GREAT TRIP TO GUATEMALA!

Hello, all! My friend Sylvia and I had a wonderful time in Guatemala the 1st 3 weeks in August, 2007. We're middle-aged educators with a desire to improve our Spanish skills, a sense of adventure, and a sense of humor. It was my 4th trip to Guatemala and Syl's 1st trip out of the US. Here's my report:

HEALTH AND SAFETY: The only times we didn't feel safe, as I'd predicted, were in chicken buses careening around curves in the passing lane between Quiché and Nebaj. We survived nicely and our luggage arrived with us, though we did have to sprint and haul ourselves aboard a departing bus in Quiché that was leaving with our bags on top. That whole trip from Nebaj down to Panajachel was like the Amazing Race and I'm pleased to say we won.

I wore my passport, bank cards, travelers checks, and full SD memory cards under my clothes and zip-tied my zippers closed when my bag was in overhead racks or bus tops. Kept my camera in a pocket but secured to a button. No loss or theft of any kind this trip, never felt threatened.

We each had a few bouts with "turista" which probiotics and cayenne pepper cleared up. Syl flet woozy once in Antigua and the tourist police called an ambulance (gratis) to take us back to our hotel. We also had a small collection of bumps and bruises - a sprained ankle, cracked molar, and bruised tailbone for Syl (what a trooper!) and a few scrapes for me from mountain goating on Pacaya and at Tikal.

PACKING: My packing list (#15 in the FAQ thread) served me well once again, with several important additions/substitutions. I took a new Traveler Steripen for water purification instead of my usual filter, much lighter and smaller, easy to use. I was glad I packed a travel towel and silk sleeping sheet (search on ebay, I paid about $10) because they were needed in homestays this time around. I had a SD memory card reader and used it to load photos to our blog - really slick plus cheap and light weight. I'll post my photos to Flickr when I have more time but you can check out the ones I chose to blog at Sylvia and Stacey in Guatemala.

Even in Nebaj where my room was in the 50's at night one pair of long pants would have been enough; I wore capris a lot of the time and was comfortable with those, especially with standing water in the streets and my bathroom. I didn't take my sarong or a nightgown and didn't miss them (though I'd take them both to CA again if my trip included hotter climates and beach areas. Made good use of my sewing kit, 1st Aid kit, and my duct tape; ear plugs were even more necessary this trip than usual. LOVED my Columbia Pakmandu conversion pack, yet again - a great way to travel.

WEATHER: Great as always for me - my mom was known as the good weather grandma and still looks after me on trips. The weather was gorgeous in Antigua, cooler and rain every afternoon/evening in Nebaj, similar (but a little warmer) in San Pedro, hot in Rio Dulce but cooled by rains at Tikal. No complaints.

TRANSPORTATION: We took a combination of taxis (Guat airport to Antigua - quick and $25/two) and from Flores to Tikal after the long bus ride from Rio Dulce (same) - welcome splurges because they eliminated waiting, gave us plenty of room, dropped us right at our hotel each time, and presented interesting conversation opportunities with locals. Otherwise we took colectivos or buses - chicken buses in the highlands, 2nd class Litegua and Fuente del Norte buses GC to Rio Dulce and RD to Flores. We have our hilarious stories to tell, including cats battling their way out of produce bags, a young man falling asleep on Syl's shoulder, and the sheer volume of people on the colectivos and chicken buses; our records were 25 in a colectivo and 5 in a chicken bus seat. Met some really great people.

LANGUAGE: I can hold my own in a Spanish conversation now and usually catch most of native-speed speech, which added to this visit immeasurably. Wish I had the time and space to name every interesting, interested person I met and share more about the political, religious, and historical information I gained from conversations with non English speaking teachers, hosts, gardners, venders, and seat mates.

ANTIGUA: Beautiful as usual, great ruins (esp. Las Caupuchinas) and churches, museums (especially Santo Domingo) and galleries. Enjoyed hiking Pacaya in the afternoon/evening (not for sisies, though!) and to Cerra de la Cruz Mirador with a police escort. The Inguat office has moved and was very helpful, nice map. Pepián at Fondo del Calle Real was a highlight and we found several great comedores for low cost local fare. We stayed at CASA CRISTINA ($24/nt/dbl) and recommend it highly. The rooms are small but clean and secure, great location, free internet and an incredibly helpful staff.

