Hospedaje El Viajero Solola

... sure there are 12 peaks on Acatenango. After another 2 or 3 hours of climbing we finally reached the first peak. Very drastically the environment around us went from green lush trees/plant life to dead trees and low shrubs to the final stage of absolutely nothing. Reaching the first peak looked like reaching dark desert sand dunes. There are no trees, shrubs, small plants, nothing just volcanic ash. However, we were greeted by an ...

... said “why are we going?”. But it was his way of preparing us to be on our guard, which was apparent as we stepped off the bus and were almost immediately inundated with offers of private tours, cheap textiles and wooden flutes.

We were ushered in to the “Jade Museum” and shop for a “tour” by the bus company, which the guide said would be a safe haven for us, which indeed it was, but they also wanted to occupy most of ...

... easy climb on a well-traveled path - our biggest concern being the enormous land mines being left behind by the looming horsemen. Show a moment of weakness and you were insulted with the offer of: "You want horse?" As the sun began to dip into the hills, we stumbled along tree roots and avalanche debris as the trail leveled & veered off along the edge of the likes of a very high cliff. Nothing about Guatemala screams safe, but I like seeing common ...

... of used clothing from America. Most of these are donated clothes, probably from Goodwill. I should also mention that both new and used Hollister, American Eagle, and Abercrombie are very popular here.

I went to Solola on Tuesday with my new friend, LuAnn, to check out the Paca in the Market, not only because I wanted to experience the crowds but because I don't have very many clothes. (I UNDER-packed for Central ...

... really get any great pictures.

Arrived in Antigua around 3 (local time) and were driven to our hotel, Casa Florenica. Great success! At $50 a night, it is certainly more expensive than the $8-$10 per person options out there but we figured we would start safer and then rough it as we ran out of money :) The hotel is a lot more beautiful than it was on the website - I will post some pictures later but the rooms are clean and there is hot water, free ...

... two days, Kristi didn't know how she'd go back to budget travel mode. We caught sailfish, Dorado, and Darren even caught a 300-lb Blue Marlin. Kristi took video and photos of the catch, but did not get the shot of the Blue Marlin. She will probably never live this one down. Maybe Darren will travel to the moon or hike Everest one day so he can have another life defining moment. We enjoyed our stay at the Billfish Inn with host Cindy ...

Les and Judy took Barrett for 3 days!!! They went to the black sand beach of Montericco on the first day, stayed in port on the 2nd day (Puerto Quetzal) and then to visit children at a library in Antigua on the last day. What did Matthew and I do, you're asking? Well, as this was the longest time we'd ever been apart from Bear (we had one overnighter while in Namibia), we really took advantage of the opportunity and did things we'd never be able to do if ...

... buses right around the corner from the market, we asked , of course, si el bus era directo. Directo to Escuintla, and from there another bus to Iztapa... "Well of course, si si", he emphatically says, and we pause before coming aboard, and 20 minutes later were still sitting there, then we start leaving, and join the hundreds, it seems, of other buses headed in the same direction, and all at a standstill, are frantically honking at each ...

... great fun. They really have maintained traditional dress here as well as lots of traditional lifestyles (e.g all women are carrying babies or so it seems). Easy to get ´fast food´ but not to hard to get fresh OJ, cakes & salady type stuff. The local transport here is open back small trucks where everyone stands & holds on for dear life whilst in traditional dress. Via a Mexican cafe lunch stop & a very yellow church we had a homestay on a small holding in a ...

... market itself on Friday morning was an interesting view of Mayan life. Watching them carry heavy loads on their backs, suspended from their foreheads seemed unnecessarily difficult. I'm sure that they have heard of the wheel, but I don't know what they might have against such a device.