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  • Day 2

    Nap Time

    April 10, 2018 in Guatemala ⋅ ⛅ 37 °C

    Success! At least for the most part. Landed in Guatemala city around 6.40pm, made our way to 3 ATM machines in the airport - none worked. Used our little US cash to get the taxi to drop us at the Linea Dorado bus station, because apparently public transportation, especially after dark, is a no-no. Used a credit card to purchase our bus tickets leaving for 9pm. Again, no ATMs to be found, not that I felt very good about looking for one. Guate is known for it's pickpocketers and purse-snatchers, so having no cash on us was A-OK with me!

    Took a mini walk 2 blocks down from the bus station and randomly stumbled upon a street filled with vendors! Found a guy that accepted our 2USD and he made us our first of likely many tortillas. The bus ride itself was thankfully entirely uneventful. Mostly consisted of me bitterly watching Jack sleep like a baby. I'm am still amazed, to this day, at her sleeping abilities.

    The thing with night buses - we arrived at 5.45am. Not much open at 5.45am. Not much at all. We got to Santa Elena which was what we booked for our bus, and the driver started going down the isle yelling "Flores! Flores!". Having to wake up (well Jack at least) and gather our things at 5.45am on a random side street only for the two white girls to get out of the bus alerted our spidey senses! Thankfully a white dude joined us in wanting to continue to Flores, and there was a lovely tourist van waiting for us to get in. Turns out it was included in the price of the ticket to get us to Flores, a little island, but the big bus couldn't go on the bridge. Apparently sometimes you can trust the people! The sun was out, so we set out to explore Flores at 6am!

    Within 1.5 hours we had circled the island and made our way into it's town Centre. Turns out - planning a full day to explores Flores was not needed. Flores is a miniature island, connected to Santa Elena by a bridge / causeway. Santa Elena is a huge town and yet our travel book (and a friend's wise advice) says there's nothing interesting there, all traveller's stay on Flores. Which is hilarious if you look at a map. Flores is tiny! Not even a kilometer in diameter. But beautiful colors everywhere, every building has it's own unique look, people have been very welcoming and nice. There's water all around us (obviously, it's an island) with beautiful green hills on the mainland. It's just very clearly a construction made for tourists. Considering how pretty it is, I'm ok with that!

    Tired from the long journey over, and hungry, we set our eyes for breakfast and a bed. I ate more then half! I call that a success for a second meal somewhere strange! See that's the thing with central America - the countries tend to be very similar, so this all seems familiar. I don't feel entirely lost. So I get to eat!

    Find a bed that will allow us to check in at 8am - check. Nap - check for Jack. I again watched her sleep bitterly - with what seemed to be palpitations but would likely kill. Maybe this isn't as familiar as I thought.

    After a well deserved 2.5 hour nap (we're on vacation!) we set out to wonder around town. And then found ourselves on a boat taxi heading to San Miguel. Then hiking to a view point were I was winded and sweaty by the end. Then wondered around trails to make our way back. Then boat taxi back - which this time around was half the price of our way over. Trick - always get on a boat with locals. Don't ask the price. Look at what others hand over and either give the same, or if you can't tell hand a bill over and put your hand out expending change. This way you look like you know what it should cost, even though you have no clue.

    Our Steripen's first day out! We filled our water bottle in the sink at the hotel. Steripen'ed it. Finished the bottle along our hike, found a random hose spraying into the street. Filled our water bottle again and Steripen'ed it. We'll see by tomorrow if any of this is a good idea, but so far I feel like it's my best purchase yet!

    I sign off, while I enjoy a Frappuccino - like a grown up with money! Jack is justifying our lavish spending as a birthday gift for herself - I think we can afford the 4$ drink!

    Oh ya, it's Jack's birthday. Woop Woop!
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