24/11/2012 - 25/11/2012 - Tikal me pink

All smiles at another viewpoint of the Temple of the Grand Jaguar - Grrrrrrrrrr!

Suckers for punishment - the first view of the temples
at silly o'clock!

A firework show was put on in
Flores to mark our arrival!

We seemed to have now arrived well and truly on the gringo trail, and what better way to get to know our fellow travellers than squeezed shoulder to shoulder in a collectivo for 10 hours (the journey was meant to be 7…)? 10 should have been the maximum number in the back of the vehicle, but 2 fancy wooden chairs had been especially made to ram a couple more tourists in – Annaliza would strongly recommend avoiding!

Misty misty, lovely lovely

Tikal at sunrise

After much deliberation, we selected the sunrise tour to Tikal, the celebrated Mayan ruins in the region. Might not get another chance to see them – the Mayan calendar ends on 21/12/2012 so could be the end of the world?!? [http://www.foxnews.com/science/2012/10/01/experts-meet-to-debunk-mayan-calendar-end-world-stories/] This meant rising at the unfriendly hour of 2:30am and enduring another collectivo ride then a swift dash through the ruins (taking care of steps, rocks and roots in pitch dark – easier said than done) to get up Temple IV to hear the jungle wake up and watch the temples come out. Magical, even if shared with 100 others, several of whom need to find the mute button on their cameras…

Step up

Tikal locals - Quetzal, spider monkeys and a coatimundis
(with a nice coat)

The following 3 hours, Luis took us round his patio, giving an overview of the Mayan city and introducing us to the locals – the spider monkeys, the coatimundis, and numerous tropical birds (we even saw a Toucan, but very briefly and it was flying quite a distance away – ‘the flying banana’). Unfortunately, no pumas, jaguars or howler monkeys. Less unfortunately, no anacondas or tarantulas…

The Temple of the Grand Jaguar

Annaliza overlooking the Temple of Masks in the Grand Plaza

The Temple of The Masks

The water taxi to and from Flores

Key Learnings:

1. We’re now unsure who likes their steps more – Incans or Mayans…

2. Tikal is very cool – so much so George Lucas felt it worthy to include in Star Wars – Return of the Jedi (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z690zwlaMao)

3. Conversation and culture isn’t totally dead in hostels – we spent an enjoyable evening with a Melburnian and two Vancouverians (sp? Or is it a totally different word?) discussing everything from Banksy to Godspeed You Black Emperor!

4. Cockerels in San Miguel begin their morning wake-up calls at 10pm(?) and can still be heard at 5am!  

22/11/2012 - 23/11/2012 - Crack open the (Semuc) Champay-nge

Overlooking the amazingly coloured pools at Semuc Champay, complete with war paint from the caving endeavors!

"Can someone please explain
what this is doing here?!?"

Antigua by night

A collectivo took us back to Antigua – unfortunately we had no way of avoiding the return trip. After Tony came to terms with having a salad on his plate (well, it was called a salad, despite being covered in chicken and cheese…) and a good night’s sleep, our real onward travels began. Another collectivo (seemed to be the preferred Guatemalan choice of transport), crammed with our knees around our ears, and 9 painful hours later and we’d made it to Lanquin. Couldn’t face the onward journey to right outside the National Park straight away, so settled down in our ‘private room’ (complete with curtain instead of a door, accessed via a sheer ladder, sitting on top of someone else’s proper private room!).

So you thought we were joking about candles...

Haviana's pimped up and ready to rock!

The next day we toured Semuc Champay, first stop the caves right outside the National Park. Now, in our travels we’ve done a fair few caves, but walking in holding candles was a first! Various scrambles, swimming with 3 limbs, ladders and waterfall ascents later, we arrived at the plunge pool and put our necks on the line taking the 2m jump. Doesn’t sound much, because it isn’t, but in almost total darkness takes a bit of guts…

The scene of the rope bridge incident,
and the cold cold river...

Fortunately no flopping from this height, but a sore behind!

After retracing our steps (not mentioning Tony’s close shave in zigging when he should have zagged – Annaliza’s shouts finally got him back on track!), it was time to warm up. Or so we thought. First up was a rope swing into the water – after giggling at the first few poor attempts and bad landings, Tony puffed his chest out and grabbed the rope. You guessed it – sliding off a few seconds too early resulted in a unique face flop, and humiliation in front of the group…

The lovely pools #2

The lovely pools at
Semuc Champay

An hour or so of relaxing tubing followed – well, it was supposed to be relaxing, and would probably have been if it hadn’t been for the sub-zero water temperatures (maybe a slight embellishment…). Sitting on a tiny rubber tube and trying to keep as much of your body out of the water is more challenging than it sounds! We’d just about dried off, then came the next water jump – off the bridge into the river. Tony fared marginally better this time, with a more normal entry (although still hefty impact on the rear end)…

Annaliza showing good form on entry

What a spot for a bit of meditation

After a quick lunch it was on to the main event, the pools of Semuc Champay. First we had a slippery hike to the mirador, then followed our guide down the various picture perfect aquamarine pools. The adrenaline wasn’t over – methods of entry were jumps, slides and more jumps. Tony thought he’d regained credibility within the group only to be asked by a lovely American lass “does your belly hurt after that flop?”. Not his day…

Thanksgiving meal Guat style

A crowded and bumpy ride
to and from the NP

Key Learnings:

1. Guatemala is a strange place to have your first Thanksgiving meal, but the buffet served at El Retiro definitely made us look forward to the next.

2. To a certain Lanquin tour guides eye, Tony looks like Osama Bin Laden… Not too sure that’s true, but it did assist the laughter coming in Tony’s direction the whole day!

