Blogs from Flores, Petén Region, Guatemala, Central America Caribbean - page 20

So after finishing up at the internet cafe, Me Flo and Martin met a French Candian woman and we went to the Blue Grill bar and had a few cervezas and chatted and chilled out to some live latin american music and after a little while the heavens opened and the was some serious rain coming down. We also chatted to the bar Owner Michelle who is American and has lived in German and the Cayman Isles but to name a few places and she was cool and knowledgable if you go to copan or you could speak to a dutch lady Jessica in Picammes resturant. Anyway after a while we decided to go back to our hotels as we had an early start, Martin headed back to his place and me and Flo our place ... read more

My younger brother Eric came to visit us in early February, and had been reading his Lonely Planet guidebook for suggestions of places to visit (as well as, I should certainly hope, my List of Top Places to Visit ) He was pretty interested in making a visit to Tikal, and as we chatted about arranging the details, I decided that I would like to tag along to provide some company. I wanted the chance to visit the area again, this time (based on Steve and his mom's trip) adding in a trip to Yaxhá, which Eric was also game for. Eric arrived from the US on Friday night and, after spending the next day in Antigua, together we set off for Tikal and Yaxhá. As you may already know from Steve's experience (in his url=http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Guatemal ... read more

We have packed lots into the last 2 days! Our overnight bus from Antigua via Guatemala city to Flores was uneventful - due to the long duration (9 hours) we opted for the luxury class (not sure we would survive an overnight chicken bus!) which was surprisingly fairly classy - reclining seats, snacks and drinks like on an aeroplane... Arrived at Flores - a little island in Northern Guatemala in a Jungle area - at the unearthly hour of 5.30 am but found a pleasant cafe open (!) for breakfast so we could wait for sunrise before finding somewhere to stay. Lovely hotel with lake views, rooftop terrace and hammocks for only 6 quid! Bargain. It is even supposed to have hot water.... We found some cool limestone caves nearby yesterday and declined a guide (we ... read more

ARCAS -Asociacion de Rescate y Conservacion de Vida Silvestre. Kevin and I spent a week volunteering at an animal rescue and rehabilitation centre, its name is ARCAS. It is here among the howler monkeys, spider monkeys, wild pigs, deer, jaguar, ocelot, margey, crocodiles, scarlet macaws, various species of parrots and wild birlds, turtles, tarantulas, scorpions, and bats that we celebrated Joelle´s 27th birthday. ARCAS is a non-profit organization founded 19 years ago and is the only of its kind in Guatemala. It is currently host to about 400 animals at various stages of quarentine, and rehabilitation. Most were ceased from black market smugglers. Did you know that illegal animal trade is the third largest black market in the world next to Drugs and Weapons? I am happy to report that in a country of limited resources, ... read more

Yesterday afternoon we took a truly luxurious coach to Flores, which took about 4 hours. Luxury by local standards I should say. We could tell immediately that this was first class travel as there was only one person per seat and we had tinted windows and air con. The driver also drove mostly on the right side of the road (being on the right). The driving thing is quite confusing for us, as although they usually drive on the right-hand side, unless there is a blind corner when they tend to drive on the left. Best not to look really. Anyhow we safely arrived in Flores, which is the twin town of Santa Elena, however located on a little island (peten) in the middle of the lake. It seems to have developed into the main tourist ... read more