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Guatemala
  • Sean Plamondon
  • Ronald Ross
  • Alexa Plamondon
mars 2022

Guatemala

Jungle, waterfalls, caves, temples, mayans, monkeys, volcanos, and beaches Läs mer
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  • Resans start
    9 mars 2022
    Guatemala

    On the road again

    9 mars 2022, Kanada ⋅ ⛅ 1 °C

    The 30 days being travel-free since returning from Argentina was too much to bear, so I'm spreading my wings again haha. This time bringing along Alexa, Ron, Abdel, Rachel, Caleb and Max

    We are renting two vehicles in Guatemala city and going on a huge drive all over the country.. can't wait

    A brief stop in Washington DC, and then straight to Guatemala.    Läs mer

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  • Guatemala
    1

    Guatemala City

    9 mars 2022, Guatemala ⋅ ⛅ 25 °C

    Very brief stay in the capital. Arrived at our hotel after midnight. Flight was an hour late. Took about 30 minutes to get through the airport and another hour to get our rental vehicles. And then straight to bed

    Wasn't a very good sleep. There was no insulation from the street noise below. And the church across the street rang its bell at least 100 times around 6am. But its only one night in the capital and then its a number of stays in more jungly environments coming up.

    A quick breakfast here and then hitting the highway towards the Atlantic.    Läs mer

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  • Guatemala

    Rio Dulce

    10 mars 2022, Guatemala ⋅ ⛅ 32 °C

    Today was mostly a travel day to get ourselves to the eastern side of the country. But what a beautiful drive it was. The center portion of Guatemala city has wonderful colonial architecture everywhere and once outside the city, there are endless huge mountains and valleys on both sides.

    But we weren't alone. We had to contend with a littany of truckers coming and going from the eastern port as well. And oh boy, there were a lot. Managed to find a really cool restaurant alongside the highway for a late lunch and then back to battling truckers for the road.

    Along the way, we stopped at the remains of a mayan city called Quirigua dating back to 476AD, which apparently was the commerce center of their world. Not much remains here but lots of massive stone carvings, and stonework from some smaller temples and their grand plaza. A very lush area with banana, mango, and almond trees, and lots of really tall palms, making it very scenic among the ruins. Also found a 200 foot long vine from a crazy tall palm that most of us did a small tarzan swing from.

    Our hotel is situated on the river near the town of Rio Dulce and requires a very wet boat ride to reach it. I think I easily got the most wet out of all of us.

    All the buildings are thatch huts on stilts in the river connected by elevated decking paths. Arrived late, so finished our evening with pizza, beers and a game of Catan.    Läs mer

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  • Guatemala

    Livingston

    11 mars 2022, Guatemala ⋅ ☀️ 31 °C

    Woke up to howler monkeys in the treetops making a lot of noise around 6am. Its possibly the best way i can think of to lose sleep :)

    Zero driving today yay. The only way to reach the altantic coast town of livingston is by boat down a river. Abdel managed to hire our own personal boat and driver who also agreed to take us to a waterfall and a nice beach in the Livingston area. Livingston is a garifuna population which is comparable to jamaicans and is the only place in Guatemala with garifunas.

    The boat ride to livingston was beautiful. Jungle lining both sides of the river, and mountains as a backdrop. And there were also lots of hidden canals of tiny islands in the river hidden by dense vegetation with homes and cafés popping up behind huge leafy plants everywhere. Also came across a floating store, meaning a couple in a dug out canoe selling jewellery and hand crafted items. Large cranes and pelicans were everywhere too.

    We bypassed Livingston and went to the Seven Alters, which is a series of cascading pools of water feeding into each other in a jungly setting. Climbed a million rocks and jumped in and out of different pools of water, and for quite a while we had it all to ourselves.

    From there we boated to a gorgeous white sand beach with really warm waters. Spent two hours here relaxing by the ocean before backtracking to livingston and finally checking into our hotel. Spent a few more hours lounging by the pool and then took tuk tuks into town for dinner by the ocean. There's no cars in this city, just tuk tuks. I had an insane local soup where i almost expected half of its ingredients to crawl out of the bowl. Then back to the hotel for another hotly contested Catan game.    Läs mer

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  • Guatemala

    Poptun

    12 mars 2022, Guatemala ⋅ ⛅ 29 °C

    Chartered the same boat and driver to take us from the atlantic coast back up the river to the interior, saying goodbye to hundreds of pelicans and egrets (cranes). And back into our SUVs to start making our way north.

    Detoured off the main road to a really pretty spot with many small waterfalls called Las Conchas. Perhaps even prettier was the drive there. Dense jungle on both sides of the highway and very mountainous with tall palms everywhere.

    The river seemed to come from several different directions at once and each location had a similar cascading waterfalls with different pools above them. So we all jumped into the river and spent a couple of hours climbing the small waterfalls and exploring the pools above them.

