Making our way to utila

Beautiful sunset!

From San Pedro Sula, we took a 4 hour bus ride to the coastal town La Ceiba. Luckily we got seats up front next to the driver of the mini bus, so no car sickness! We got to the dock to take the boat to Utila half  an hour before the last boat was leaving. After standing in line for a quarter of an hour, they sold out! We did not want to waste a day being stuck in La Ceiba, so we decided to wait around, because you never know. Luckily, there were enough of us needing a ride that they made one last trip, hooray! Unfortunately, it was a nauseating hour long boat ride below deck. Since it was Christmas, we decided to splurge on a nice hotel room, and it was worth it! We were right on the ocean with a beautiful view, I did yoga on the deck every morning. We had a fridge, tv, and everything was clean! It was wonderful. Christmas came and went pretty uneventfully, but it was nice to be in a luxurious hotel.

I just signed up for scuba diving lessons. It was hard to pick a place because there are so many, but I ended up with the College of Diving. Along with diving we get free accommodations for the week. Since they were all booked up in the regular lodgings, they had to upgrade us to a suite. What luck! So we'll be spending another week in paradise! I begin lessons tomorrow and I'm looking forward to it.

Travel to Honduras

People waiting to cross the bridge

We woke up this morning to the sound of rain, so no beach day for us! We decided to just take a boat to Puerto Barrios, across the river to begin our journey to Utila, Honduras. We huddled on this boat under a tarp, trying to stay as dry as possible. Once in Puerto Barrios, we decided to cross into Honduras, since trying to get to the island of Utila in one day was going to be pushing it. We found a bus driver calling out Honduras so we quickly went over there. He said that it was the only bus, and even though it was pretty full he'd fit us in. Whether or not it was the only bus I'm not sure, but it was definitely full. It was another mini van packed to overflowing, literally. We counted 26 people, including driver, in a van designed for 12. At one point both sliding doors were open and 3 people were hanging onto the van on each side. I keep getting surprised at how many people can be packed into these buses.

Collapsed bridge!

The bus driver let us off at the border where we had to wait in a long line at immigration. The buses leaving from here into Honduras were huge tour buses, but unfortunately the first one I saw was full. I struck up conversation with these two American guys in front of us in line, who were driving through Honduras and they offered us a ride to San Pedro Sula. After driving a little ways, we came to a traffic jam. After getting out of the car and investigating, we found that the river had caused half the road to fall away along this bridge. We talked to a police officer who thought we may be able to pass that afternoon or the next day. There were no alternative routs, only to go back into Guatemala. The river was still rushing by, slowly eroding the side of the road, and they weren't doing anything to stop it or fix it. A lot of people were walking across, and we thought about joining them and then catching a bus later on.

More flooding!

Luckily, they finally decided to let some cars drive pass. What a relief! They were not letting the big buses or trucks pass, so we were very lucky to have hitched a ride with those guys! Also, if we had left tomorrow as we originally planned, I'm not sure if there would have been any road left at all. It seemed like it was going to end up getting washed away. Later on, we got pulled over at a check point, which made me a little nervous because I have read how the police can be a little corrupt. He asked each of us, Esta tranquilo? and shook all our hands. He was really friendly, and it seemed like he got a kick out of talking to us. There was also one other part in the road that was severely flooded, but other than that we made it to San Pedro Sula without a hitch. This large Honduran town seems to be an American fast food haven, I've never seen so many fast food places! Multiple on every street, there were 2 pizza huts around the corner from each other, and I haven't even seen any normal restaurants.

Overall, we had a very serendipitous day, with everything seeming to fall perfectly into place. We saw a couple arriving in Livingston that we had befriended in Rio Dulce, and they had had a miserable experience on the boat tour of the river in the rain that we had thoroughly enjoyed the sunny day before. They were planning on heading to Utila tomorrow, but I'm not sure that there is even going to be a road there anymore into Honduras. I'm curious to see how they'll make it to Utila.

Rio Dulce to Livingston

The dock at our hotel in Rio Dulce

View doing yoga!

We took a 7 hour bus ride form Guatemala to Rio Dulce (even though our inaccurate guide book said it would only take 4 hours!) While comfortable with plenty of space, it was nauseating and I was happy when we finally arrived. We took a little boat across the lake to our hotel that I just adored. Everything was on stilts and vegetation and rivers surrounded us. Beautiful. The next morning, I woke up early and did a little bit of yoga on our deck. It was relaxing to stretch and warm up in such a beautiful location. 

