We took a little speed boat from Belize to Southern Guatemala on New Years Eve. It was ridiculously bumpy and I spilt a cup of soup on the man sitting next to me, I kept apologising and he kept saying it was ok and calling me chica.
We arrived in Livingston around 10am and wandered up the hill (I dont generally like when a country's first impression is a giant hill but a super friendly local guy was having a good chat to us so it was pretty cool) to find immigration almost a block away. Luckily we didn't need a visa because we hadn't planned on even visiting the country until we heard such good things. Livingston is unconnected to the rest of Guatemala by roads and has a different culture in itself. It was full of dreadlocks and laid back bars. Seeing full bars at lunch time gave us hope for a good New Years and after finding a hostel, a palace like building with giant turtles in the moat, we went out to find some Guatemalan food. There was only fried chicken everywhere. That night after dinner we tried to find the big party hostel that supposedly had a good bar and lots of people. We wandered around for hours until it started pouring and we settled on ice cream instead. Unfortunately, despite the rain, it was still ridiculously hot and we tried to devour our double scoop cones covered in chocolate gracefully. I failed. I spent ten minutes leaning into a wall under a bit of cover trying to eat my ice cream while people stared at the ice cream dripping all over the floor. When Jeff came over (he'd been hiding in his own corner) he just laughed and judged me as I cowered guiltily, making a huge mess. We woke up early and hangover free on New Years day and decided to catch the morning boat to the next town and continue into mainland Guatemala. We got there right on time and put our bags in the front of the boat and climbed over people to sit down. Because it was New Years there was no where to grab breakfast on the way and the first thing I ate this year was a stale packet of peanut m&ms. The boat trip was beautiful, we went through the canyon and through a few fishing villages before it started bucketing rain again and everyone was given a tarp to hide under. A couple of hours later we were in Rio Dulce to catch the 8 hour bus to Antigua. Once again, public holidays took us by surprise. The bus wouldn't run until the next day and Guatemala doesn't have collectivos like Mexico. We sat in a cafe out of the rain and had our first proper meal of the year: fried chicken. They seriously loved their fried chicken. A very nice local man had heard us trying to arrange a way to Antigua and gathered the other 8 people headed in a similar direction and convinced a friend with a mini van to drive us all to Guatemala city. This was the first trip where I'd sat in the front seat. Now we've ranked all the seats on the mini buses and you just have to avoid the back row (too bumpy and you get sick), the crappy fold-out half a seat in the middle (sore back) and the middle seat in the front, right next to the driver (it's a lot taller than the other front seats, rock hard and you can only see the rear-view mirror). The front seat is the best. Except that you can see the road and the way everyone drives. After passing a couple of fresh road accidents on the highway, everyone reached for their seatbelts. The front seat actually has one, the others do too but they're tied up in knots under the chairs to save space and people cant use them.
My first impression of Guatemalan roads was actually really good. The scenery was magical, it had everything. Apart from the few road accidents we'd seen, it seemed rather safe. For the start of the journey everyone seemed to drive only one car per lane and overtook for the most part where there weren't double yellow lines and tight corners. One of the most memorable bus trips we had in Mexico was in a big bus driving us mountain ranges. Our driver decided to overtake the big truck in front of us on a one lane each way, double lined road. At the same time, the car behind us started overtaking us while we overtook the truck. And just for good measure, of course there was a car coming in the opposite direction.
About 4 hours into the drive we got pulled over by a police road block. The policeman kept smiling at me while he asked for the driver's papers and then started trying to talk to me. I panicked a little when he came to my window and started talking to just me and I didn't understand a word, apparently he was just asking where I was from and trying to be flirty. We were on our way again after he checked two people's passports.
