Hotel Calle Real Copan

Apologies for the massive delay in this post but what can we say - we´re lazy. Try spending 10 days in the caribbean and being so!



So, 3 weeks ago we bid our farewells to Antigua, Guatemala. Post head injury and public hospital experience, spnt 2 dqays helping out in the classrooms run by the volunteer programme GVI which basically means help cut things out, dish out glus, and be a climbing frame/swing for ...

... up our last day of the build. At noon tomorrow, we'll begin the farewell ceremony by presenting each family with a bible, a blessing by Pastor Brones, and a handmade cross constructed of rebar. We expect lots of fun, tears, and blessings as we prepare for our journey home. Be sure to check back tomorrow for photos and the "Top Ten Things You'd Only Hear in Guatemala"! Adios Amigos! Much Love, Toni and Shel

... for a double with hot water, finding a place is not a problem as there are hostels and hotels everywhere. We walked around to see if there was anyway to get to Antigua the next day after seeing the ruins as there waas some doubt as to whether the buses would run on the holiday, we found one that left at 12 the next day. We went for small dinner so we thought but the appitizer was much bigger then expected so then we walkd around some more and called it a ...

... the bill!!!) most of this was done in Spanish with a bit of Spanglish bue his english was fluent. Being an ex musician and a latino he was very interested in expressing his feeling in a poetic way, the compliments were flying think and fast. I left Saul before I recieved a marriage proposal and would see him later on to listen to him play. The Bar was empty apart from 4 other people that Saul had invited to listen ...

... I still haven´t had one. There wasn´t a shop on site and they directed us to their recommened shop in town but the cigars weren´t cheap enough for my measly budget. I don´t have room for 20 Fidel Castro sized cigars in my rucksack anyway. We weren´t allowed to take our camera into the factory so we don´t have any photos either of one of the most interesting bits of our trip. At night it got cold, we had forgotten what cold was and slept in our clothes

... can see the first ruler Blue Quetzal Macaw (center left) handing the staff of power to the 16th ruler New Dawn who ruled from 762-820. The rulers are shown siting on their name glyphs. One example of a name glyph is this one for 18 Rabbit. In the Mayan number system, bars equal 5 and dots equal 3, therefor the 3 dots and 3 bars ...

... home made bread for breakfast and lots of vegetarian fare. There is also a tour office attached to the hotel and I booked a tour to Finca de Cisne - a coffee and cardamom plantation. The tour included horseback riding and although it had been 28 years since I'd been on a horse, I had wanted to do it again for a while. The trouble is that many of the horses I've seen for tourists (eg ...

... roof....hope that you don't get carsick so that you don't puke on the person sitting 2 inches in front of you 2) chicked bus shuttles - only chicken buses on certian market days...but think multicouloured schoolbusses careening around highway corners since they are being driven like a porche...we've been told the drivers are huffing most of the time which explains this erratic behaviour....gulp... 3) DELUX coach buses - think grayhound but with almost fully reclinng seats, movies ...

... Pacaya and Aguas. Aburridas de la turística Antigua Jamie y yo escapamos al Earth Lodge, una granja hermosa de aguacates con alojamiento. Vivimos en una casa de árbol y vimos una de las vistas más preciosas en todo Guatemala. Los volcanes en el fondo se llaman Pacaya y Aguas.                 The treehouse/La casa de árbol As ...