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Published: April 4th 2008
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Entering Guatemala means entering a different "travel zone". Although the difference in landscape and people is not immediately obvious, the interaction between travellers takes a turn as soon as you are approaching the boarder. After listening to the first five people we met we were convinced we were to enter a dead zone where awful things happen to you as soon as you leave the magic gringo route. One girl heard a civil war had just started, but luckily our bus driver could convince her, this really finished about twelve years ago! But hey...who would believe him...he is probably part of a big gang and will lead us straight in an ambush!
Let me get this straight, it is good to be a bit careful and robbery's do happen.... but for us the scariest thing was the constant reminders about these events. Luckily we haven't been involved in any difficulties, but it does make you think for a minute when reading the following, whilst sitting in an internet cafe in Rio Dulce:
We advise against all but essential travel to the tourist destinations of Rio Dulce and Livingstone in Izabal Department following the kidnapping, and subsequent release, of four foreign tourists on 14 March 2008. (Travel advice of the UK foreign office)
This was during the last couple of days in Guatemala and we were very happy we didn't read this before, as the Rio Dulce was an absolute highlight of the country.
We spent in total about two and a half weeks in the country and although we definitely enjoyed it, the unfortunate effect of the above mentioned threats, is that all travelers seem to stick together and whole villages are transformed in a tourist bubble. We found it therefore difficult to really get in touch with the country and the people, but we saw some beautiful landscape and sometimes a glimpse of their culture that made it worthwhile.
We started in Flores, north of the country, continuing our trip into the Mayan world by visiting Tikal. Tikal is a large Mayan site surrounded, and still mostly covered by the jungle. To enjoy this site a bit differently we signed up for a sunrise tour, which meant getting up at three at night, to be on time on top of a temple to see the sun come up.... Unless when it's foggy, which happens a
Lanquin
Samuc Champey lot in the middle of the jungle. Although we didn't exactly see the sun rise, it was still a magic experience to sit in total silence, hear the howler monkeys in the distance and slowly seeing more and more of the jungle and the pyramids around you. The tour that followed through the park was a bit of a disappointment and on this moment we're still trying to figure out what our guide wanted to tell us. It was easy to see that it was an amazing place to be, but without a good guide or some decent information it was hard for us to get into it. We almost enjoyed the wildlife around us more and even had a short moment of bonding with a group of overly excited birders, when a red chested falcon was spotted (apparently a very rare bird, to be seen in only two places in the America's) They were very happy to share this experience of a lifetime with us and made sure we realized how unbelievably lucky we were!!
We also got followed by two spider monkeys whilst wondering around, had a little meeting with a huge spider, spotted several toucans flying around
and stumbled on a highly surprised bat hiding in a little cave.
All in all, a good day, but after all the different ancient sites we have seen, Monte Alban and Palenque in Mexico are still our favorites!
Unfortunately Mark got poisoned in apparently one of the best restaurants in Flores which forced us to stay an extra day (which is not really necessary in this town).
Guatemala's nature can be absolutely beautiful and a favorite spot of ours and definitely a recommendation is Samuc Champey. It is known for it's natural pools and caves and we had a fantastic day, on our most enjoyable tour up to now. We spent two hours exploring the caves. This meant with only the light cast by our miniscule hand held candles , we swam, climbed, jumped and crawled through a cave system known to be 11km long ( and est. to be 34 km in total). Good little adventure! The rest of the day we spent at the natural pools and tubing on the river..... what a hard life we live!
Semuc Champey was also the place we met Avi and Vicky from Israel and Kira from the US,
with whom we spent almost two weeks travelling the rest of Guatemala.
Lake Atitlan is also worth a visit, surrounded by volcanoes it is a nice spot to relax a bit (something the hippies pass off as working by making little items of jewellery which they sell to more Gringos), although you do need the ability to ignore the drugged up people, that seemed to be stuck here for centuries.
After Lake Atitlan we went back to Antigua (having survived a bus journey along one of the most bandit riddled roads to be experienced in the whole of C.America), where we already spent a couple of days on the way to the Lake. Although, as mentioned everywhere, not the "real Guatemala" it's a great city for a nice night out and to find some great restaurants. We even ended up going to an impromptu gig that was resulted from the appearance of William Murphy in town, apparently a musical genius in his own right but known for playing with BB King ( old fav. of Marks) and Eric Clapton...
Antigua is surrounded by little villages and more volcanoes and, after we were assured that we wouldn't go up
any steep hills, we decided to book a guide and explore the area by mountainbike. I'm talking for myself here for a moment to say that I've honestly I have never been so tired in my whole life!!! 4 hours on a bicycle and although luckily mostly flat, two steep hills that almost made me cry. Did you ever see those idiots cycling up a mountain on there lowest gear, sweating like crazy, whilst you're comfy in a bus.... I wasn't in that bus this time!! (Mark says "Holland would be proud and I should be awarded the red cycle jersey) But I made it and I have to say I'm happy we did it! We had a beautiful view from where we were and cycled through coffee plantations and beautiful villages on the way. We also visited a, surprisingly interesting, macademia (named after a Brit. called MacAdams) nut plantation, where we even received a facial for free. And It's the best feeling in the world, after being so active, to relax in a great bar knowing you don't have to do anything the rest of the day.
As mentioned before we ended our trip on the Rio Dulce,
a beautiful river all the way to the Caribbean sea. this is how we exited the country...by boat! The first bit was fanastic, speeding along the Rio Dulce enclosed by mangroves and jungle. The actual boat to Belize mainly involved, staring at the horizon, trying to calm our stomachs. Crossing the open sea in a little speedboat is not the most comfortable way, but this is how we left Guatemala.... It was a great couple of weeks, but to be honest we were also quite relieved to go and spent some time in easy going Belize, where our main plans involved beach, see and diving!
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catherine
non-member comment
Great to hear from you and from Guatemala, how special.
I will share your blog with Gloria who as you know is from Guatemala, she will be excited to read what you thought. I am sharing my home email address as well as my work one and would love to catch up on your blog from time to time. Be safe, have fun Catherine