Lily pads

After this, we got picked up by a little boat to go to Livingston, a Garifuna town on the coast. It was a gorgeous boat ride and I really enjoyed being out on the water, plus the other passengers were really friendly. The vibrant green trees on the shore were mesmerizing, there were tons of white birds dotting different trees, and groups of lily pads filled alcoves splitting off from the river. In one of these branches, these little kids in canoes came up to us to try to sell large, dried starfish and coconut purses. We finally reached Livingston, got a little room, and then walked through the town and along the beach. It’s nice to be by the ocean again and I’m looking forward to playing in the waves tomorrow. 

A week in San Pedro

This is my travel Buddha that my great friend Kimberly gave me for my birthday! It's supposed to bring good luck to travelers, and I always keep him in my purse!

San Pedro La Laguna has been my favorite city in Guatemala so far, and I was sort of sad to say goodbye to this hippie town after being there for more than a week. There are two docks in this town, and a narrow cobblestone street running between the two with an assortment of locals in indigenous clothing and tourists from all over the world. Being in this town for over a week, we were able to get comfortable, have our favorite places to eat, and get into our routines.

Local Mayan man

We took a week worth of Spanish classes at the San Pedro Spanish school where we got one on one instruction for four hours a day. It was definitely a long time to be sitting there! Two hours into the first lesson, I didn't think I'd be able to last, but in the end I am glad I took the class. The format was different than high school; instead of listening to the teacher instruct and write on a white board, my teacher Clemente and I would have conversations or go back and forth telling stories. Four hours is a long time to talk to any one person you don't know very well, but doing it in a different language is tiring! The practice is what I needed though. Luckily the teacher gave me a break one day and taught me the Bachata, his favorite dance style (similar to salsa but more simple). After classes one night, Nate and I took a salsa class together. Definitely one of the highlights! I thought we did pretty good, even though Nate managed to elbow me in the face at one point. I've somehow convinced him to take more classes in Columbia, which I'm looking forward to!

I made the one on the left!

The town is filled with hippies and travelers, and there are lots of people selling hand made jewelry. I spent an hour with one of the guys practicing my Spanish and learning how to make earrings out of metal. The earring I made didn't quite match my teachers, oops! Luckily it's not too noticeable when wearing the earrings, but I definitely need some more practice.

Nate and I took Spanish classes in the afternoons which left our mornings free. One day we kayaked around the lake in a dilapidated kayak with dilapidated oars. It was a choppy day out so we definitely got a little wet, but it was fun for the most part. The level of the lake has been rising over the last few years, and so there are several restaurants and homes that are now half way underwater and the level is still rising and threatening other businesses. 

Most mornings I took yoga classes which was a great way to start the day. On my walk to class I would stop and get some delicious, freshly squeezed juice from some local ladies. The class is right on the edge of the lake with a beautiful view. It was so relaxing to do yoga while listening to the birds, waves on the lake, and nearby horses. The instructor, Michelle, was a super sweet girl from Michigan.

Now we are once again in Guatemala city. The 3 hour bus ride gave us our work out for the day as the driver was speeding around the twists and turns through the hills and we had to grip onto the rails and use our core in order to not fly out of our seats. Travel day is always an experience! Luckily, everyone is really helpful, pointing out what buses we need to transfer to, letting us know where to get off the bus, and helping us hail down taxis. We're staying in walking distance to the mall, our safe haven for fresh air. Last night we went to see the Hobbit in the VIP section. We had large, reclining lazy boy type seats, a table, and a call button to call a waiter if you wanted to order drinks or food. All this for the same price as a movie back home!

San Pedro

 San Pedro is a little hippie town on beautiful Lake Atitlan. We’ve been taking it slow here, since both of us have been going pretty nonstop since before even leaving Santa Barbara, what with packing up our houses, visiting family, and preparing to leave the country. On our third day here, we arranged to go up to the top of a neighboring hill. The top of this hill resembles a 

face peering up into the sky, and we climbed up the nose. A guide came to meet us at 3 in the morning (ridiculously early!) And we took a bus to a neighboring town and then hiked for 40 minutes up the mountain in the dark. We had a beautiful view of the sunrise. The sky was filled with bright red and orange colors, and we were able to see all the lights of the neighboring 

cities around the lake. We spent a while up here enjoying the beautiful view of several mountains, a few volcanoes, and the lake. After this we went down into town and into the market place where we were the only tourists. I love admiring the appearance of the locals, especially the way they dress and how the ladies carry everything on their heads. The local ladies all wear the same outfits, with long skirts of the same fabric. We tried to stealthily take photos of the local people and the market place, because it was very apparent that they did not like cameras around.

