Home » Guatemala » Guatemala, week 4

Feb - Mar 2002: My friend Priscilla and I took a trip to Guatemala (and briefly into Honduras).

Guatemala, week 4

Jennifer Radcliffe
2005-11-11 11:54:24

Displayed times (last time: )

be able to.

It is a treat to walk along the beach at night, it is so dark here and the stars are a vivid sight to behold. And to hear the waves pound the shore... to feel the raw power of the ocean in the dark, it's possible to feel completely alone with the sea and the stars.

Today I moved from the Hotel Mangle to the Baule Beach Hotel next door, where I met my friends, and where I ended up spending all of my time anyway. It's a much better value at 35q for the same accommodations, and has a livelier atmosphere. And the guy who runs the place, Victor, is a very cool guy. He has created an atmosphere of family that is a really nice change of pace.

The return to civilization

Today we woke up early, at 6am, to take a tour through the Biotope behind the town. For an hour and a half a guide paddled our boat through a maze of growth and wildlife, mostly birds. We saw lots of herons and pelicans. This marshy environment is such a contrast to the ocean less than 1km away, it's hard to believe the two coexist so near eachother.

I spent my final day here with my new friends, swimming in the ocean again and hanging out in the pool, walking along the beach... these two days have been my most relaxing and enjoyable by far in Guatemala! It is such a remote spot, it feels like we're on an island. And it feels like our little group of friends at the hotel are the only people for miles, even though we see other people walking along the beach. I hear it's a very different story on the weekends, when people from near and far converge on the beach for drinking and partying. I'm go glad that I decided to come here on a weekday, and missed all the crowds.

I feel very lucky to meet the people that I've met here, I hope to keep in touch with them!

Climbing the Volcano Pacaya

We climbed Pacaya today, an active volcano near Guatemala City. Our bus took us high into the foothills and we started hiking from a small town. Took us roughly 2 hours to climb up, and an hour to climb down. It was nice watching the landscape change. The rocks became increasingly volcanic as we hiked higher, and we climbed into the clouds about 1/2 way up. The last 30 mins was very hard, as we climbed the actual cone... the rocks were small and slipped under our feet and it was hard to maintain footing. It was a very steep climb as well. It was entirely possible for the average person, just a little challenging. The view of the cone was well worth the work! We could walk right up to the rim and look down into the belly of the beast. We couldn't see lava in the daytime, although I hear it's visible at night. We did get hit with clouds of sulphur dioxide rising out of the cone. Was hard to breathe and smelled pretty funky. I took a photo on the edge of cone, the moment was beautiful. Hooray! We did it!!!