Guatemala and Belize in 2 weeks

Hi Everyone,

I am planning a trip to Guatemala and Belize from Dec to Jan. There is so much to see and do but I am a bit limited. I want to be in san Pedro for New Years eve so I have already booked that. I am wondering what the ebst routes to take are in order to avoid back tracking. Here is what I have so far.

Dec 26- Arrive in Gautemala city at 7am and take a taxi straight to Antigua. Spend the day touring around Antigua
Dec 27- Head to Lake Atilan for the day
Dec 28- Semuc Champey
Dec 29 and 30th- flores and tikal
Dec 31- tikal to belize city to san pedro, Abergis Caye

I would like to see some ruins, waterfalls/ pools, rainforest, and volcanoes. I am flexible on where I go but would like to see these things. Rio dulce would also be cool if it is possible to fit that in somewhere.

Once I get to Belize, I think I am ok, we just plan to have a lot of beach time... more »

ATM Scam Warning Antigua

Justy back from ten days in Guatemala, and I'll post my trip report this weekend. The vast majority of the trip was great, but ... I got my debit card 'skimmed' at an ATM in Antigua, and my checking account was cleared out in two days.

I am fairly certain that it was the ATM on the north side of the park, the one that is not attached to a bank. It was the middle of the day. I tried to use it, felt vaguely uncomfortable, and cancelled my transaction. Sometimes you just have that weird feeling that you're being watched, yeah? I used the ATM at the bank on the Northeast corner of the park instead.

A week later I got a "low balance" text from my bank.

I googled "ATM scam Antigua" and discovered that this has been an ongoing problem. I thought I was aware of the dangers/scams/annoyances in Guatemala, but missed this one (possibly because every discussion on scams / d... more »

Spanish Schools in Guatemala

My daughter and I are going to Guatemala Dec. 24 - Jan 3 or 16, to study in a good Spanish school with a family stay. Do you have any recommendations, either for Antigua or for other easy to reach places?

Coban -day trip Semucchampney

We will be in Coban in a few weeks time. I want to do a day trip to Semuc Champney and was wondering who the most reliable tour operator in Coban is.

Also as we are going to Antigua after Coban which company runs the most reliable shuttles.

Many thanks to anybody who replies in advance.

Restaurant in Antigua with secure parking

I am taking a couple of friends to dinner in Antigua and they'll be driving in from Guatemala City. Is there a nice restaurant there with secure parking? Some background music might be nice but we'll need it quiet enough for conversation.
Any suggestions?

Travel Companion

I think I'm going to be visiting Guatemala for a week from Jan 19-26. Was wondering if anyone wanted to travel together and see some of the main sites. Mainly interested in Atitlan, Tikal, and Antigua. Open to ideas.

Me: 28 year old guy from the US, vegetarian, gay (if that matters), living in NYC.

Let me know if you are interested.

Antigua - where to stay - do?

We're headed to Guatemala Jan 5th for a week.. We plan to stay around Lago Atitlan the first part of the week, then two nights in Antigua. I was just about settle on staying at the Cloister and just saw a note that it will be closing forever on 1 Jan 2012 - waah!!! Any thoughts on somewhere nice? We'd considered Amarilla Casa.

Thank you for your thoughts!

PS - by the way - we'd do enjoy photography, so a photo tour might be fun.

Edited by: cameronia

Solo Traveler - Limited Spanish Vocabulary

I will be going from GC to Lake Atitlan, and likely checking out Antigua on my way to or from the Lake, depending on timing. My biggest concern as I get closer to getaway is that I will be traveling alone and speak very little Spanish. I pretty much know how to order my food, ask for the bill, where the bathroom is, say hello and where I'm from, etc. How hard is it going to be to navigate and find people who are either other fellow travelers or natives who can speak English??