 

Shoe Shine boys

These little shoe shine boys at the market came up to me and Nate and tried to talk us into buying their services. I was wearing flip flops and Nate was wearing white sneakers, so we weren’t really in need of any shining! We ended up giving them a few Quetzales to take their picture instead.

The next night was a celebration for saint Mary. Nate and I walked up to the town square to watch some fireworks. I was impressed at how long the firework show was, which lasted about an hour. They definitely don’t take the same precautions as back home though. They were setting the fireworks off relatively close to where we were, and strips of paper from the fireworks kept falling on us. After this show they were setting off loud fireworks in the street for a long time, which was a bit deafening. Finally, they brought out a statue of Saint Mary to carry through the streets. At this point Nate and I headed back home, but we could hear the fireworks going all night, it sounded like bombs going off. I was surprised at how much this little town celebrated.  

Guatemala City

We spent 2 nights in the capital city of Guatemala on the 4th and 5th, and it was definitely different than the villages we have been visiting. The other towns we have been in were filled with indigenous Mayans wearing traditional clothing. Guatemala City has a population of over a million, and has a wide mixture of people, more ethnicities with varying skin tones and features. There were still a few traditional Mayans, but there were many more people who dressed more typical of back home. Also, people seemed to speak a lot faster in the city, especially at the fast food venues.

We walked down 6 avenue in zone 1, which is closed off to cars and has some traditional colonial buildings, which was enjoyable.  I am not sure of the politics in Guatemala, but it seems like there is a lot of unrest. There was grafiti everywhere talking about how the poor and children are starving or about women's rights. The only other highlight of Guatemala City that we found was their huge indoor mall, and not just because it was reminiscent of home. The air in the capital is horrible. There are so many buses that are billowing out clouds of black smoke, after spending an hour outside you can feel it in your lungs. The mall felt like a safe haven with fresh air. We also got to see a couple of movies in English that had Spanish subtitles, which was fun and took care of some of the homesickness. We saw Taken 2 the first night, and the second I was able to drag Nate to see the last Twilight movie. The movie theater was huge and comfortable like back home, but only half the price! Also, when you bought your tickets you pick out your seats on the screen ahead of time because they do assigned seating, which is different.

View from our room!

 
From here we took multiple buses to get to Lago de Atitlan. The last bus we were on was crammed full, I only had about 2" to try to squeeze onto on the corner of a row next to an older couple, and then the driver proceeded to fly down the mountain down twists and turns. I had to hang on in order to not be flung down the aisle. After this was a more calming boat ride to the other side of the lake, to San Pedro, literally a breath of fresh air from the city. It's a quiet town filled with travelers with a beautiful view of the lake. 

Semuc Champey

View of the pools

 Yesterday was quite an adventure. We woke up early to take a bus to Semuc Champey. Even though the bus driver told us that's where we were going, the final stop after 3 hours of driving was at the neighboring town of Lanquin. Once again, as soon as we got off the bus people were trying to sell us on their tours or private rides to semuc for an exorbitant price. We started to walk there in hopes of catching a ride, and we did! Guatemala has an interesting type of shuttle service to get around everywhere. We got in the

back of a truck that I think was originally meant for livestock, that had an overhead bar to hang onto. We and about 20 locals stood in the back of the truck for the 30 minute ride on the gravel road through the mountains. Finally we arrived at Semuc Champey, a beautiful formation of natural water pools. We vigorously hiked up to the look out point, getting our cardio workout for the day, and the view was spectacular! After hiking down, we got to swim in the clear water. There were tiny little fish there that kept trying to nibble on our toes! We were able to stand right