21/10/2012 - Atitlan-ded at the Lake

Enjoying looking out over the Indian's Nose (can you see it?) for a relax and picnic

Just made it to the lookout for sunset

Our first Christmas Carol - jingle
bells Guat style

Despite getting the earlier bus, we knew we were pushing it for time and were proven correct when we only were glimpsing the lake at sunset (sorry, the earth rotating away… nah, gave up on that a long time ago!). As such, we decided to stay at Panajachel and cross the lake the next morning – upon reading about a hostel with hot showers the decision couldn’t have been easier! Think our last hot shower was in the Galapagos…

Sunrise at the pier

A lakeside patchwork quilt hill 

Got up for sunrise the next morning, and after some refried beans for brekkie endured a painful 45 minutes sitting on a boat waiting for it to fill sufficiently for the captain to deem it economical to make the trip. Awesome views on the lake though, easy to understand why Aldous Huxley said it was “really too much of a good thing”!

Fun with the panoramic feature down by the lake

Too much of a good thing?

Didn’t have the time, will or energy (not necessarily in that order) to do the trek up to the Indian’s nose, so instead found a lovely little spot to turn a couple of pages and enjoy a picnic. We were much more fortunate on the return journey, being the last in the boat this time (although that did mean a definite lack of bottom room!), giving us plenty of time for tat shopping back in Pana.

Watch out for the kids whilst bartering...

Key Learnings:

1. Do your best not to laugh when a street vendor’s selling technique involves showing you how the item cannot be spoiled with a knife, and then leaving a massive scratch on it!

2. Don’t try and barter with kids – even Annaliza’s ruthless methods failed to work on them!

18/11/2012 - 20/11/2012 - Guat goes up must come down

After a fair old huff and puff, we'd made it in time for sunset!

The famous Antigua arch, complete with Volcan Agua in
the background (you'll be seeing more of him!)

More Antigua archi action

No annoying American waking us up at the crack of dawn, so after a relaxed start to the day (and then a not so relaxed trundle to a better hostel) we set out exploring Antigua. Very similar to Granada – they like living dangerously these Central Americans and putting their cities at the bottom of various volcanoes! That said, it was actually an earthquake in 1773 that turned numerous pieces of Antiguan architecture to rubble – still is highly evident to this day. About 10 days prior to our arrival there was a 7.4 earthquake on the Richter scale about 100 miles northwest of Antigua which people told us was felt very strongly but luckily damage was limited. 

The main square at Antigua

The earthquake devastation in evidence

Yet it didn't stop the locals plying their trade!

It might not look like much, but
the bag weighed a load!

Scree action at the start

After much deliberation, we decided that we’d take on the largest volcano (Acatenango) in the region in an overnight trek. Only after handing the cash over did they tell us we’d be carrying the tent, sleeping bags and mats ourselves – a clever technique! Upon hearing that we’d be gaining altitude of 1.7km in the first day, we started to get a bit scared – we’ve done a fair bit of walking in our time but that is a serious height gain especially when you’re lugging all your stuff.

Volcan Atitlan in the distance

Our first view of Fuego

The other thing they don’t openly tell you is that you’re on scree pretty much the whole journey, which for those who’ve not experienced it’s two steps up, then one slide down! Not easy conditions, for sure – after the first hour Tony (who was carrying the tent, sleeping bags and mats!) was concerned he’d bitten off more than he could chew.

Arrived at camp, in time to watch a small eruption!

Scree struggles...

Many steps and slides later, and we’d got to the campsite in good time. This meant we could ditch most of our stuff for the summit attack – wouldn’t have been possible otherwise due to the increase in severity of the slope and difficulty of footing. To see the sun on the back of our local guide (whose version of guiding was keep 100m+ ahead!) indicating he was at the top was the necessary motivation for the final push.

In the shadow of the Volcan

Scree struggles #2 - this is the
closest we got to the guide!

3,976m.a.s.l. and not a hint of a breeze – never experienced that before. Felt like we were in a plane, seeing the numerous surrounding volcanoes poking their heads above the cloud level. Then came the sunset – I’ll let the photos speak for themselves as words won’t do it justice.

The final descent of the sun

Running high on the clouds

Getting a bit dark on the way back down

Heading back down was initially fun (a running-walk down the scree), but when it got pitch black we realised our head torches weren’t actually that great. Didn’t stop the guide’s guiding technique though! A hearty pasta meal around the bonfire (not so hearty tortillas!) and we were done for the day, with our sleep only interrupted by Volcan Fuego-ing off and the incredibly hard ground (which was much more of a hindrance than interruption!). Fuego is an active beast for sure - http://www.newsday.com/news/world/volcan-del-fuego-eruption-terrifies-locals-thrills-tourists-in-guatemala-1.4002111

On top of the world looking down on Volcan Atitlan

The relief at getting to the top, so a photo opp!

Not a bad tent view to wake up to

Fuego-ing off first thing in the morn

Rose to the sunrise, which competed with the previous evening for a spectacle, then after cramming everything back into our bags started the trek back to base. Gave our knees a comprehensive work out, but that said the going was notably easier, giving us a chance to really appreciate the 4 distinct levels of vegetation on the volcano (corn fields, cloud forest, high alpine forest, volcano scree). Yet another bumpy transfer followed by lunch in Antigua geared us up for our onward travels.

The Corn Fields

The tent, right at the top of the
High Alpine Forest

The Cloud Forest

More sunrise action

The volcanoes and rolling hills

Key Learnings:

1. Antigua is not flush with fridge magnets – you can only imagine the distress that this can cause…

More Fuego-ing off when back
at Antigua (but no lava...)

2. Tour guides have unique concepts of time – “10 minutes” really means 3 minutes, and “setting off at 8am” actually means he’s stressed out if you’re not out of your tent by 6:30am, and on your way before 7:30am!