    From there, kept driving north to our hotel just before the town of Poptun. Drove through a wild rainstorm that made it nearly impossible to drive until it slowed down.

    Finca Ixobel isn't really a hotel, but a large estate in the jungle with cabins scattered all around it. Very rural feel to it. Had a nice open air meal at the main building and then donned our headlamps to find our way back to our cabins for an early night under our mosquito nets. Big day tomorrow at Tikal.    Läs mer

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  • Guatemala

    Tikal

    13 mars 2022, Guatemala ⋅ 🌧 23 °C

    Forecast was calling for rain all day and night at Tikal which was disappointing as this was one of the biggest highlights of the trip. And the 2.5 hour drive to tikal from poptun was exactly that - non stop rain. Boooo.

    But when we arrived at the park gate, the rain fortunately stopped. Very grey and overcast but much better than the alternative. The park guys didn't accept credit card, nor American dollars (weird!!) which quickly posed a problem to pay for the two day entrance. Fortunately abdel was able to exchange american dollars with one of the nearby shopkeepers, and ron and i pooled our quetzals to make it work. Phew. Its literally jungle plus a few barebone hotels... no atm's. And the nearest town was at least 30 minutes away.

    As soon as we left the hotel and walked toward the entrance gate, the wildlife became abundant. There was a crocodile in the nearby creek. Adorable coati roaming around everywhere. Strange exotic birds too.

    It took about 20 minutes hiking uphill to reach the grand plaza and the astonished look on everyone's faces was priceless as the dramatic temple I and II were towering over us.

    Climbed the stairs to the top of temple II for some amazing views and pics. And those views included a small flock of toucans in a nearby tree. I followed them around for a while trying to get a good photo despite all the grey clouds muting their colors in the camera shots.

    Then made our way to the gigantic temple IV and climbed to the top with views of the tops of the other temples and mist over the jungle canopy. Amazing sights. And even better, a few parrots were flying by us a few times and nesting near the temple top.

    Eventually made our way back to the hotel. Got in a game of catan, and supper before they shut everything down at 9pm. So nice to be back here! Magical spot. Hopefully tomorrow is drier.    Läs mer

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  • Guatemala

    Flores

    14 mars 2022, Guatemala ⋅ ⛅ 25 °C

    It rained all night and the next morning so we had a lazy morning lounging in our cabin and an extended breakfast. Saw a toucan fly by while lying in bed too. Such a simple thing brought a huge smile to my face.

    Around 11am, the skies finally took pity on us and we had sunny weather most of the afternoon as we wandered back into the jungle to see more temples and wildlife. Tikal is 60,000 sq km, so its quite a walk between a lot of the temples and pyramids. And its crazy to know that the mayans first started living here around 600BC.

    Made our way to seldom visited Temple VI and then to the residential palace which had tunnels and small bedrooms throughout. And then to towering Temple V which dramatically appears as you emerge from the jungle. And finished our hike with a climb of the Lost World pyramid and one last view from the top of Temple IV. These things are absolutely massive and jaw dropping views from both the ground or temple tops. And even better is all the wildlife everywhere. More toucans, coati, and today finally saw some monkeys and also could hear the roar of the howler monkeys in the distance.

    Left tikal around 4, stopped at a side stand for empanadas and eventually arrived at the very pretty island town of flores. All the buildings are pastel colors with cobblestone street throughout and views of the lake from many different locations. Stayed at a really unique hostel that is part jungle inside with crazy trees and vines growing in the middle of all the restaurant and lounging areas. And had a fantastic Guatemalan meal lakeside. Finished the evening at the vibrant hostal pub area.    Läs mer

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  • Guatemala

    Raxruha

    15 mars 2022, Guatemala ⋅ ☀️ 29 °C

    Had a lazy morning and didn't hit the road until 11am. Was a 3 hour drive to the Raxruha area. And the last 20 minutes of it we descended into a really tight valley in lush jungle mountains. Our hotel is a huge gorgeous estate in the middle of nowhere/jungle. And we are the only ones here.

    After settling in, we went to the caves a couple of km away and that was easily the craziest road i ever drove on. Rough, uneven dirt road winding up and down steep descents, one car wide with dense jungle on both sides. So happy i rented a jeep!!

    At the caves we had the option to walk 1.5 hours through one cave or do a river tube through another cave, also 1.5 hours. Abdel wasn't feeling great and the kids wanted to do the inner tubes, so it became an easy decision.

    We created a link between all of us in our tubes by wrapping our feet under the next person's tube. Sounds awkward, but was easy and worked well. This cave system had several "windows" where there were openings and sunlight would shine through. I counted 7 of them. We had to portage our tubes several times to avoid small rapids inside the cave. And finished our tour walking our tubes back through a mayan village.