We stopped off at a roadside restaurant for a break and to grab some food where Jeff and I joked about all the no gun signs. When we got to Guatemala city and saw a lot more of them I was a little more concerned. We pulled up at the bus stop and the driver grabs a big hand gun and hides it in his pants before getting out, again the joys of being in the front seat. It was getting dark and having heard how dangerous Guatemala city is, and now starting to believe it, we went and jumped on a chicken bus to Antigua. The chicken bus name seemed like a big exaggeration when we got on as there were only two other people on the whole bus, they chucked Jeff's bag on the roof and sped off until more people jumped on. The buses are retired American school buses, they are designed to have two children per seat. Turns out you can fit 3 adults and a couple of kids on each one. Jeff had his knees up against the back of the chair in front as he's way too tall for them, I was cramped against the window and we could fit another man that just kept trying to squish us more. I never knew I could take up so little space. The locals were all really friendly and I got a "God bless you" from an old lady for smiling at her. To give you an idea of just how small the seats are, even my legs were too long to avoid crushing them into the seat in front. Jeff's legs were pretty much numb by the time we got off an hour later.
Antigua was beautiful. We arrived at night so just walked around the cobbled stone streets of the Colonial city and found the hostel a friend had recommended. It was beautiful and had nice timber furniture and hammocks outside. Unfortunately, we hadn't booked ahead and had to share the last single bed they had left. But we didn't mind, we were really only there for the breakfast. It didn't disappoint, we had a spinach and mozzarella omelette with roasted baby potatoes with rosemary the first day and I had pancakes with bacon, eggs and a bowl of fruits the other days. The first morning there we walked around town, surprised by how cold it was. When we'd gotten in the night before wed come straight from the beach so I was wearing short shorts and a singlet, we were too tired to get changed though so went to dinner with a German guy we met at the hostel and found a fancy Indian restaurant. You know that feeling when you walk in somewhere and you realise you're completely underdressed? We walked in with me in my short shorts and Jeff in boardies, both of us wearing wife beaters and see everyone in their suits. Didn't care, it was delicious and we were tired. Putting our jeans on after a couple of weeks of super warm weather came as a big surprise but was still an enjoyable novelty for a couple of days until we realised just how unprepared we are for the cold in Seattle.
Antigua used to be the capital of Guatemala but after a few too many earthquakes and constant rebuilding, it changed to Guatemala city. The town is surrounded by active volcanoes and has adorable old buildings, town squares and churches. It is supposed to be one of the best towns in the world to learn Spanish and I'm considering moving there for a couple of months because of how beautiful it was. Oh and there was lots of ice cream.
On our second day in Antigua we went to walk up a big hill with a great view of the city. There are a lot of armed robberies on the way up so you can only go twice a day when they have police scattered up the path. Two girls from our hostel got held up the day before we went because they didn't go at 10am or 3pm when the police are there. So at 10:40 we decided to race up, it was supposed to only be a half hour walk so we figured we could do it quickly. We made it up in less than 7 minutes and enjoyed the view before the police left. As we were about to leave, the police offered us a lift. We couldn't really understand what they said so I assumed they were offering us a lift and we jumped in the back of the ute and had a police escort back to the centre of town.
That afternoon we hiked to the top of an active volcano a couple of hours out of town. They drove us up the first 2000m and you walk for an hour and a half to get to the crater. Most of the walk was just going uphill through a path covered in trees on little rocks, it was not impressive at all and I wondered what I'd gotten myself into. An hour and 15 minutes into it, it changed immensely. The trees disappeared and the small rocks turned into black volcanic rocks and ash. All of a sudden you are standing on a big open plane where you have to lean against the wind to stand up straight and be super careful when you walk so you dont fall off. It was incredibly cold and windy and had the most amazing views. You could see town in the middle of a circle of volcanoes and watch the big one errupting every 10 minutes. During the daylight you can only see smoke coming up but night time apparently gives you the amazing red glow. We watched the sunset and then had to race down in the dark. It only takes about half an hour to get down to where you started if you scramble as quickly as we did. Luckily I'm very good at falling on my butt because I'm not so good at going down volcanoes without falling over. The hole in my shoe had filled with black ash, as had my nose and it had covered my face. My hands were so cold on the way down that moving them slightly or any breeze would sting but I couldn't put them in my pockets because of my likliness to fall. It was a fantastic experience!
