Guatemala

There are so many words to describe this country and none of them would do it justice. Guatemala is hands down one of the most amazing places I have ever been.

After getting extremely sick with food poisoning our last evening in Costa Rica, we had a rough start with the morning spent in the hospital and the evening spent on a plane. We were barely able to stand long enough to get through security but our ambition to get out of an over priced touristy country gave us just enough motivation to push through the pain.


We arrived in Guatemala city half awake and extremely dehydrated. Before I had gotten sick I booked a room at a guest house and arranged for us to be picked up at the airport. Our flight was delayed a bit but sure enough the minute we walked out of the airport doors was a small Guatemalan man holding a sign with my name perfectly written in marker. This sweet man drove us directly to our guest house and only drove away once we were safe inside. Meeting us at ´´reception´´ was an elderly woman named Gracie. She took us around her home which she made into a guest house and then to our room where we immediately  went to sleep. The next day she and her husband drove us to Antigua for $1 each.

Antigua is a Spanish Colonial town with three volcanoes surrounding it. It is one of the most beautiful cities I have ever been too. Mayan women dressed in traditional clothing walk about the town and a weekend market attract everyone in the city. We stayed here for three days recovering from being ill and just walking around in amazement of all the culture here.

Once we felt better, we took an 8hr shuttle to Semuc Champey, the most beautiful place in all of Guatemala! Water rushes through limestone and makes the most magnificent emerald green. Here we went in a cave where the river runs and at times you couldn´t touch the bottom. We only had one head lamp so the other person had to use a candle. At times we couldn´t touch the bottom so we would hold the candle with one hand and swim with the other. We even climbed a rope through a waterfall in the cave and at another pointwe had to drop through a dark hole and fall into a pool of water. There was a guide for all of this and at no point were we in any danger.

After the cave we went to these beautiful naturalized pools. Im not sure how to do these justice with words so you will just have to wait for the pictures. Finally to end the night, we went to a different cave near the town called Lanquin. We walked in the cave for about 10min and then stood at the entrance for the real show. BATS! Hundreds of bats rushed out of the cave into the jungle just before sunset. It was quite the sight.

Now we are in Flores which is another 8hrs north of Semuc Champey. It is a small Island on a lake in Northern Guatemala. Today we spent six hours walking around Tikal. This is one of the largest Mayan civilizations that has been excavated. It was massive and beautiful and again...words wont due it justice. Tomorrow we are relaxing and swimming on the lake. Then we are on a shuttle and off to Belize City to prepare for our 3 weeks on the bamboo farm.