Back of the truck

 under the little waterfall that gave a fantastic little shoulder massage. After this our adventure continued, because now we had to try to find a way home. We started walking back towards town. In case there wasn't another truck taking people to town we figured we could stay at a hostal that was 3 km away. Luckily, when we got to the hostal the last truck drove by and picked us up to take us to town. There were some other American travelers in the truck and it was fun to chat with them. We saw a bus in town, but when I went up to the driver to ask if they were going to Coban, he just laughed and said "at this hour?" Apparently we had missed the last bus. We walked to the entrance of town and thought that maybe we could catch a ride. There was another guy there waiting for a ride to Coban and 2 other guys catching a ride somewhere else. After 45 minutes a truck offered us a lift. It was windy and cold in the back of the truck. They had some stuff in the back so we could sit facing the back and that would block the wind. The only trouble is that I have a sensitive stomach and started to feel carsick. Between feeling sick or feeling cold, I decided to feel cold and had to look ahead of us over the truck. There was so much fog and wind, and then it started to rain! It wasn't raining that hard, but when you're driving through it it hits you harder. Two hours later we made it to Coban! It felt so nice to make it back to town! Mission accomplished.

Coban, Guatemala

It took us a while to get to Coban from Poptun. We took one bus (this time an actual large bus) for a couple hours, and then transitioned to a minibus. On the minibus we slowly drove westward for 3 hours down a dirt road. We finally reached a little town in the middle of nowhere where we got on yet another bus. They definitely cram a lot of people onto these buses. There were three rows for passengers, and they managed to cram 20 people into the bus including the driver, plus a couple of guys were on top of the bus. They set up little seats in the tiny aisle of the van to make sure they get maximum capacity, and then cram you in. We finally arrived in a town of Fry where we stayed in a rundown little hotel room. We were able to find some delicious tacos from a local vender which was a plus. The next day we again got on a minibus filled with people for a 3 hour drive to Coban. The driver was flying around the mountain and recklessly passing other drivers. These two poor little kids ended up getting sick out the widow. Coban is a big city (in this area) and we found a little place to stay that's only 60 quetzales a night ($8). One major set back is a lack of hot water. While no place we have stayed in has had hot water, most places the water gets a little warm. Not here. I's freezing. It's 60 degrees outside and sprinkling, and I had to take a shower in ice cold water. It definitely was not pleasant!

Last night we walked around town, where people are selling their wares on the street and food carts are set up. After this we went to a circus, which was a lot of fun! My favorite were the tigers. They had 4 tigers in the ring with the trainer, and it made me a little nervous. In the US there are so many regulations for everything to ensure peoples safety (especially when so many people are so sue happy). Here though? I wasn't so sure...



Today we slept in, went out for a delicious & cheap breakfast and then explored some more. We climbed up a hill to visit a beautiful church and then went on a hike through the jungle, which was beautiful.

Finca Ixobel

After Flores, we took a minibus (really a van) down to Finca Ixabel, which is in northern Guatemala (Peten). The bus assistant kept trying to talk to me in Spanish. I did my best, but neither of us really understood much of what the other was saying. We ended up talking about trees and animals. Very deep an intellectual.
 Luckily when we got here they had a room available. It's a fun little place. We're staying in a wooden cabin out in the middle of nowhere. There's a little lake here (but it's cold and overcast so we haven't ventured to take a dip). We went for a little horseback ride today which was a lot of fun. We went through the jungle and to the top of this hill where we had a beautiful view. Then we went down and around some houses. People definitely live differently here than back home. Everyone just has one or two room houses with tin roofs, laundry hanging up outside, and chickens, dogs, or pigs in the yard. Everyone is super friendly, always smiling and saying hi, with the kids running around barefoot.

Flores & TIkal

We were both held up for a few days after accidentally drinking some of the water; ended up staying in the room reading and sleeping. Finally we were able to go to Tikal, one of the bigger Mayan ruins. This one was different than the others in the fact that it was more spread out and in the middle of the jungle. In its time the jungle was cleared, but now it was overgrown with little paths throughout. Again I think I gained more enjoyment just walking through the forest and admiring the flora. We were also able to spot a few more monkeys. Near one of the ruins, there was a large group of locals who were doing a religious ceremony, and that was really interesting to watch.

