Blogs from Flores, Petén Region, Guatemala, Central America Caribbean - page 19

Hey all... well i hope all is well, Spring is almost coming to an end and so is my trip but the way i like to see it is the summer is round the corner and so there will be loads of BBQs waiting on my return.... :) HINT HINT!!!!... I'd finishing my schooling in Panajachel and have less than 2 weeks to make my way back to Mexico City to catch my flight to NYC. The plan was to spend a week or so to do a bit of sight seeing in Guatemala and also relaxing in Palenque Mexico for a few day. So saying goodbye to my host family and catching the early morning 6am tourist bus to Coban via Guatemala city. (unfortunately i wasnt up for the famous chicken bus ride with all ... read more

20th - 22nd February We left our Museum at 5am on Wednesday morning, we had a long day of travelling as Antigua was located at the south of Guatemala & we were heading to the Northern town of Flores not far from the Belizian border.So we drove through the whole country pretty much. We got to Flores in the late afternoon its a small town on a island in a middle of a lake, and we were told that its the only safe town to stay in this part of the counrty. We soon found a bar on the lake and ended up in the water pretty quick too! This night was the night of the lunar eclipse and we found another bar with a perfect view of the moon. However mother nature was not kind ... read more

We caught the bus from Suchitoto back to San Salvador with a very nice bus driver who put our packs up at the front of the bus with him hanging onto mine every time we went round a corner to make sure it didn´t fall out of the open door! Overnight in a different hotel from before as it was next to the bus stop we had to be at by 5.30 the next morning - the first of a number of early mornings... The bus back to Guatemala City seemed a lot quicker than the other way and getting through the border certainly took less time. We 'd booked into a small hostal near the airport as we had an early flight the next morning which turned out to be the best place we could´ve ... read more

Despite wanting to stay longer in Belize and friendlt justice of the peace informed us that if we overstayed our car permit we may spend a few days in a cell. Hearing that news Barton and Brown waved goodbye to good new friends, Kim, Ruby, and Arnold, and took off for Guatemala. The border was painless and the road was very bumpy and dusty... but we happened to be driving a car that is fairly battle tested. We made it into Flores, and tiny island town on a lake in Northern Guatemala. We spent the night at a nice hostel and got drunk we a Swede and three German girls. MAking friends quickly we offered them all a ride in the morning to see the ruins. Our new friends fell in love with the ole Baru ... read more

Our GAP group opted for the "sunset tour" for Tikal. We left Flores about noon in 2 vans and it took about 1 hour to reach Tikal. Parque Nacional Tikal is huge and right in the jungle -350 sq. kms. containing thousands of separate structures. Our Tour Guide Miguel was amazing. He gave us rich descriptions of Mayans settling here around 700 BC and shared stories and personal insights into the Mayan ways. He was also an expert on the flora and the fauna. We learned whiich plants were good for medicinal uses. He spotted toucans for us -yes Elwyn we saw toucans just like on your postcard! And many other birds too -so beautiful. And we saw spider monkeys swinging and dancing form tree to tree! We listened for howler moneys but no luck seeing ... read more