Activities in Guatemala
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Academia de Español Antigueña
A highly recommended school, only hiring experienced teachers. They can arrange volunteer work in hospitals for social workers, lab assistants and child care workers on request. Also supports an educational project in San Antonio Aguas Calientes.
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Volunteering in Quetzaltenango
The Quetzaltenango area has many nonprofit organizations working on social projects with the local K'iche' Maya people and others that need volunteers. Volunteer jobs can range from teaching math to village children, to designing websites for indigenous organizations, to developing sustainable agriculture, to medical work in clinics, to working in orphanages for disabled children. For anyone in a giving frame of mind, the possibilities are endless.
You can volunteer part time for a week or two while also studying Spanish, or you can live and work in a close-knit indigenous village for a year. Obviously, the more Spanish you speak the better, but in a few weeks at one of X…
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Cooperativa Spanish School
Run as a cooperative (therefore guaranteeing fair wages for teachers), Cooperativa Spanish School comes highly recommended. A percentage of profits goes to needy families around the lake. After-school activities include videos, conferences, salsa classes, volunteer work, kayaking and hiking. The office is halfway along the path between the two docks.
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Kaqchikel Tours
Kaqchikel Tours is a well-run, locally owned outfit specializing in volcano ascents and other great-value hikes, with camping along the way on some trips. Two-day Tajumulco trips cost around US$40. Kaqchikel also offers full-moon ascents of Santa María (around US$15) and challenging two-day Santiaguito trips (around US$66 with a minimum group size of four), camping on a small hill as close as is safely possible to the active crater.
A three-day Quetzaltenango-Lago de Atitlán trek is around US$70, and a five-day Nebaj-Todos Santos jaunt across the Cuchumatanes mountains is around US$130. Prices include transportation, food, equipment and a guide.
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Volcán Santa María & Santiaguito
With early starts, Volcán Santa María (3772m), towering to the south of the city, and the active volcano Santiaguito (2488m), on Santa María's southwest flank, can both be done in long morning hikes from Xela.
You start walking at the village of Llanos del Pinal, 5km south of Xela, from which it's about four hours up to the summit of Santa María (then three hours down). Getting too close to Santiaguito is dangerous, so people usually just look at it from a mirador about 1½ hours' walk from Llanos del Pinal.
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Ravenscroft Riding Stables
Ravenscroft Riding Stables, 3km south of Antigua on the road to Santa María de Jesús, offers English-style riding, with scenic rides of three, four or five hours in the valleys and hills around Antigua. You need to be fairly fit. Reservations and information are available through the Hotel San Jorge. You can reach the stables on a bus bound for Santa María de Jesús.
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Casa Rosario
Run by respected brothers and teachers Samuel and Vicente Cumes, Casa Rosario holds classes in gardens near the lake. The office is along first street to the left as you walk up from Santiago dock. Volunteer projects include reforestation, teachers' assistants and environmental awareness campaigns.
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Proyecto Lingüístico Quetzalteco de Español
This very professional and politically minded school also runs the Escuela de la Montaña, a language school with a maximum enrollment of eight on an organic coffee finca in the mountains near Xela, where participation in local culture and volunteering are strongly encouraged.
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El Quetzal
One of the few indigenous-run businesses in town, plenty of activities and a reading room with more than 300 books.
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Escuela de Español San José el Viejo
Professional, 30-teacher school with pool, superb gardens, tennis court and its own tasteful accommodations.
reviewed
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Celas Maya
Set around a pleasant garden-courtyard; also offers classes in K'iche'.
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Trips up the Río Dulce
Tour agencies in town offer day trips up the Río Dulce to Río Dulce town, as do most local boatmen at the Lívingston dock. Many travelers use these tours as one-way transportation to Río Dulce, although you can do a return trip. It's a beautiful ride through tropical jungle scenery, with several places to stop on the way.
Shortly after you leave Lívingston, you pass the tributary Río Tatin on the right, then will probably stop at an indigenous arts museum set up by Asociación Ak' Tenamit, an NGO working to improve conditions for the Q'eqchi' Maya population of the area. The river enters a gorge called La Cueva de la Vaca, its walls hung with great tangles of jungle fo…
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Volcano Ascents
All three volcanoes overlooking Antigua are tempting challenges but how close you can get to Fuego depends on recent levels of activity. In many ways the twin-peaked Acatenango, the highest of the three and overlooking Fuego, is the most exhilarating summit. For an active-volcano experience many people take tours to Pacaya (2552m), 25km southeast of Antigua (a 1½-hour drive).
In general the weather and the views on all the volcanoes are better in the morning. In the rainy season (May to October) thunderstorms are possible in the afternoon. Get reliable advice about safety before you climb, for example from the Inguat tourist office, or from your embassy in Guatemala City…
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Exotic Travel
A few outfits in Lívingston offer tours that let you get out and experience the natural wonders of the area. Exotic Travel is a well-organized operation with several good trips. Its popular Ecological Tour/Jungle Trip takes you for a walk through town, out west up to a lookout spot and on to the Río Quehueche, where you take a half-hour canoe trip down the river to Playa Quehueche where you walk through the jungle to Los Siete Altares.
Hang out in Los Siete Altares for a while, then walk down to the beach and back along it to Lívingston. The trip leaves the Restaurant Bahía Azul on Calle Principal every day at 09:00 and arrives back around 16:30; it costs around US$10 i…
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Language Courses
Xela's many language schools attract students from around the world. Unlike Antigua, which has had a similar reputation for quite a bit longer, Xela is not overrun with foreigners, though there is a growing social scene revolving around language students and volunteer workers.
