guatemala started out a bit rough with bus drivers/boat drivers charging us about 10 times the local price and people seeming annoyed by us for the way they had been treated in the states (as if we personally treated them poorly) but things have all turned around in the last few days.
we spent the first night in a town called Rio Dulce in a cute little hostel that you had to take a boat on the river to get to and once you were there, you stayed. they had a restaurant, internet and even their own local that handcrafted jewelry for the gringos to buy. it was actually owned by some europeans (i believe switz/germans but im not sure) so there was a lot more german and such being spoken than english or even spanish so that was a bit of an experience but our room was nice enough and i even got a hot shower - the first in so long it was almost strange to me *the hot part not the shower*! after a short exploration in our own canoe we took the boat back to land to catch a bus to Flores.
the bus ride was actually pretty interesting because we ended up sitting in the back of the bus - 5 seats all the way across so we sat inbetween these 3 guys that we kinda figured out were all together and then confirmed it later. the most interesting part of it though was what they were doing on the bus...they had started the day before in honduras and were making their way to mexico and, yep you guessed it, ultimately to the US of A. by this point we all know illegal immigration happens all the time but it was really interesting to meet a group of (actually 5 all together) guys who had nothing more than an average school sized bookbag each moving their whole lives to another country...i have more than that with me for the 2 months that im gone and, of course, i have more than that to my name! putting a face and a means to illegal immigration struck me for some reason. that reminds me, it seemed that everyone we met in honduras had been to the states in one way or another and the majority of them had been deported but were not afraid to talk about it...again, strange to meet actual people.
back to my trip though...we made our way to Flores, in the northern part of guatemala to visit Tikal - a major mayan ruins. we of course went the cheap route for the our visit to tikal and didnt get the tour guide. it was fun though to explore what was actually a pretty good amount of land in the jungle of guatemala. the pyramids were hidden by the trees and greenery - some pyramids are still being excavated so that was a cool process to see you. we were told to be aware of monkeys who have a tendency to throw things at tourists (taylor was really excited because she loves monkeys but i dont like anything that is going to chuck things - potentially their own poo - at me from above) luckily, we saw some monkeys but nothing was thrown our way.
we left flores to what was intended to be a little town called Lanquin but had to take a detour to a town called Coban because of a protest near Lanquin. we found out later that the government wants to put a dam in the area of one of the most spectacular things i have seen called Semuc Champey because there is a great forceful river that runs in the area and they want to use it to produce electricity. Semuc Champey is hard to describe with words but i will try...it is technically a limestone bridge that has these beautiful lagunes that are actually natural springs that come up from the ground but it is a bridge because the raging river runs below it. really, you should google it or better yet visit yourself because it was amazing. how we got from coban to semuc is a story for another time, this is getting lengthy (sorry!).
our guide through Semuc Champey was elvis so i guess he really is alive...the whole tour consisted of a cave tour which ended up being swimming and climbing with nothing but a candle to light the way. it was kind of crazy but the group we were in made it a good time all around. it turned out there were about 16 israelis, 4 americans and 2 british on the tour so a ton of hebrew was spoken! it was once again kinda crazy to be surrounded with a language that was not english or spanish but they all knew english too so we could communicate. the majority of them didnt even know each other so it was all a coincedence. next on the tour was a short tubing ride down the river and a long hike up the side of a steep, muddy mountain. at the top was the outlook to see the actual semuc champey - beautiful! so then we trekked back down the mountain to get some time to swim in the pools! it was a great day all around. it ended with good ol elvis taking it upon himself to teach me to salsa. how many people can say they got dance lessons from elvis!?
the last day and a half have been spent in Antigua, a cute colonial town with a great market and beautiful churches. we are making our way to Lake Atilan tomorrow and then Xela for the weekend! be praying for guidance through what could be the aftermath of hurrican karl in mexico since we will be heading there monday. we have been very blessed on our journey so far and i pray for his guidance to continue.
sorry this one got a little out of control on length, i will try to condense my thoughts next time!
hope all is well and GO WOLFPACK!
jen
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