CHICHICASTENANGO: The indoor produce market in the commercial building there was one of my favorite sights of the whole trip - saturated with color and life, a sensory overload. Couldn't recognize the plaza for all the plastic roofs (haven't been there since the 80's) but thoroughly enjoyed the Saturday evening set-up and early morning church and market activities. We left before the day trippers arrived and it was the perfect length of time for us. Stayed at HOTEL GIRÓN ($14/nt/dbl if you call to book, no English spoken, website I linked is the picture page from a booking service which charges more); fabulous location, clean, secure, limited water times but a great place for one night.

NEBAJ: Loved this area - very traditional and friendly and safe. Most of the men wear western clothes but nearly all the women wear the traditional maroon faldas (skirts) with gorgeous huipiles in intricate geometric and animal designs; most of the older women wear the elaborate cinta head wraps. Interesting cultural events associated with their annual fair in August included a Señorita Nebaj competition, Conquistador dances in the square, special church activities and a demonstration of indigenas carrying signs seeking justice for Rios Montt's genocides and a huge quilt with squares for area folks slain during the holocaust. Lots of construction - tile roofs are being replaced with 2nd floors of cement with rebar left poking skyward in case of future building goals - not too attractive.

We hiked to some beautiful waterfalls (though the litter problem out that way was dismaying) and to the mountain village of Cocop, one of the hardest hit during the war, though lots of hope and new building now. We went there with a very interesting guide from GUIAS IXILES, Jacinto - injured in the war with stories to tell and very knowledgable about the history of Guatemala (Spanish only). We ate a delicious caldo soup and tortillas prepared as we watched in a very rustic village kitchen.

We stayed our 1st night there at the new HOSTEL and attended the NEBAJ LANGUAGE SCHOOL ($115/wk including 20 hours of 1-on-1 instruction, free internet, guided hikes, traditional cooking lessons, and homestay with 2 meals/day) which is fairly new and very friendly; not many students, though. My teacher, Pedro Ramírez Cobo, an older Ixil gentlemen, was EXCELLENT. In addition to language activities we had hours and hours of conversations about our political and religious beliefs and the history of the area. He took me on walks to see sacred Maya sites encircled by cornfields in the surrounding hills and to the war memorials in local cemeteries. Sylvia's teacher, Angelica, was new and not so great. Our homestays were a bit on the rough side but the people were very friendly and generous with their typical food. Lots of Ixil spoken in the homes but good conversations in Spanish if I sought them; very little English spoken in the community which made it a good immersion environment for me.

PANAJACHEL: Just one night there for a chance to relax and shop before we headed to San Pedro for another week of Spanish study. WAY too touristy for me, though we did most of our gift shopping successfully there; another place greatly changed since the 80's. We stayed at MARIO'S ROOMS ($16/dbl) which, as Bob often says, is a fabulous place to stay - rooms are small but clean, great beds and showers, in room safes, free agua pura and internet, great location.

SAN PEDRO LA LAGUNA: We studied for the week at the COOPERATIVA SCHOOL which was a truly wonderful experience ($112/wk for 20 hours of 1-on-1 Spanish instruction, a week in a host family with meals Monday through Saturday, and activities). My teacher was the director, Lorenzo, and Sylvia's was Luis who also taught the salsa classes, two excellent teachers. We both had interesting, good homestays and the other students seemed equally pleased with both teachers and homestays. Tuesday through Friday there was an activity each night: a film about the mining controversy in the San Marcos department that my son was involved in last June, an academic talking about the Maya vision of the world and their place in it, salsa dance lessons, and a nice dinner prepared by the school staff. The teachers are paid better than at all or most schools in San Pedro and all of the money paid for homestays goes to the host families. The school also invests heavily in the community in a program for supporting the education of a group of 16 deserving local students with high need.

