We had wanted to meet up with our friends in Belize when we got wind that they were going to be in the Cayes, but unfortunately their plans put them in Placentia instead which would have been another 5 hours past Belize City for us, and would make for some miserable travel with only 1 or 2 days of seeing our friends. So we opted to do our own thing and go down to Rio Dulce instead, which is small town on the river of the same name, and was only 4-5 hour bus ride from Santa Elena. Once there, we [View Full Entry]

---

---

Keep on moving In Quetzaltenango I met a guy from Switzerland and we walked around the city the same afternoon. One of the most interesting places was the marked. With so many stalls with food, shoes and clothes. In the evening we met two English girls and we went to an Indian restaurant. I was surprised there even was one. The food was delicious and it was fun to talk about travelling. The next day I went by bus to Huehuetenango. Every time on the bus it is so much fun to look around what’s happening and look at the beautiful [View Full Entry]

---

---

Hello Everyone, Ive made it safe and sound, and heres my first blog entry. i know its long, so pick and choose what ya want. enjoy: Headlines 1) 30 min after take off, i was where i was going. 2) Spanish School/host family 3) first weekend: hiking the lagun and a wine in the book store adventure 4) on my way again, and everything else. 1) 30 min. after takeoff, I was where I was going we all travel for different reasons, and i think my favorite one is the social aspect of meeting new people. (and from there seeing and [View Full Entry]

---

---

Hola erstmal. Sprachschule ist kurz gesagt cool aber anstrengen. Muss noch viel lernen aber es ist schon eine kleine Verbesserung erkennbar. Xela wird von Tag zu Tag cooler. Hat viele Parks, kleine Restaurantes und Bars und vor allem gibts hier richtigen Kaffee....sonst hats bisher immer nur Instant-Bruehe gegeben. Schon komisch, im Land wo der Kaffee waechst trinkt man Instant-Coffee weil der meiste Kaffee nach Europa verkauft wird....bei den Fruechten ebenfalls, waehrend es hier gerade Probleme wegen einer schwachen Ernte und dadurch entstehnde Hungersnot gibt werden Obst und Gemuese exporti [View Full Entry]

---

---

We must confess we hardly gave Guatemala city a chance. We arrived from San Pedro on Monday afternoon, September 21. About an hour later we were sheltering from the worst rain storm we had seen yet. The streets flooded in a matter of minutes. After an evening meal of decent pizza (again!) we left the dark and dangerous night and hid in our hotel until morning. We arose early, took a few pictures in the Parque Central, and then boarded a nice air-conditioned bus to Santa Elena. At the Santa Elena bus terminal, we were greeted warmly by a horde of [View Full Entry]

---

---

Just enjoyed a quick 3 day trip to Semuc Champey before I get down to some spanish studies and serious house-building! After another 7 hours in a bus, including the last 20km on an untarred road we finally reached the beautiful wilderness of this place. Stayed in an eco-lodge i.e. limited electricity, only cold water, and an "interesting" smell from the toilet. It's a beautiful national park with towering cliffs, jungles, and a bridge of limestone pools over a river. We swam and jumped from 1 pool to the next, and took ropes down and up waterfalls while I bravely avoided [View Full Entry]

---

---

Early on, we had planned on 3 weeks for Guatemala. Now that almost 2 weeks had passed, we had another week to spend and had heard such great things about the Mayan ruins at Tikal and beautiful journey down Rio Dulce. We had also wanted to see the famous market at Chichicastenago, or Chichi, which was held every Thursday and Sunday. So we made a plan to stay a few extra days for the weekend in San Pedro, go to the Sunday market at Chichi via chicken bus, and then head to El Peten (the jungle area where Tikal is situated) [View Full Entry]

---

---

Flying on probably the safest day of the year. Hola! At this moment I am in Guatemala. Yes, I can hear you thinking: a new continent every week? Well it sure lookes like it. But probably I will stay for a while in Central America. In the late evening of the 10th of September I left San Fransisco and flew on the 11th of September into Guatemala City….This is the second time I hear you thinking. Flying on 11th of September in the States?? Well probably it is the safest day, because when you are a terrorist you wouldn’t plan an [View Full Entry]

---

---

So everyone told me I had to stay in El Retiro when I got to this area. The hostel is gorgeous! It´s on Rio de Lanquin (river for you non spanish speakers). I´m staying in a ten person hostel...don´t even know who´s in my room because i´ve been keeping busy and staying up late. While eating lunch at the hostel restraunt with the two people that were on my bus here, we decided to go to Grutas de Lanquin. It is a cave with really cool stalactites and stalagmites. Took a bunch of photos of different formations that looked like different [View Full Entry]

---

---

For 2 nights we stayed with a local Mayan family in the village of San Jorge le Laguna on the shores of Lake Atitlan in western Guatemala. To get there we took several chicken buses and minivans through windy and bumpy roads, including what must be a record - getting 23 people in an 11 seater minivan! Living with family Ajcalon for 2 nights was truly a humbling and inspiring experience. They were welcoming, generous, fun and curious, despite living in dusty conditions with limited heating and occasional cold running water. We had great evenings explaining in a mixture of pigeon [View Full Entry]

---

---