Although short, this trip to Guatemala and Belize was one of the most rewarding ever. Guatemala has to be one of my favorite countries, for its size its jam packed with outdoor activities in a variety of eco-systems covering both coasts, as well as a cultural history making it the center the of the mayan universe. Combine all this with the fact that its only about 5 hours from anywhere in the USA and you have an incredible short trip destination.

Because of the time issues, we flashed through highlights, but it was all still worth it. We immediately fell in love with our first destination Antigua, it seemed, part Cuzco, part lush cloud forest, and completely worthy of its unesco world heritage designation. Although it would turn out to be more expensive than almost anywhere else in guatemala, the variety of lodging, cafes, restaraunts, and bars made up for it.

We did a bunch of activities out of Antigua that were really fun, there were tons more on offer of course that we couldnt even get to. We did two bike tours, one of which I would completely recommend. It was a group tour that took us all around the villages surrounding antigua, most of them were just as old, with historic churhes and plazas, some of them seemed as if they were stuck in time, and we were the only tourists. Riding around in the clean clear mountain air was great. We also visited a macadamia nut farm, which was pretty cool, and had the best chocolate covered macadamias I have ever had.

Another highlight was climbing Volcan Pacaya. We didnt actually go to the top, but you get pretty high up and the views of the lava are scary and fascinating at the same time. There are of course no rules and regulations, and some people get way to close to the lava, in fact the trail crosses lava, and you can see it beneath your feet. Its almost too hot at times, though the air is freezing cold due to the altitude. Once it gets dark, the lava becomes brighter than you can believe and you can watch it flow and roll and explode literally a couple of hundred feet away. Its amazing to see.

The market town of chichicastenango is definitely worth a visit. The sunday market is immense. And although, it is definitely tourist central, there are parts of the market that ARE authentic (particularly the food sections and the eating sections) (amazing blue corn home ade tortillas)(and tons of chiles of course!!), and the experience was definitely worth it. DO go into the church, if you can call it that, the church there is otherworldly, devoted to Maximon, a local deity, its not quite catholic lets just say...

From Antigua, we flew to flores and headed to El Remate on the shores of lago peten. Wow! we stayed at a great place on a hill above the town with incredible views of the lake. The early morning views of the lake covered with mists, with the sounds of the jungle everywhere...

Of course Tikal was amazing, we have been to a lot of ruins around the globe. This one reminded me a lot of a mini Angkor, and it was just as good, more organized even, with taller pyramids. The view of the pyramids from the top of templo 4 is great, with the tips of the pyramids sticking out of the jungle. It must have been incredible to discover this place. I loved it, and the birds and wildlife were everywhere, if you looked, spider and howler monkeys, toucans, other colorful jungle birds, raccon like cotamundis. The walking trails were good as well, we probably walked close to 10 miles exploring every temple complex in one really long day.

Another great thing we did in el peten, was visit the Biotop Riservo cerro cahui, which was about 3k from el remate. Suprising organized it was empty despite having a great marked trail system deep into the jungle which led to lookouts of the lake and forest. we saw more monkeys and a bunch more birds.

From there we headed to the belize cayes (keys), its a long day, but the keys were like a completely different world away from tikal and el remate. The keys are like completely carribbean style, rasta world. Lots of tourists and super relaxed beach vibe. Fun for a few days, I though caye caulker was fun, but lacked enough beaches and actvities to make it viable for more than 2-3 days in my opinion. The trip out to the national park though, is completely worth it for snorkeling, we have snorkeled at some of the best places in the world, and the belize barrier reef matched up, with lots of big species of fish, and enormous eagle rays among other things, including really healthy coral. There are a lot of regulations there, but they have paid off, with an outstanding preserved eco-system.

After the cayes, it was time to go. What did we miss? Lago Atlitan, we saw it from a distance, looked like a gem, next time, Placencia in belize, seemed like a laid back beach town from what we heard, a good alternative to the cayes. The cenotes near san ignacio, trips through mixed subterranean and normal waterways, supposedly great, off limits when we were there due to high water.

All in all, this was a phenomenal way to spend 9 days, and we totally recommend it. We cant wait for our next central american adventure. Its so close, but fully worlds away!!!
Journal Entry Guatemala and Belize Posted On: 12/1/2006