The town has a reputation for a large rasta/pot smoking crowd but we stayed away from the dock areas and rarely saw them. Our part of town (the school was a few blocks up from the Santiago Atitlán dock, my homestay was up the same street by the market) was quite traditional and very friendly. There are only a few main (regular-sized) streets and miles of little labyrinth walkways in between; we met some great people on those walkways.

We took a day trip to Santiago Atitlán and enjoyed the school fair happening in the plaza and the obligatory visit to Maximón; the tourist crowd and the hawkers in the street got old fast.

RIO DULCE: We stayed at BRUNO'S ($40/nt/dbl) which was a great choice for us; we had room 15 - best in the house in my opinion unless you don't like stairs. It had 2 doubles and a set of bunks, private bath with hot water, tv, air con and a big fan. There was a nice balcony shared with one other room with a hammock and a nice view over the water. The hotel is surrounded by huge trees that towered over our 3rd floor balcony. We thought the food in the restaurant was great and enjoyed the pool. Mostly sailors stay there, I think - lots of regulars. Internet was available but not very fast. We just stayed 2 nights with a day trip to Livingston between and arrived and left on long bus journeys so it was great having a hotel just off the bridge near the stations.

Our day trip to Livingston was worth it for the gorgeous views there and back but the colectivo boat captain spent hours drumming up business, returning over and over to area hotels with 10 people on board, so the 9 am boat ended up leaving Rio Dulce after 11 which gave us just an hour in Livingston. I had a wonderful topado soup - a traditional Garifuna dish made with plantains, coconut milk, and lots of seafood including a lots of shrimp and a whole crab still in the shell and a whole fish complete with sad eyes and tiny teeth. I covered the fish's head with a chunk of plantain and enjoyed the rest.

TIKAL: We chose the TIKAL INN ($75/nt/dbl included dinner and breakfast) in the park and it was really lovely. We had room C-10, again a fabulous room with 2 double beds and private hot water bath and right near the pool, friendly staff, good food. We arrived via bus and taxi from Rio Dulce between 3 and 4 pm, unloaded our luggage in our room and spent until 6:30 in the ruins. The signs say the cost is now 150 quetzales or about $20 to enter the ruins but they only charged us 50 q each and our tickets were good for the next day as well. I especially enjoyed the spider monkeys grooming each other and bedding down for the night at eye level from the steps near the top of Temple 4. By the time we were passing back by the Grand Plaza storm clouds had gathered and the sunlight slanting in under them onto the buildings at sunset was truly amazing. By the time we got back to our room it was POURING and continued for most of the evening, all night, and through to noon the next day; enjoyed a quiet swim in the pool during a break. Wildlife viewing in the morning was practically nonexistent but the jungle was beautiful and wild in the rain and there were no mosquitoes; it wasn't hot, another blessing. I especially enjoyed the adrenaline rush of standing on top of Temple 5 in the wind and rain that spun off the fringes of Hurricane Dean.

FLORES: We stayed one night in Flores at CASONA DE LA ISLA ($52/nt/dbl) and loved it, too - room 303 with a view over the pool to the lake. Helpful staff, nice restaurant with a veranda by the lake, balcony by our room, great shower. We enjoyed strolling around Flores, people watching in the park, swimming in the pool, soaking in the hot (more like tepid) tub and enjoying the lake from our balcony and the restaurant veranda.

We headed to the Flores airport where we caught the 8:20 am flight back to Guatemala City, then on to Houston and Portland. On our last leg a woman sat next to us and shared that she'd just lost a tooth cap and the pain was horrendous, right at the start of her trip. I had an emergency temporary cap/filling replacement kit I've packed around for years - worked like a charm. Great karma stock toward my next CA adventure!

This was a productive, eventful, memorable trip that exceeded our (high) expectations over and over. It was varied in activity and geographic area and 3 weeks was plenty of time to be away from our beloved husbands - we were ready to head home when the time arrived. I can close my eyes and see the motion and the color and smell the strong, rich smells; hopefully I'll get to go back again to Guatemala before I lose the ability to do that.