Xela seems to attract altruistic types, and most of the Spanish schools listed individually provide opportunities to get involved in social action programs working with the local K'iche' Maya. Prices for the schools vary a little but not by much; the standard price is around US$110/around US$130 per week for four/five hours of instruction per day, Monday to Friday, including room and board with a lo…
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Proyecto EcoQuetzal
Proyecto EcoQuetzal is an innovative project offering 'ethnotourism' trips in which participants hike to nearby villages nestled in the cloud forest and stay with a Q'eqchi' Maya family. To maximize the experience, travelers are encouraged to learn some Q'eqchi' words and stay with their host family for at least two days. For around US$42 you'll get a guide for three days, lodging for two nights, and six meals. Your guide will take you on hikes to interesting spots.
The men of the family are the guides, providing them an alternative, sustainable way to make a living. Reservations are required at least one day in advance. The Proyecto also rents boots, sleeping bags and b…
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Excursion Big Foot
Fifty metres to the left of Volcán San Pedro at the first crossroads up from San Pedro's Panajachel dock, Excursion Big Foot has a track record of responsibility in this respect and goes at 06:00 when there are at least four people (around US$10 each). The ascent is through fields of maize, beans and squash, followed by primary cloud forest. You'll be back in San Pedro about 13:00. Take water, snacks, a hat and sunblock.
Excursion Big Foot will also guide a minimum of four people up the hill to the west of the village that is generally referred to as Indian Nose (its skyline resembles the profile of an ancient Maya dignitary) for around US$10 each; it also offers horse r…
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Antigua Tours
Elizabeth Bell, author of books on Antigua, leads three-hour cultural walking tours of the town (in English and/or Spanish) on Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday & Saturday. On Monday & Thursday, the tours are led by her colleague Roberto Spillari. Reservations are suggested and can be made through Antigua Tours which is inside the Casa Santo Domingo Hotel.
Bell's book, Antigua Guatemala: The City and Its Heritage, is well worth picking up at a bookstore: it describes all the city's important buildings and museums, and neatly encapsulates Antigua's history and fiestas. Writer Elizabeth Bell also gives a fascinating one-hour English-language slide show about Antigua called Behind …
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Old Town Outfitters
Professional and friendly outfit offering volcano ascents, guided walks and mountain bike tours. You can either do a volcano day trip or an overnight trip, camping up in the mountains. Try a guided half-day walk in the hills around Antigua, go to any summit in the country, or try a three-day trek through eastern Guatemala's Sierra de las Minas, with its cloud forests.
This outfit also rents out quality bikes with gloves, helmets and maps; offers a range of mountain-bike tours at all levels of difficulty, including the two-day Pedal & Paddle Tour, which includes kayaking and hiking at Lago de Atitlán; and it rents out and sells camping gear.
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Guatemala Ventures/Mayan Bike Tours
This outfit offers volcano ascents and mountain bike tours. Volcano ascents take you to Agua, and for those a bit more adventurous they offer hike-and-bike tours to Pacaya volcano. They also offer some interesting cloud-forest, bird-watching and ridge-hiking options. You can rent out good mountain bikes here too (by the hour or by the day) and there are some tasty bike tours, from intermediate to expert levels, on offer.
This outfit also does bike-and-kayak trips to Lago de Atitlán and Monterrico (both two days). Another, lazier option is its trip up Cerro Alto in a minibus with a coast back down on mountain bike.
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Walking
Walking from San Pedro to other lakeside villages is, sadly, potentially risky. In recent years there have been robberies, at least one armed attack and at least one rape at various places between San Pedro and Jaibalito, and robberies between San Pedro and Santiago. Hopefully this will change, but meanwhile we don't recommend these walks except with a responsible guide who can give convincing safety assurances.
It takes about four hours from San Pedro to Santiago, 1½ hours to San Pablo, three hours to San Marcos and six hours to Santa Cruz.
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Volcán Tajumulco
There are many exciting walks and climbs to be done from Xela. Volcán Tajumulco (4220m), 50km northwest, is the highest point in Central America and is a challenging trip of one long day from the city or two days with a night camping on the mountain. This includes about five hours' walking up from the starting point, Huitán, and three to four hours down. Huitán is about three hours by bus from Xela.
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Proyecto Lingüístico Monterrico
Proyecto Lingüístico Monterrico, about 250m from the beach, is quite professional. Classes are generally held outdoors in a shady garden area. You can study in the morning or afternoon, depending on your schedule. Courses here run at around US$130 per week with 20 hours of tuition, and accommodation with access to a kitchen, or around US$75 for classes only. It has useful maps of the town.
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Ascending Volcán San Pedro
Looming above the village, Volcán San Pedro almost asks to be climbed by anyone with a bit of energy and adventurous spirit. The volcano has recently been placed within an Ecological Park to minimize environmental damage caused by hikers and also to improve the security situation, which wasn't great before. Guides can take you up here from San Pedro for around US$13, including entrance fee.
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Cycling
Cycling is a great way to explore the surrounding countryside or commute to Spanish class. Fuentes Georginas, San Andrés Xequl and the steam vents at Los Vahos are all attainable day trips. Vrisa Bookstore (15a Av 3-64, Zona 1) rents mountain and town bikes for around US$4 per day, around US$10per week, as does Monte Verde Tours (7761 6105; www.monte-verdetours.com; 13a Av 8-34, Zona 1).
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