Part of the hotel deal was a guided trip up active Volcano Pacaya. The adventure began as soon as we picked up and set the tone for travel in Guatemala - disorganised, bumpy, crowded and slow. Eventually we got there, powered up the hill, got very close to flowing lava and stumbled back down in the dark.
Looking back toward Antigua (behind the mountain)
Lava - not a very good photo. I got to within about 10m of it and bits of it kept breaking off and rolling down the mountain.
Street entertainers in Antigua
Antigua - where a few people would do their washing...
Our next stop was San Pedro on Lago de Atitlan. To get here we took a shuttle to Panajachel and then a boat over the lake. It was rough and I got soaked, Kelley managed to avoid the worst of it. We had a TV in our room at San Pedro screening endless Bruce Lee flicks which was outstanding.
Kelley in the boat, about to cross the lake
Locals doing the washing in the lake
Indian's nose in the background, which we walked up. It was recommended that we take a guide, for protection, so we did. Antonio come up to my hip and was wearing gumboots but he smoked it up the hill. Don't know how great he would have been if the men with machetes turned on us on the way up though.
Road works - Guatemala style
At the top of Indian's nose, Lake Atitlan and another volcano in the background
Coffee plant
Coffee and cake (banana bread) admiring our achievement
Our boat ride back across the lake was even rougher and our 'chicken bus' to Chichicastenango was packed. We had a couple of days here, including a morning at the market where we tried our bargaining skills. They weren't great, but the stuff was cheap, and we didn't buy much as we'd only have to carry it anyway.
Our room looked out over the very colourful cemetery, which we didn't visit as it was supposed to be rather dangerous.
To market - pottery
Cloth, bags...
and masks, to name but a few goods on offer
Our trip from Chichi to Coban was a nightmare. Three different minibuses, about 9 hors of travel, this was the worst trip of our holiday. The last leg was supposed to be incredible scenery, but it was dark for most of the trip. The 'road' was a bumpy dirt track, and it had recently rained so it was slippery. Our van was full, thankfully the driver was very good but we ran into a broken down van and people piled in and on. We were absolutely packed, 25 people in a 13 seater van, including 5 on the roof, plus all our gear, on a rough slippery road. I never thought we'd make it but hours later, we did.
Coban was nothing special, after another terrible backpacker experience (probably the worst) we caught another bus to Lanquin, a nice bus, and arrived at a brilliant spot and secured a very cool thatched hut beside a river. We had a few days here and explored Semuc Champey, including a cave trip, swimming up the stream inside the cave with only candles to guide us. Very cool.
Relaxing in the hammock outside our hut
Bar and restaurant, all the buildings were styled like this
Kelley and the bats, they flew out of the cave on dusk and we just stood in the way and they'd fly round us. There were thousands.
Hiking up for a view over the pools at Semuc Champey
Caterpillar
The pools at Semuc Champey. The river flows underground beneath them.
They were good for swimming, but the day wasn't very warm and we'd seen a lot of water in the caves. Nevertheless, we gave it a good go and I flung myself off a bridge into the river for good measure.
It was a long trip to our next stop and again a bit of a nightmare as our van driver dropped us in the middle of nowhere and tried to rip us off. When we arrived in the dark in Rio Dulce we didn't have much of a clue about where we would stay but a short boat trip down the river took us to some more thatched huts in the mangroves, rather a nice spot apart from all the biting insects.
Rio Dulce
The next morning we took a boat along the Rio Dulce to Livingston, right on the coast and only accessible by boat. The trip took us past a spot where hot water flowed into the lake and we stopped for a quick dip. It was very hot and the lake cold and quite hard to keep a constant temperature so one side would be burning and the other freezing. The trip took us through a bush laden gorge where parts of one of the Rambo films was shot.
Fishing on the Rio Dulce
Fish out to dry in Livingston
While we were in Livingston, there was a festival celebrating the Garifuna people and the night before the main festival day there was a double murder in a night club / travel agency in town. Fortunately we were well tucked up in bed but a bit close to home given that we'd been in the travel agency the day before.
We went for a stroll along the beach to some fresh water falls
Kelley at the falls
A nice spot to relax, we spent most of the afternoon swinging in hammocks in the hut on the end of the pier.
Livingston was also the spot for one of the best meals out of the tour, Kelley had grapefruit prawns and I had Topado, a Garifuna specialty - huge bowl of coconut cream soap containing plantain, a whole fish and almost every other type of seafood imaginable.
Our main reason for stopping in Livingston was to get a boat to Belize, unfortunately this proved a little more difficult than anticipated but we eventually got away on a calm but drizzly morning. After the double murder, we were rather keen to be heading away!
