Guatemala - February 2011

Tikal

We woke up early and got the first bus to the ruins. We were the first people in the place and as we walked through the jungle, we saw plenty of wildlife (anteaters, howler monkeys, pizotes, birds...). As we reached the main plaza, the morning mists were still around as the sun began to rise and the birds and monkeys went crazy.

From the top of one of the highest pyramid (pyramid IV), we saw this rare orange breasted falcon, plucking and eating another bird. We met an American bird watcher who lent us her bins. It was an amazing experience, as the sun rose over the morning mist in the jungle.

 

The main plaza to ourselves.

I had vertigo at the top of this pyramid.

Semuc Champey

We drove for many hours in an uncomfortable minibus to reach the National Park of Semuc Champey (nothing to do with French wine). We stayed in traditional cabins overlooking the river with two other couples whom we met on the way. Hestia (Dutch) and Mark (English), who live in Amsterdam, and Brad and Megan from the US.

We spent three days with them exploring the immediate area and had a blast.

We visited a bat cave at dusk and saw thousands of bats swarming out for the evening.
Richard was pretty scared!

The two cooks at the cabins - they just loved Richard.

This became our table - you can't see it from here, but we had amazing views down to the river.

We learnt plenty of new card games. The cabins were very rustic, with no electricity after 10pm.

This is the cabin we stayed in.

The stunning Semuc Champey pools.
Our guide took us down several of them, using natural water slides (very painful).

Our group. L-R; Hestia, Mark, Richard, Moses, Me, Brad and Megan.

One of the natural water slides.
I was quite scared at some, but Brad and Megan are raft guides and therefore water babies, so of they said it was safe, we did it!

The gorgeous Niko who worked at the cabins. He gave Richard and I all our tours for free. No idea why or how.

We were continually pursued by two very cute girls who wanted to sell us their chocolate.
We gave in a couple of times, but honestly, it was not very tasty.

This is the inside of a cacao plant. This is what chocolate is made from.
You can eat these fruits, most of our group loved them, but I found them a bit slimy. Of course, when it comes to opinions  of food, I can not be taken seriously.

The river below our huts. Some braver members of the group jumped from the top of the rock.
We tubed down this river and swam across it to the cave where we saw Mayan artefacts. We won't speak here of Richard's accident...

Antigua

We returned to the gorgeous town of Antigua.

We splashed out for a nice hotel. This was the view from the roof terrace.

We climbed the active volcano, Pacaya.

Lago Atitlan. Again, we splashed out for a nice hotel ,which was right on the water.

We moved to a different village for couple of nights and stayed in this hut.
This is where Richard lost his very expensive sunglasses.

The Christmas grotto for dinner in February.