Blogs from Petén Region, Guatemala, Central America Caribbean - page 7

Yaxha Park today – (sounds like, ja shou). As many of you know, Clay studied the Maya in his undergraduate. He saw for the first time, today, Mayan ruins which have been unearthed. What a wonderful and fulfilling thing. Even I (Ann) have to admit that although ruins are not my thing, they are pretty cool. But let us start where all good stories must, at the beginning. This morning, we were to be picked up at our hotel at 8:30 a.m. so we made sure to get up and have breakfast and be at the appointed pick location. That location was actually way down a hill from the hotel and on the shore of a very stunningly beautiful lake. (See photos) At about 9:30, we determined that 8:30 was just a suggestion. (Remember, we are ... read more

Flores, Guatemala Second border crossing under our belts we arrived in the small lake town of Flores. A small island on a huge lake in northern Guatemala. Every backpackers nightmare, our reservation at Los Amigos didn't exist! Thankfully they squeezed us in, and I mean squeezed, three beds between five people for the first night in a sweltering hot room with no working fans.. Met two lovely Guatemalan girls who had had the same trouble and ended up all going for dinner together. They were both from Guatemala city, really lovely and spoke great english thank god! After no sleep that night we were ins bus to Tikal at 4am the next morning. Tikal is north of Flores and is a huge site of Mayan ruins In the jungle, I think the most impressive of the ... read more

Flores and Semuc Champey Flores in El Peten is an island on the lake named Lago de Peten Itza which is accessed by a causeway from the adjacent much busier town of Santa Elena. The island is characterised by backpacker hostels, hotels, bars and restaurants punctuated by the occasional tourist agencies which bound the cobbled streets. On arrival we sought to spend the night in Los Amigos, a laid back yet party orientated hostel which is extremely popular with many backpackers. Unfortunately our late arrival meant we couldn’t stay there as they were fully booked. We therefore shuffled down the street to hotel Mirador Del Lago which offered rooms with an amazing view of the adjacent lake. This lake is so warm that despite my shortcomings as a swimmer I took the plunge. This was a ... read more

Geo: 16.93, -89.8833Fredag - Vi har nå forflyttet oss til nytt land og vi er på den vakre øya Flores i Guatemala. Vi dro fra San Pedro på formiddagen og ankom Flores på ettermiddag etter å ha flydd 6 manns propellfly. Jeg må innrømme at jeg foretrekker å fly store fly. Hver gang disse småflyene flyr inn i skyene så rister hele det lille flyet og jeg er like sikker hver gang på at min siste time har kommet ! Pustet lettet ut når vi var på landejorda igjen. Litt spenning i hverdagen. Flores er en vakker øy/by hvor alt er frodig og små fargerike hus tett i tett. Vi fløy over øya før vi landet - så da fikk vi ful oversikt. Temperaturen her er varm og det er høy luftfuktighet. I morgen skal vi ... read more

This morning, we decided to eat breakfast out instead of the usual granola bars. I had delicious papaya, pineapple, and banana served over yogurt and granola. The local fruits are amazing. While we ate, big lizzards ran by and baby chickens roamed. Everywhere you eat here has the most amazing view. In the afternoon, we met up with my sister's friends from school and went exploring the top of the town and swimming at the dock. We followed one of the many side streets up to a wonderful discovery. At the top, was a tiny little town- a local church, school, and park. One of Jessie's friends, Luisa, told us that every municipalidad is requried to have a park/plaza that they maintain. I love that idea and would love to see it adopted in the United ... read more