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Published: September 24th 2011
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Just when you were expecting a blog on Cuba, or perhaps what we got up to in Belize and Honduras we’ve decided to break with the chronological order of things, and surprise you with an up to date blog from where we actually are, detailing what’s been keeping us busy, current travels, and surviving our recent Guatemalan road accident.
About 4 weeks ago we arrived in Antigua, Guatemala. Antigua was the former capital until an earthquake razed the town, the town was rebuilt and the capital was moved to current day Guatemala City, about an hour away. Situated in a valley, surrounded by 3 volcanoes, it’s a charming colonial town with cobbled streets, coloured facades and red brick roofs, and has been designated as a world heritage site. It’s touristy, but in a more charming than tacky way, and boats more Spanish schools than anywhere else in the country (something like over 100 schools and a population of just 60,000!).
We came here primarily to do some volunteer work with
Niños de Guatemala an organisation that was started by our friend Marten, whom we met 4 years ago whilst traveling in Tibet. We wrote about Marten and the start of NdG
here:
Monk Slapping and Sky Trains Niños de Guatemala was established as an NGO in 2006, and the school
Nuestro Futuro: Our Future was opened in 2009. The school has 5 grades, a library and computer room, bathrooms and showers for the children, and a kitchen where 2 meals a day are prepared for the students. As well as the standard school curriculum, the children are also instructed in hygiene, nutrition, carpentry, music, art, sports, and computer skills.
The children that attend the school are from poor families in Cuidad Veija, many living in the slums without electricity or running water. Many of the children come from single parent homes, or the parents are illiterate or unemployed, so many families can’t afford to educate their children without the help of NdG. If you wish to help, the school appreciates all donations of supplies or you can sponsor a child’s education by becoming a Padrino for just $50 per month – see the
website for more details. If you have time to spare, then volunteers are always welcomed – you need an intermediate level of Spanish and to commit for a minimum of one month.
Our typical day involves Spanish lessons in
Antigua from 8am – 12pm, followed by lunch, and then we catch a chicken bus to the neighbouring village of Cuidad Veija to assist with the afternoon classes at Niños de Guatemala. Suze assists 4 days per week with refuerzos for the Segundos which involves help with homework, reading, spelling, language, computer skills and artistic expression including art and painting classes. Dave spends 3 afternoons in the carpenteria assisting the children from 3 grades with their carpentry projects. It is a really fun and rewarding experience, and the hugs and smiles we get everyday from the children are amazing.
Whilst we’re here in Antigua we’re studying Spanish at
La Union Spanish School and highly recommend it. We’re studying for 16 hours a week, and it costs $85 USD, the teachers are great, and the scene is very social. We’ve rented a one bedroom apartment at the rear of the school and every week we head to the local market for our weekly fruit and vege shop, and are enjoying preparing delicious meals.
Last weekend we had a 5 day break so we took a trip north to the famous ruins of
Tikal. We stayed at the lakeside island of
Flores, and
opted for the 4am tour of Tikal. The ruins are set in thick jungle and we spotted monkeys, spiders, a grey fox and we were absolutely ravaged by mosquitoes.
From Flores we headed south to
Lanquin, but our journey was abruptly interrupted when the minibus we were travelling in veered off the road and ploughed into some trees to avoid a head-on collision with a truck.
As we came around the corner a huge water truck was attempting to overtake a passenger truck on our side of the road. Our driver slammed on his brakes, but at the last minute he decided that we would still hit the truck, so he opted to run us off the road instead. Our van shot over the walled curb, down a bank and was stopped from rolling by crashing into 3 trees, one in the front and two in the sides. Luckily no one was hurt, but the windows on the right were smashed, and we had to climb out the windows. We really were incredibly lucky, as things could've been far worse, and we'd be yet another Guatemalan crash statistic!
And then things got weird. The offending truck didn’t
bother to stop, and our driver ran to the passenger truck, jumped on, and followed in hot pursuit, leaving us bewildered and wondering where he had gone, and if he was ever coming back. About an hour later he reappeared, having caught a lift back in the truck that had nearly annihilated us. In the meantime, about 50 local Mayan-speaking villagers had gathered around us, poking their noses in the van and staring at us. About an hour later the police appeared and together with the offending truck driver, they wrenched our van out of the trees.
After a wheel change and the bumper was tied back on, we set off down the road to meet our replacement minibus, and new driver. At this time, the two bosses from each company had arrived on the scene and started the negotiations about who was responsible for the damage, and what they would pay for repairs. The police remained close by to keep the peace should the discussions escalate. Our new van driver somehow managed to get into an altercation with the police and they threatened him with handcuffs and took his drivers licence from him, presumably he will have to
bribe them to get it back.
Finally we continued towards Coban with our new, and now irate driver, who proceeded to drive like a maniac, talking on the phone and eating a sandwich, whilst squealing around tight corners on 2 wheels. Pretty insensitive towards the 8 people who were a tad tense having survived a bus accident only hours before!
Sixteen hours later we made it to
Lanquin in the isolated heart of Guatemala, and it was well worth the effort in getting there. We stayed at El Retiro, and upon arrival headed for for some post-crash drinks in good company with English Mike and Aussie Tim, and another Aussie couple that we'd met on the second bus.
From Lanquin we went to the K’anba caves where we waded and swam through water caves, and scrambled up waterfalls by candlelight, tubed down the Rio Cahabon and visited the beautiful turquoise stepped pools of
Semuc Champey .
We’re now safely back in Antigua and will be here for a couple more weeks, before heading south to El Salvadore. Skype us!!!
There's a few photos at the end of our apartment and of the school, so
scroll on through...
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Janet
non-member comment
what more can one say. wow, wow and wow. Glad you\'re still with us!