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We headed into Guatemala on a ferry from Belize -
First stop = Livingstone
We spent only 1 night in Livingstone, in a hostel right on the water. Early the next morning we caught a "river boat" up the jungle-walled canyon of the Rio Dulce to a hostel called Finca Tatin - which is a forest retreat with wood and thatch cabins in the jungle, right on the waters edge - it was such a cool place, we found ourselves some books and spent the next 2 days lying in hammocks over the water reading them! :) We also did a kayak to Biotopo reserve from there, then caught another jungle boat further down the river, into the town called Rio Dulce.
From there, we caught a (hair-raising local) bus to the island of Flores, and spent 2 nights there, as a base to adventure into the ruins of Tikal. 4:30am we were up and waiting for our bus to Tikal. Tikal has towering pyramids poking through the jungle, with loads of spider monkeys, toucans, parrots and woodpeckers - Tikal is cool 'coz you can climb the ruins and there are some pretty amazing views from the top!
From Tikal, we headed south to Semuc Champey - which is a river of natural infinity pools flowing into each other, in the heart of the jungle. We stayed right on the water in a thatch wooden loft and headed into the "wet cave" early the next morning. The cave is filled with water (sometimes you can not touch the floor - so you have to swim through) - there are 2 waterfalls in the cave, a natural slide, 2 big jumps into the water, loads of stalactites and stalagmites ... the cave is obviously in complete darkness ... and you do all of this by candlelight! So there you are - stumbling around, trying to swim with 1 hand and hold your candle above your head, climbing UP waterfalls using only a rope - epic times! :)
From Semuc Champey, we caught an 8 hour shuttle to Antigua (stopping to replace the brake pads for an hour during the drive!)
Antigua is a beautiful little colonial city, surrounded by 3 volcanoes (Volcan Agua, Volcan Fuego (which is still active) and Volcan Acatenango.) We spent the afternoon and whole of the next day walking the streets and watching a school's parade come through the streets.
May is the beginning of rainy season, and from the day we arrived in Antigua, it has rained every afternoon.
From Antigua, we caught a shuttle to a little place called "Earth Lodge" - this incredible little gem is high on a mountain outside of Antigua - with magical views of the 3 volcanoes! First night we stayed in an A frame tree cabin, the second night we stayed in the deluxe tree cabin (which was built around an oak tree, so the oak tree is the centre of the double story cabin, with double story windows providing beautiful views of the volcanoes right from the bed!) and the last night we stayed in the famous treehouse - which is built right in the trees!
On the night that we stayed in the Tree House - Volcan Fuego had the most incredible eruption that lasted all night! We lay in our bed and watched the lava spurt out the top and roll down the side of the volcano - in the morning the smoke fumes from the lava covered the whole volcano - unbelievable sight!
From Earth Lodge, we caught a shuttle to Lago de Atitlan (which is a lake in Guatemala surrounded by 3 volcanoes and little villages.) We chose to stay at the hippy village of San Marcos (this hippy village is like nothing earth on earth - you can get a massage, take a course in reiki/sun course or moon course, you can even practise cosmic transportation?! For sure the most out there people we have ever seen!) :)
The next morning we took a water taxi across the lake to the more touristy village of San Pedro.
From Lago de Atitlan we shuttled back to Antigua to climb the volcano called Pacaya :)
Pacaya is a well known volcano on the backpacker path - coz when you on the volcano, the rocks are so hot you can roast marshmellows - which is exactly what we did :)
Rocks are also so hot in some places - that if you drop a few sticks in the cracks, a fire starts - pretty cool volcano I'd say!
From Guatemala we climbed onto the bus to start the 18 hour trip to Nicaragua for the next leg of the adventure!
*do not follow where the path may lead - go instead where there is no path and leave a trail*
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