After moving quickly (too quickly) from place to place in Guatemala we decided we wanted a week to relax on the beaches in Mexico before Cuba. This left us only three days in Belize. Originally we wanted to go to the Caye Caulker Islands; however, three days wasn’t quite enough and it would have been quite expensive when we worked in the ferry costs. Continue reading
Exploring the Ancient City of Tikal
We stayed two nights in Flores, Guatemala with the sole purpose of visiting Tikal, Guatemala’s most famous Mayan site. We arrived in the early evening after a long shuttle ride from Lanquin (Semuc Champey) to the tiny island of Flores – connected by a small bridge to the larger town of Santa Elena. We checked into our hostel and went out to catch the sunset over the lake and grab dinner. Continue reading
Paradise at the end of a Dirt Road (Semuc Champey)
Off the main highway, but definitely part of the tourist route through Guatemala, lies Semuc Champey. It’s a good stopping point between Antigua and Flores (a twelve to twenty hour journey), although about a two and a half detour from the highway. Continue reading
Back on the Beaten Path (Antigua)
Three chicken buses and eight hours after we left Juayua, El Salvador we arrived in Antigua, Guatemala. That evening we met up with a friend, Allegra, who had recently flown from Vancouver to Mexico and was travelling south. We had a dinner and a few drinks and caught up on everything we had been missing in Vancouver the past few months. Somehow over five months has gone by since we left Vancouver! Continue reading
Unbearable Heat and Phenomenal Food (El Salvador)
From León, we had to decide if we wanted to cut across to the Caribbean once again or go straight north through El Salvador. While we had heard many great things about the Bay Islands in Honduras, we had already been to the San Blas Islands in Panama and the Corn Islands in Nicaragua. We made the decision to stay on the Pacific Coast until we reached Guatemala. Continue reading
Crumbling Scorching Colonial León
After Granada, we spent a week relaxing in San Juan del Sur. We lucked out and got a super nice place at a best resort in town; therefore, we didn’t really do anything other than cook lots and watch countless sunsets and thus don’t have many photos. It was a nice chance to sleep in and gave us a jump start on planning our Europe trip (plane tickets to Iceland and England as well as Greece and Germany are now booked!). Continue reading
Granada & Volcano Masaya
Remember when we swore off overland travel to/from the Corn Islands and vowed to fly back to Managua (here)? Well, as luck would have it – flights to Managua were sold out for the week. Unhappily, we booked a flight back to Bluefields in the morning, waited four hours for a panga to fill up and take us to Rama, boarded a bus to Managua (which wasn’t really a bus to Managua/we had to transfer in Juigalpa) that broke down en route. When we finally made it to Managua, it was well after dark and there were no more buses to Granada so we paid a taxi to drive us there. The taxi ride turned out to be the highlight of our ride – we had asked a few drivers what they would charge and this guy was the lowest and seemed friendly in his beat up (not legal) taxi. He picked up his son for the ride and to possibly leave in Granada to party for the night and we had a fun hour and a half drive down. The entire adventure cost the same as it would have to fly to Managua and bus to Granada and took an additional 15 hours. Continue reading
Worth the Journey (Little Corn Island)
If you managed to make it to the Corn Islands, you are in for a well-deserved treat (as mentioned in our previous post, we attempted the overland method; not recommended!). You arrive to Little Corn Island by boat from Big Corn Island (be prepared for a wet and bumpy ride). The journey takes anywhere from 15 to 45 minutes depending on the sea conditions. Continue reading