24th 2012
So it's Christmas Eve and it has been a long while since my last post....many reasons for that could include being in the middle of nowhere, lack of internet connectivity etc etc. but actually it just comes down to my complete ineptitude in being able to work a blog page....I couldn't remeber how to logon, post or publish a blog...so now I have finally worked it out...here I am. I am currently about 6km from the border of El Salvador on the Pacific Coast, volunteering with Akazul a sea turtle conservation program and community engagement intitiative. Getting here was an interesting adventure. I got a boat from San Pedro to Panajachel and then a shuttle form there to Antigua, a beautiful colonial town with cobbled streets, impressive architecture and a number of crumbling churches which have ... read more
Day Six – Puerto Quetzal, Guatemala
Published: January 24th 2013Central America Caribbean » Guatemala » Pacific Coast » Puerto San José
December 11th 2012
Hooooo Weeeee….. Welcome to the tropics! Opened the balcony door this morning to 85 degrees and 100% humidity at 0700…. OPPRESSIVE… We ain’t in Pollock Pines anymore, Toto. Today we are off to tour a working coffee plantation and visit the original capitol of Central America, Colonial Antigua. As Steve lived in numerous parts of Asia for three years while serving in the Air Force back in the early 70’s, the culture shock was not nearly as great as it was for Carol when we hit the bricks. Dozens of people selling everything mobbed us the minute we hit dry land. We pushed through the street hawkers and got on our bus (we HATE touring this way, but little choice is left to us here) and headed out through lush sugar cane fields toward 12,000 foot ... read more
Guatemala
Published: November 6th 2012Central America Caribbean » Guatemala » Pacific Coast » Monterrico
October 29th 2012
Saturday 20/10/12 – We got up before the sun and headed to the most well-known of the Guatemalan ruins: Tikal. As we were on the road at sunrise there was plenty of wildlife – I managed to brush a few feathers off a chicken with my bike. There was the most beautiful tarantula crossing the road luckily on a spot where we could stop. We ran back and snapped a few photos; it was so stunning that I wasn’t even scared despite being just a foot or two from it. Its long legs were super-hairy and its abdomen had the most amazing red hair, it didn’t seem concerned by us in the least. It was about the size of my outstretched hand, but surprisingly not creepy. We decided to go on a guided tour of the ... read more
Days 15-18: Monterrico
Published: July 26th 2012Central America Caribbean » Guatemala » Pacific Coast » Monterrico
July 2nd 2012
We caught a shuttle to Monterrico, a little town on the Pacific Coast, this morning. Unlike El Salvador and Costa Rica, Guatemala is not known for its beaches. They have black sand, due to the volcanic ash, and it can get very hot during the day- wearing sandles is definitely recommended! Also, the undertow of the ocean is extremely strong- there are warnings everywhere not to swim deep. Although there is not too much to the town of Monterrico, the hostels are great places to relax. Ours had many ocean-front spots, including their restaurant, lounge area, and hammock area. I have combined all of the days in Monterrico into one entry, because this part of the trip was for relaxing. Besides trying to conquer the Pacific, we ate lots of cerviche, took a tour of the ... read more
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March 29th 2012
Within half an hour of receiving the Guatemala stamp in our passport, our bus came to a halt and we wondered what had gone wrong. A landslide had occurred on the mountain road that we were taking from Mexico to Guatemala and we spent the next three hours sat waiting for the rocks to be cleared from the road – welcome to Guatemala! Whilst this was a minor inconvenience for us disrupting the traffic and our onward journey for a few hours it was totally scary what these frequent landslides are doing to the lives of the indigenous mountain communities who live here. There were huge boulders from the landslide lying in peoples gardens, up against their houses and the whole scene looked like it could turn into one huge disaster some day. Houses were perched ... read more
Puerto Quetzel, Guatemala
Published: October 7th 2011Central America Caribbean » Guatemala » Pacific Coast » Monterrico
October 6th 2011
docked at puerto quetzal early in the am and had to wait for a cargo ship to leave. there was a very large white ship also that said Peace Boat and we found out it was a japanese cruise ship. We wee transported by bus to the other dock where we met our guide Jeremy and driver Manuel. We first drove 45 minutes to a coffee plantation which was family owned and sold locally by the cotton bag full. Next was San Antonio Agua Caliente. Very old and very poor city. got out for a few minutes for pics of the local church (the one that was still standing) and to shop for local handicrafts and watch the women weave cloth. This town is a Unesco site. Next on to a Macadamia nut farm. this was ... read more
Monterrico
Published: July 19th 2011Central America Caribbean » Guatemala » Pacific Coast » Monterrico
July 10th 2011
From Antigua we caught another shuttle to the Pacific Coast and Monterrico. Monterrico was a tiny fishing village with a long black volcanic beach. This place was hot, very very hot. The beach was really nice although it was hard to walk on the scalding sands in the day. We had a golden lab following us around for most of our time in Monterrico so she appears in alot of our photos. It was my first time in the Pacific ocean and it did not disappoint. The waves were 5-6 feet high and chucked us about like rag dolls. . The backwash was so powerful it kept pulling us back into these massive waves, it was pretty scary stuff. In Monterrico we had our first taste of Ceviche, whcih is acold salad of shrimps cooked in ... read more
Baby (and big!) sea turtles!
Published: October 25th 2010Central America Caribbean » Guatemala » Pacific Coast » Monterrico
October 23rd 2010
Writing this from the Pacific coast of Guatemala, Monterrico beach more specifically! Monterrico is known for 3 things: 1) sea turtles, 2) black volcanic sand, and 3) rough surf. So I am staying at a hotel that protects turtle eggs from predators until they are hatched and can be released with assistance (60% chance of survival when released with human assistance, vs. 5% chance of survival when they head into the sea on their own), and that has a decent pool! The broiling hot black sand? Can't do anything about that! On Friday afternoon I had the chance to see some newly born (I literally saw them coming out of the eggs!) baby turtles, got to hold them, and then help release them into the ocean at night. So cool! They are so cute you just ... read more
Hola from Monterrico Guatemala
Published: June 14th 2010Central America Caribbean » Guatemala » Pacific Coast
June 14th 2010
Hi! Welcome to my blog! I’m Gorf (did you know that’s “frog” backwards?). I’m from Tauranga, New Zealand, and I’m travelling the world! It’s very exciting! I hope all sorts of people will read my blog, including our friends and family back home, and their children, and maybe even new friends we meet in various parts of the world. Feel free to pass on the link to your friends if you think they’d be interested. It is winter in New Zealand at the moment and its cold, so it was difficult to pack for warm weather. I decided to save space in my luggage and take no clothes - if I find some cool clothes that fit me on my travels, then I will have plenty of space for them in my bag. Unlike my travelling ... read more