We decided to spend an extra night in Antigua because we loved it so much (the breakfasts helped too) and just did a day trip to the lakeside town of Panajachal. We took our first shuttle bus there and it really set the scene for all of them for the next 10 days. The shuttle was supposed to pick us up at 8am and was a two hour trip, we thought that meant we'd be there at 10am. The bus was an hour late to pick us up and took 3 and half hours to get there. Our idea of morning coffee by the lake turned into lunch instead. It was a beautiful spot to have an afternoon nap under a tree and admire the huge lake and surrounding volcanoes. We jumped in another shuttle the next day to get to Semuc Champey.
A few extra hours and going from shuttle bus to standing in the back of a truck to another ute and we were there within 10 hours. It was completely worth it. Semuc Champey is absolutely stunning. There is only one small road down the bumpy mountain and it takes an hour cover the 10km (although apparently it's 9 km up and 11km down using the same road, not sure how that works). We spent a full day exploring the national park and experiencing everything it had to offer. We started that morning by climbing a muddy mountain (which I did in someone else's shoes because the guy insisted it was too slippery for thongs) to get to an amazing lookout of all the natural blue green pools of water that fell into one after another all the way down the slope to the river. After hiking up we made our way down to the pools and swam around and giggled as the little toe biting fish took us by surprise. The guide we went with then asked if we wanted to swim in a couple of other pools, of course we did so we went to get and continue down the path. No, no, he explained and we followed him, jumping off the small rocky edge into the next one. This continued for a while, we slid down baby waterfalls and dived off rocks into the amazing coloured water pools one after another until he stops and askes me sit down infront of where he is. We had to sit down a few times to get over some slimy rocks so I didn't think anything of it until he asked me to cross my arms over my chest and pushed me down a small waterful, hitting my bum on every rock for the 1.5m drop. He called it a natural slide, it really wasn't, it was a lot of rocks that happened to have a little water falling off them and it was not smooth. It was so much fun though. A few more jumps and then we went under a waterfall into a tiny space in the rock and moved under the rocks with 15-20cm of space between the rocks and the water.
After another scenic walk through the rain forrest and by the water pools, we went back to the river and did a little tubing. The water was absolutely freezing. A quick lunch and then we walked to the caves nearby. We'd seen signs for the caving and were looking forward to it. In the pictures everyone has a helmet and a flashlight and a life jacket, it all looks pretty safe and legit. We get there and we meet the guy who will be taking us through, he had a big bandage around one of his fingers where he'd cut it open with a machette. He handed us all a skinny candle and we followed him into the entrance of the black caves. Candles give off a nice amount a light to enhance a romantic dinner or something, they are not really that bright when it is your only lightsource in a pitchblack cave where you stumple around on rocks until the guy tells you to sit down and slide into the water with your candle above your head and start swimming through the caves. It was one of the most amazing things I have ever done. You would climb up ladders and squeeze through openings in the rocks all while trying to protect your candle. We stopped a couple of minutes into it at a small natural pool inside. The guy asks if we want to climb up the rocks on the wall of the cave and jump in. Do not make the mistake of calling us brave, Jeff and I make stupid decisions. He tells me to put my hand here, my foot there and then lift my other foot to there and then hold on here. I got the first hand and foot sorted out ok but then he asked me to put my leg up on a rock at waist height. He had to hang on with one hand and balanced on the edge of the wall while I used his knee as a step. It was no big deal until I put my hand down and accidently crush his finger with the machette cut. He was cowering in pain and I was hanging on to the rocks saying "descupe" (sorry) over and over. Then he said I have to jump because I was up there now. It was only about a 4 metre jump but it was into darkness. Jeff did it after me, I'd forgotten to tell him that it was shallow and I'd hit the bottom so he did too but it was so much fun it made no difference. We did some climbing and swimming until you get to one spot with a hole between a few rocks and water gushing through it. Of course, we had to go down there. The guide asked me to turn around so my back was against the far rocks and I could grab on before slipping through the hole but it was slipperier that I thought and he had to catch me before I fell into the hole. He grabs your hand and lowers it onto a rock on the other side of the gushing waterfall and tells you to slip down and go left and then he passes your candle through. The whole experience was just fantastic.
