Blogs from Guatemala, Central America Caribbean - page 17

So after an emotional good bye to Xela (which we loved) especially the old school vehicles blasting out barbie girl tunes..... It was time to hit the road to Lake Atitlan. After a crazy bus ride, down some of the steepest mountain roads, honking at the tuk tuks and other drivers to move out of the way, whilst this huge chicken bus sped down the road, we arrived at San Pedro. Lake Atitlan is made up of lots of different towns, all offering different things and these are all accessible by water taxis. San Pedro is built around the volcano named San Pedro. After this we stayed with some friends from Xela in a house by the lake. This was amazing to have a bit of luxury overlooking the lake. We enjoyed lots of mince meat ... read more

Wonderful famous UNESCO Heritage that rules the law of the Mayan World: Tikal National Parks! There are a lot of Ruins that I went to around Belize, Guatemala and Yucatan Mexico that is still remembered! Plus I have pictures to show you the ruins that are around Guatemala which all makes you want to live through history. I'm a Guatemala and Mexico guy always regardless by the way. So I will probably write more travel blogs about Guatemala and Mexico for all my life! Enjoy! ... read more

Holy cow. It's been a very full few weeks, and an incredible few months. I recently finished working at Earth Lodge. I was volunteering here for 3 months and then went to the lake, Lago Atitlan, for a couple weeks to relax and explore a bit before making my way back up to Mexico. I don't remember the last time I posted on here, but its been a while. It's hard now to try to find my experience in Guatemala into a blog post. Overall I'm just feeling deeply grateful and very excited. My time here at the lodge has been so good. Connecting with wonderful people, some I only get to hang out with for a day or 2 during their stay here and some that I live with for anywhere from 4-12 weeks. Everyone ... read more

Lago Atitlan was a stunning location to arrive on my birthday, having had birthday cake and leftover pizza for breakfast on the bus ride over. We checked into our hostel, who insisted on giving me birthday tequila, and had a pretty relaxed afternoon in front of the lake. We also visited the local women's weaving cooperative- so many beautiful handmade materials, but unfortunately no space in our bags (well, none in mine, which is ridiculously heavy and full. Amateur first time backpacking mistake...!) The next day we went on a horse trek up to a coffee plantation and factory, and to a view point just outside San Pedro with stunning views across the lake. The coffee plantation and factory was super interesting - the factory is basically owned be a cooperative of local growers, and buys ... read more

Arriving in Semuc Champey from Flores involved two buses and one ride in the back of a pick up truck. Standing on the back of the truck seemed pretty fun to start with, despite the crazy bumps in the road, but after half hour of gripping for dear life on the steepest roads (up and down) I have ever experienced, arriving at Utopia was literally like arriving in paradise. I can't rave about this hostel enough, set close to the river, about 8km from Lanquin, the nearest village, and 3km from the Semuc Champey Park. The hostel is basically a massive wooden hut, with beautiful views, everything made from local wood, delicious meals and the most chilled out atmosphere ever. Each morning I woke up to stunning views slowly revealing from the clouds just outside, no ... read more