Guatemala

EL TIKAL, GUATEMALA -  Impressive ruins we explored all day and then stayed into the night looking for jaguars.  Sadly, we didn’t see any, but that doesn’t mean one didn’t see us.

TAJUMULCO - Tallest volcano in all of Central America with its highest point at 13,850 feet or 4,220  meters.  We left Peso at a hotel at the base and found a lovely mountain guide dog that joined us the whole way to the summit and back down again.  ‘Taj’ as we called her was a fantastic surprise and addition to our hike.  The views from the top are incredible and the coolest part is to see the perfect cone shaped shadow that forms as the sun rises.

LAGO ATITLAN - We spent an amazing week at Pasaj Cap campground with our friends Sebastian and Melanie who are from Switzerland.  We BBQ’d with more friends, Julien and Carol from France and enjoyed an incredibly hot sauna right on the lake.  The boat ride taxis to San Pedro and San Marco were a refreshing change to get around.

ACATENANGO -  One of our most memorable birthday celebrations we climbed Acatenango to  see El Fuego  about 3 kilometers away erupt all night long.  The trail is maintained really well and there is hardly any trash along the route. We paid to camp at the top and had front row seats to the thunderous eruptions across the way.

ANTIGUA - We spent a little over a month in Antigua at Hostal Antigueño with owners Christian and Iris.   Our stay included doing a major brake upgrade to Peso, experiencing Semana Santa and all the beautiful alfombras, and arranging our shipping to Colombia.  We stayed longer than we wanted, but it was definitely a good place to be stuck for a while.  We loved being able to hang our with our old friends Hubert, Kate and Aaron from previous travels and our new friends Ben and Sara.  Antigua provided a good place for letting go of impatience and accepting the situation as part of the journey and making the best of it.