On our way back to the hostel, still on a bit of an adreniline high from the caving I come up with the idea that we should jump off the bridge. Yep, the bridge is 9 or 10 metres above the fast moving river with freezing cold water and as we stand there and realise what a stupid idea it is, a coupld of locals come along and make the guy we're with move because there are rocks on one side, Yay! A group of people came along and after convincing one of the guys to jump off first to make sure it was fine, we jumped off and swam to the bank so we could do it again. I stood there and realised how stupid it was again for the next 5 minutes but after pushing Jeff off it I figured I had to go. And once again we went back to the bridge and tried to jump off again. I am not good with heights for those of you not aware of my normal response of ridiculous noises. I began to half cry and yelled at Jeff every time he started counting to 3 insisting that I would do it because there was no way he was jumping without me, if we were going to die, we were going to do it at the same time. It took a very long time and a hell of a lot of will power but I once again made the stupid decision to jump off the damn bridge. You have a couple of seconds of free fall and that is when you really believe how stupid it is. All in good fun.
That night we had our first full Spanish conversation. With an 8 year old. Anna came and asked us our names and how old we both were and we knew the answers and what she meant! After a couple of card games with the guy that took us into the natural pools, I danced a bit of meringue with him before heading to bed before the power was turned off at 9pm.
The next morning we'd booked a bus to Flores and started the day with breakfast overlooking the river at the hostel. As we ate we were joined by a little toucan. Of course neither of us had our cameras. We'd been on the lookout for one in Mexico and were told it would happen for sure in Belize but after joking for weeks about carrying Froot Loops around in our pockets, one joined us for breakfast. We then spent an hour standing in the back of an open air truck going up the bumpy dirt path and trying to duck before we got too many stray branches in the face. Despite the cold and how your hands freeze around the bar, it is so much fun! We spent the rest of the day in yet another shuttle bus and after the tour lady (who comes around for the ride to pick everyone up) got out of the front seat and left Jeff and I realised we had fair game over the prized spot. I called shotgun but Jeff preferred his new rule, we wrestle for it. He was sitting closer to the door so I knew I wouldn't be able to race him. Until we pulled up in a petrol station and I dove from my seat through the gap in the top of the seat shocked the driver as I clambered into the front seat. The next 6 hours made the little bump on my head worth it.
We got to Flores, a small island town on a lake connected to the main town by bridge, that night and booked our trip to Tikal for 4:30am the next morning. Tikal was lovely, it is a group of Mayan temples in the forrest and has one main temple that is over 90m tall and is where Star Wars was filmed. Of course we climbed to the top of as many different temples as we were allowed to. I'm pretty sure that if we weren't eating as much or as often as we are, we'd come home fit and skinny for all the stuff we climb. But the night before we went to the main square for dinner and each had a delicious chicken meal... And then another meal from the same place but we're not sure what the meat was that time. We then went and had ice cream sundaes before our after dinner snack of some mystery meat sausage. See, we could be skinny!
Another 4am start the next day and we left Guatemala for a day in Belize that morning. After walking straight though the bag checks (we even tried to get them to have a look) we went outside and waited for our bus to be searched. We spent the day over at San Pedro, the island next to where we'd spent 5 days at Christmas. We headed back to Belize city that afternoon to catch a bus to Cancun that night. Unfortunately when we got there we were told that tickets had just sold out even though we'd tried to reserve a seat. We ended up catching a local bus to a town near the Belize boarder and crossed into Mexico after the official just took a quick look at our passports, no stamps or bag checks and we were in Mexico. Another bus and we made it to Cancun at 5am.
We spent the morning at the beach and stocking up on local tequila before we fly to Seattle tomorrow.
