Hola Guatemala

Holy crap it's been a while since I've been on this! It's been a whirlwind week and some days, so I'll attempt to start off where I last left you....

I was in San Ignacio and then decided to make the leap over to Guatemala, which was not at all as bad as I was making it out to be. I took a taxi to the border ( a whopping $2.50 US) and then just got in line, showed them my passport, and off I went. I was expecting giant guards with machine guns interrogating me as to why I was leaving Belize and entering Guatemala, but that was not the case. I think I probably could have just sauntered through without getting my passport stamped, but I decided against that. I hopped in a collectivo (mini buses of sorts) and took a bumpy 2 hour ride to Flores, which is this cute little town on an island in the middle of Lago Peten. I arrived at my hostel, Los Amigos, and then went down to the swimming docks right over the lake where locals and tourists alike enjoy diving and cannonballing into the water and splashing around. I forgot how much I enjoy fresh water until I jumped in, but it was a nice break from the salt of the sea. I met quite a few people on the dock-a couple from Oakland who are biking around the ENTIRE world (they think they will be gone a decade), a Frenchman who dove in and hit the bottom and scraped up his head and refused medical help, a really nice Isreali girl who said I looked like her sister-in-law, and a fair amount of Canadians, and one other American! yay! After some beers on the dock since you can drink beer anywhere in Central America, we went and got street food and watched the moon come up. Then it was off to bed because I was heading to Tikal and had to be up at 4 am.
Tikal was an experience to say the least. It is the oldest (?) and biggest Mayan ruin, and it's just huge. Thankfully the hostel sets up guided tours otherwise I'm pretty sure I would have been lost in the woods for a few days trying to find my way out. We toured around for a few hours and learned about the Mayan culture and their cities, and I'm very happy that I was not alive at that time. Human sacrifice was a big thing, and they don't so much love treating ladies like equals, but they did build some massive towers. Towers that I got to climb up. Which I was not intending on doing due to my dislike of heights, but I did it! And got some great pictures that I will post if the internet ever decides to work at a normal speed. After Tikal it was back to the docks for swimming and meeting more people, I met a Canadian named David who called Portland "The New York of Oregon" and I am going to start saying that from now on. Also met two really fun girls from Canada, Marina and Audrey, and a big group of us went out for steak dinner, which was absolutely amazing.
Most people were leaving the next day for Mexico or Belize and I had to decide what I wanted to do, so I decided to spend another day in Flores and then head south with David to go to Semuc Champay and do water caves! The next day in Flores it rained all day so I learned how to play cribbage and walked around a little bit and found some awesome Tikal shirts to purchase. We had originally booked a collectivo through the hostel but then found out that night that it wasn't going, so we found Doris and Silvana who were also going to Semuc Champay and we all made the 8+ hour bus ride together to get to Lanquin (the town outside of Semuc Champay where we stayed). I actually enjoyed the bus ride because the landscape of Guatemala is incredibly beautiful, it's very green with sharp hills and valleys and you're constantly winding up or down a mountain.
We got to the hostel in Lanquin, Zephyr Lodge, and found out that the only space they had available was in the loft above the bar with two double mattresses, and complete with Dieter the roommate who worked at the hostel. The selling point was the showers, which had a view of the hillside and surrounding landscape. I think I could have slept in them if that had been ok. After a whole day of traveling, we got food and drinks which were both quite necessary. We ran into some people that had been at our hostel in Flores, and ended the day watching Youtube videos. Look up Epic Meal time if you can, it's a winner. The next day was caving!! Not only caving, but water caving. We all piled into the back of a pick up truck to be shuttled to Semuc Champay, then you strip down to your bathing suit and sneakers, grab a candle and head into the cave. I was terrified and let that be known and thankfully we had a really great group of people and everyone was pretty supportive. The next two hours we spent wading, swimming, climbing, and jumping through the cave, it was incredible. After the cave there was a rope swing over the river that some people went on, but after watching all the guys hit the water at awkward angles and come out red and bruised I decided not to partake. We had some lunch then hiked up to a lookout point that looked down on the lagoons of Semuc Champay. Then we got to swim in the pools and jump from lagoon to lagoon which was really fun, and our guide kept calling us "chicos, chicos" which was also entertaining. We headed back to the hostel for dinner and some more socializing but I was dead tired and went to sleep at 10...which was perfect timing because a group sing-a-long had started, and if you know me, you know that I absolutely despise sing-a-longs.
The next morning we had to say goodbye to Lanquin and Zephyr Lodge and headed to Antigua, another long day of buses. It was Doris, David and myself, Silvana was smart and had booked a collectivo the day befor. We stopped in Coban and got some food, and then had to change buses in Guatemala City as well, as well as say goodbye to Doris. David and I grabbed a chicken bus, which is what all the locals ride and it's basically an old modified school bus that gets packed full of people and is quite entertaining to ride. We arrived in Antigua and met up with Silvana at our hostel, The Black Cat, had some dinner and then fell asleep (such wild and crazy kids we are). The next day was full of bartering at the markets and it was so much fun! My spanish is still pretty crap-ola but Silvana and David both speak it so I got them to help me barter and ended up getting way more stuff than I needed, but it was definitely an entertaining day! We walked around Antigua a bit, which is a really cool old colonial town in a valley surrounded by volcanoes. I wish I could have spent more time there, buttttt the sun and Caye Caulker were calling my name. Plus my spanish speaking friends were leaving me, and that would have been disastrous for me to attempt on my own.
So to get from Antigua to Caye Caulker was going to be a day and a half worth of riding buses, and after spending a fair amount of time on buses in the last few days this sounded terrible, so I made the executive decision to fly! I went from Guatemala City to Flores in this little plane that held maybe 30 people, and booked the ticket the night before. I never would have trusted that in the States, but apparently it's pretty common in Guatemala. Then from Flores to Belize City I flew in a little 7 seater plane and got to ride shotgun next to the pilot! Again, my fear of heights was put to the test, but the views were worth it. Then it was a 10 minute ride from Belize City to Caye Caulker and I was back in paradise! This is my final stop before I head home, I figured I would bookend my trip with some time in the sun and relaxing. I did absolutely love Guatemala though, and want to go back in the future and spend a few months there and learn Spanish. I'm really happy I went, I just wish I had more time there!

Anywho, I'm getting eaten by sand flies while I type this, and I'm kayaking around the island soon so I'm off! I'll write again soon, I promise...

Love and miss you all!

Jen