    The kitchen back at the hotel closed at 7pm and we had to be out by 9, so it was a very early night. Completed the night falling asleep to the roar of howler monkeys in the nearby jungle.    Läs mer

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  • Guatemala

    Lanquin

    16 mars 2022, Guatemala ⋅ ⛅ 27 °C

    Google maps said our trip to lanquin was 3 hours to travel 84km. Which we immediately figured had to be a crazy road through the mountains. I cannot describe how insane that drive was. But i guess I will try. It was up and down a number of mountains over the craziest terrain imaginable. I would not have thought a vehicle could do such a thing.

    Literally driving over huge rocks at 5-10 km an hour for 4 hours on treacherous roads. And another hour on a beautifully paved highway to arrive at our hotel in 5 hours instead of 3. We also got stuck in a small town completely full of tuk tuks and no one could move anywhere for a really long time. It was surreal as well. No way we could have done this with out 4WD jeeps.

    But once we arrived, we laughed at what we just went through and started unwinding at another gorgeous hotel spot. This one has cabins on a hill and two restaurants overlooking the river.

    We saw some people floating by on inner tubes in the small rapids next to our hotel. We inquired within and 20 minutes later we were in a truck taking us to a river launch spot in our own tubes. The funny thing about tubes... they don't follow the river. They want to go in a straight line but the river winds all over. So you have to paddle with your arms vigorously to keep yourself away from the branches and rocks near both shorelines and keep yourself centered in the rapids. They also gave us beer to enjoy as we floated downstream for 4km for 40 minutes. What a great way to release the stress of that bonkers drive.

    Then went to the lanquin caves to see the thousands of bats that fly out every evening at sundown. Insane how many bats kept streaming out of that cave. I am attaching a pretty crazy video of bats flying right at alexa and i while inside the cave.

    Finished with beer, food and more catan. Had the most amazing seafood ceviche ever as well!! What a day.    Läs mer

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  • Guatemala

    Salama

    17 mars 2022, Guatemala ⋅ ☀️ 29 °C

    Today we visited the gorgeous waterfalls and pools of Semuc Champey. It was a 45 minute drive but the road was again extremely rough terrain most of the way. On the way there, our drive was interrupted by some sort of mayan ceremony going on, and the streets of Lanquin were filled with mayans to the point we could not drive forward for quite a while.

    But we eventually got there and were amazed by the teal coloured waters at the falls. Several tiers of pools to swim in, and waterfalls connecting all the different tiers. So we jumped in and swam the different pools and climbed a bunch of the waterfalls. Perhaps one of the prettiest places i have ever been. Was very hard to leave. Could have easily spent the whole day here. Definitely a number of places where i wish we had more time to explore.

    But we had another drive and had no idea what kind of roads lay ahead. Fortunately the roads this time were in great shape and the drive over a number of mountain ranges were just spectacular (as usual here). This country is just so gorgeous at every turn.

    Arrived at our hotel and the hotel said they weren't expecting us until tomorrow. And they had no rooms left for today. Uh oh. So angry Abdel made an appearance and after a lot of back and forth, somehow they found 2 room for us haha. Phew.

    The hotel was nice but ultimately just a stopping point en route to Antigua. Not much of interest here. But a very nice spot to relax the evening away.    Läs mer

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  • Guatemala

    Antigua

    18 mars 2022, Guatemala ⋅ ☀️ 25 °C

    We debated heavily whether to drive the highway route through Guatemala city to reach antigua. Or to take smaller roads through the mountains. Opted for the latter and it was a very scenic drive zigzagging up and down mountains. Long drives have never neen so enjoyable.

    Eventually reached the very rough cobblestone streets of Antigua and its massive volcano looming over it. Antigua is all colonial style buildings and with a very large mayan population selling their wares in every shop, on every street corner, and in every park.

    Had lunch at the rooftop patio of the Antigua brewery and then wandered the streets, for some photos and a bit of shopping here and there. Very fun city to just wander around.

    Got back to the hotel to rest up before dinner for a bit. Just before heading out for food, alexa wasn't feeling well, so her and I stayed back at the hotel and called it a night. Something didn't agree with her and she had a rough evening. Hopefully all out of the system now.

    Off to a beach town next...    Läs mer

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  • Guatemala

    Monterrico - Day 1

    19 mars 2022, Guatemala ⋅ ☀️ 31 °C

    In the morning, Alexa still wasn't feeling well, so i let her sleep until 11am while i did a bit more shopping in antigua before the drive to the pacific coast. Abdel and family decided to stay in antigua for lunch and we would meet them in monterrico later that day.

