While planning our trip Around This World in New York, we decided it would be a good idea to learn Spanish. Erik had studied Spanish in high school, but after years of not using it, had forgotten nearly all of it. I had taken several years of French throughout middle and high school, and in [...]
After seriously busting our budget in Mexico, we were pleased to find prices in Guatemala much lower than its neighbor to the North. This lush and lovely country turned out to be one of our favorite destinations yet. From the ruins of Tikal, to hiking up an active volcano, to immersing ourselves in Spanish classes in [...]
Before visiting Guatemala, I don’t think either one of us had seen, let alone visited an active volcano. Although there are apparently 169 volcanoes in the United States, there are only 18 high-threat volcanoes, and they are all situated in Alaska, Hawaii & along the West Coast. Since I grew up an East Coast girl, [...]
While staying in the peaceful riverside hostel in Lanquin and after seeing the main attraction of this small town Semuc Champey, we had heard that the only other thing to see were the Bat Caves. Mind you, I am not a huge fan of bats and Erik was less than thrilled with the idea, but [...]
While talking with a few people at our hostel in Flores, we learned about an idyllic river-side place to stay in the small mountain village of Lanquin. Originally, we had planned to head south for the city of Coban, but quickly changed our minds and decided to shoot for the El Retiro Lodge we had [...]
We woke up early for a 6am shuttle to the Mexico-Guatemala border, sad to say goodbye to our first country, but excited to be moving on to Guatemala. Having researched the border crossing ahead of time, we were prepared for a long day. Despite the fact that the point to point distance from Palenque, Mexico [...]
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“Picturesque” Lago Atitlan, Guatemala
Our last stop in Guatemala was to the beautiful Lake Atitlan. Famous British writer Aldous Huxley once wrote that Lago Atitlan “touches the limit of the permissibly picturesque” and “is really too much of a good thing.” We had high hopes for a place with such glowing reviews. After studying Spanish in Antigua, we were [...]