Tajulmulco climb

We climbed the tallest peak in Central America!

 What a great weekend! We had a wonderful group of about 20 of us!
The first day we climbed to the top just below the peak, we set up our tents after 5 hours of climbing, made dinner, sat around the campfire and told jokes just before a chilly slumber beneath the stars. We woke up at 4:30 am to climb the rest of the mountain in order to see the sunrise over the clouds. We drank hot cocoa and snuggled together to stay warm! We enjoyed the beautiful  view and took many pictures of the sights below us. The walk down was wonderful as we said goodbye to the beautiful view and mountain top! A great  experience for my first mountain climb!

a weekend in Montericco

 A wonderfully spontaneous weekend in Montericco! We hopped a chicken bus at 2pm on Friday afternoon for a 5 hour trip to the southern coast of Guatemala.

 Boy are chicken buses PACKED with people! But well worth the cheap ride! We arrived at Hotel Delfin around 7pm and enjoyed a nice dinner on the beach. The next morning I woke up early to take a walk into town with Thomas. We looked at the local restaurants and stores for snack and possible mean options. The afternoon was relaxing and wonderful as we tanned on the black sand beach, swam in the powerful ocean waves and ate amazing food! In the afternoon one of our lifeguards friends we met at the hotel showed us to a local nature reserve! There we got a tour of the reserve, saw crocodiles, iguanas, turtles and all kinds of fish! We learned about the organization and how important community and preserving nature is to the local people.

 The best part by far was when we had the opportunity to let baby turtles into the ocean! We all watched as the little turtles raced their way into the ocean as the sun was setting. We saw whales swimming in distance and a marriage proposal! Oh what a happy day!
Dinner was so delicious! Fresh shrimp and salad! Yum, and only for 6$ too! We listened to live music, walked along the beach and had a few drinks before bed.
The next morning we had a wonderful breakfast, packed up, payed, and had a wonderful return adventure via boat and several buses! A great weekend was had by all!

Finca tatin, Rio Dulce, Peten y TIKAL

 

 Our adventure to Finca Tatin started with a boat ride! It was a beautiful sight riding down the river and being circled by walls of green, lush forest.
We had individual cabins that were quite cozy, mosquito nets and all! The warm weather, crisp water for swimming and the amazing food made for a great two night stay. We kayaked the river and had the opportunity to swim in hot spring located along the river. The hot water was created by the steam and heat of the surrounding volcano.




We spent our morning sitting in hammocks, reading, and watching boats filled with children on their way to school pass by us. After our long kayak of the river a few of us decided to have a much deserved sauna session. After saunaing and jumping in the river several times we have a relaxing group dinner and nights sleep.

Peten:

We then made our way to the upper part of Guatemala were we stayed right on the lake of Peten. This beautiful crisp clear clean lake was an amazing opportunity to have an afternoon swim before dinner. In the morning we made our way to the famous Tikal and spent the day walk on, in and around ancient Mayan ruins. We saw monkeys and all kinds of other fun animals in the park!

After a restful night we went to Coban, making our way back home. That afternoon we had the chance to tour a coffee plantation, learn about the process of picking, drying and making coffee and then we got to enjoy a cup! We had a wonderful group dinner that night and woke up early the next day to head back to Xela.