    The roads south were not mountainous at all and much easier to navigate. A nice change. We were 10km from monterrico when we got stuck in a huge lineup of cars for about 20 minutes. I drove up to the front of the line to find out what was going on... road work and at least another 30 minute wait. So we crashed a nearby resort and had some food and beverages rather than waiting in the car.

    Eventually got to monterrico and followed google's directions and ended up at a run down property with a pool and nobody was there. We were all so dejected. But after a while i decided to ask a local across the street and we were in the wrong spot.

    Finally arrived at the correct spot and its another slice of heaven. Lovely property, pool and huge beach. The sand here is volcanic black sand... very different than anywhere else i have been. There is a big undertow here so we just played at the water's edge. Then dinner and drinks, plus a few with the owner too. Everyone is so nice here.    Läs mer

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  • Guatemala

    Monterrico - Day 2

    20 mars 2022, Guatemala ⋅ ⛅ 33 °C

    Had a lazy morning in bed, which was a nice change from several early mornings. Alexa and I decided to head north up the coast to a surf town called El Paredon. And everyone else stayed back at the Monterrico resort.

    The drive took 2 hours and with our late start we didn't have a ton of time. Found a hotel/surf shop near the beach, rented some boogie boards and jumped into the ocean. Nice big rolling waves here and no undertow. Rode waves for about 90 minutes and then went back to that hotel and had some food and relaxed for a while.

    My plan to leave at 4:30pm to get us back before dark didn't quite work out as i hoped. Being a sunday, the roads were full of cars heading back to Guatemala city, which slowed us down quite a bit. And we got a little bit lost driving through Ixtapa. And once the sun went down, spotting speed bumps, pedestrians, dogs, and bicycles became really difficult. Most roads have very little shoulder and towns rarely have sidewalks so there's a lot to watch for in the streets. Including chickens, dogs, cats, pigs and the odd cow.

    Once we finally got back, played with the newborn kittens here, had an awesome paella for supper, and played cards with the kids.    Läs mer

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  • Guatemala

    Monterrico - Day 3

    21 mars 2022, Guatemala ⋅ ☀️ 33 °C

    Another lazy morning here in monterrico. Slept in again. Then eventually got going and drove 20 minutes south to a resort called Maya Jade where we were told there was no undertow and surf boards and boogie boards could be rented.

    The resort was really nice, much bigger than the place we are staying at. But they only had one boogie board and many surf boards. So i decided to give surfing another go. Which didn't go all that great. I got up on the board a few times but couldn't maintain my balance to ride it into the beach. And fighting the waves with my long board to get deep enough to the bigger waves completely tired me out. And the kids played in the waves near the shore.

    Ron and Rachel stayed back at the resort and relaxed in the pool all afternoon and when we returned they had already made friends with some new guests that arrived. We all hung out by the pool and at dinner we put a bunch of tables together and all ate as one big family. I can't recall ever having a meal with all the guests of a hotel together like that haha. Really fun evening. And the last night in monterrico sadly. Will really miss the owners Cecelio and Cecelia who treated us like family.    Läs mer

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  • Guatemala

    Guatemala City

    22 mars 2022, Guatemala ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C

    Very uneventful day. Drove 3 hours back to Guatemala city. Went to a clinic/lab to get our pcr tests done. Then dropped off the rental cars, which took forever. And finally got back to the hotel around 7pm and we all went out for a nice dinner at a nearby place.

    Rush hour traffic in this city is insane. And it was a bit frustrating watching the car rental guy wash both our cars before letting us go haha. Thats a new one.

    Test results came back negative for all of us. Wooo.    Läs mer

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  • Guatemala

    Washington

    23 mars 2022, Förenta staterna ⋅ 🌧 10 °C

    Long travel day to get most of the way home. 5 hour layover in Houston and overnight in Washington. The 5 hour layover was kind of nice actually. It took a while to get through customs and security and we didn't have to stress about it. Then found a restaurant for a meal and a game of catan. Abdel and family had a different flight to Washington, so it was
    just the 3 of us. Apparently their day was very stressful with a tight layover and lots of security issues and bag searches.    Läs mer

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  • Guatemala

    Ottawa

    24 mars 2022, Kanada ⋅ 🌧 3 °C

    One last flight to get home to Ottawa. Reunited with Abdel and family at the airport in Washington one last time. Alexa and Abdel both got randomly selected for a covid test upon landing which was fast, and then finally home.

    We saw just about all of Guatemala on this trip (except the northwest volcanic region) and drove over 1600km on some really crazy roads that we will never forget. Its an incredibly underrated country that has a bit of everything for any traveller. Jaw dropping beauty at every turn. And a wonderful mayan curltural presence all over. Not much english is spoken in this country so some spanish knowledge and an offline translator are pretty important. A trip that got delayed for 2 years because of covid but would return in a heartbeat.    Läs mer

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    Resans slut
    24 mars 2022
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