Lazy day in Flores, Guatemala

That's our little island of Flores in the background

Today we had a lazy day, which was much needed. We took a little boat across the lake to San Miguel peninsula. We thought it would be a relaxing little boat ride for Q5, but the boat driver kept trying to hustle us into going farther away or on other tours pretty much the entire 10 minute little ride. Then we walked over to the other side of the peninsula and went to the "beach." There was a little dock over the lake, and the water was so warm. It was nice to just swim around and then sit and read for a little while. After this we walked through the jungle, spotted some monkeys, and went up to a look out point. Here we had a 360˚ view of the surrounding area, including our small little island of Flores. Breathtaking.

Colorful market place

Later on we walked through the neighboring town of Santa Elena. There are tons of little 3 wheeled taxis called tuk tuks everywhere and locals on motorcycles or scooters. Often the dad's driving and the mom is sitting right behind him holding a kid who's standing in between them or laying in her lap. I even saw one that had the teenage son sitting behind the mom, making a total of four people on one little scooter. And of course no one is wearing helmets. Very different than America with its strict traffic laws and Britney Spears being bombared by negative media attention for holding her kid in her lap while driving her car.

The walk to the pier

I keep exclaiming to Nate how beautiful everything is. I loved looking at all the trees in the forest, many of which had long vines and branches drooping down. We saw a lot of butterflies as well. There was one species we saw everywhere that was a vibrant blue on the top side with brown on the underside of the wings. Unfortunately they never stayed still so we couldn't get a picture, but they were stunning. Then tonight came with a gorgeous sunset. The setting sun lit up one side of the lake with golden rays, and on the side opposite the sky was made up of beautiful pastel shades of purple which were reflected on the lake. The cobblestone streets and mismatched houses take on a beauty of their own as well.

Beautiful sunset

Travel day to guatemala

Today we caught a taxi to the border, it was the smallest little van ever. The border was a little hectic as we were instantly bombarded by money changers and taxi drivers. We told them we were going to take a bus, but they just keep following you. It took us a while to find a bus because we were looking for big buses, but really they just use little vans with three rows of seats. People get piled in though. Our adventure is going to change a lot now that we will be in Spanish speaking countries. I've been able to practice a little today, and hopefully more will come back to me as I get used to trying to speak the language. We're in Flores, which is an island in a lake in Guatemala connected to the mainland by a short causeway. With the lake, the jungle in the distance, and the cobblestone streets we're in a beautiful spot. On top of that everyone is really friendly and helpful.

Xunantunich, Belize

Howler monkey

Today was a beautiful, sunny day. Thirsty, I bought some coconut water from a street vender. She handed me a straw and a plastic baggy filled with coconut water, which cracked me up. Then we caught the local bus to the mayan ruins of Xunantunich. The highest ruin there had a beautiful view of forests as far as I could see on one side, and on the other side you could see a few towns amidst the trees. I ended up running into a guy I knew from the dorms at UCSB, just proving how small this world is. We heard loud screeching noises that were reminiscent of sounds in the movie Jurassic park that we brushed off as machinery. We realized later that there were howler monkeys in the trees. The highlight of my day was definitely staring up at the monkeys. For dinner tonight we went to a local restaurant that had a thanksgiving special with mashed potatoes, turkey, stuffing, and pumpkin pie. Not the same as being home with family but as close as we could get!

Drinking coconut water!

San Ignacio - Caracol

Today we woke up early for another guided tour, this time to the Mayan ruins of Caracol. It was the first day of rain, and I was thankful I was convinced into bringing rain gear on the trip. The van ride to the ruins was around 3 hours over an unpaved, muddy road. We were jostled along most of the trip while outside was filled with gray skies and rain. I still really enjoyed the car ride though, again enchanted by the greenery of the jungle we were traveling through. We stopped first to view a giant cave entrance before continuing on to the ruins. The ruins were again beautiful, although I alternated between enjoying the ruins and the forest. The population of Caracol was around 100,000 in its hayday (1200 BC-900AD), and during that time there was no jungle around it as it had been cleared for wood and to make room for farming. It is hard to envision a time when this place was so densely populated and teeming with life. We learned some more of the sacrificing nature of the Mayans, how almost half of sacrificed remains found were those of children under ten. After leaving the ruins, we stopped at some beautiful pools, and then went to a waterfall. Even though it was still chilly and overcast, many of us swam in the river up to the falls. We were able to pull ourselves along the side of the river against the strong current up to the bottom of the waterfall, and it was truly a spectacular site.