Reflections on Guatemala



20140122-145932.jpg Lucy Guatemala is good. We slept in a tree house, it was fun. We made chocolates, we had to cook the coco beans. The Spanish changed the Mayan name to chocolate. The Mayans called the drink "kaka" which means poo poo in Spanish and I remember it is the same in Czech. So this made me laugh and laugh. We roasted marshmallows on the top of a volcano without a fire. There were two types of marshmallows. One was pink and one was blue. I liked the pink ones best.

20140122-150047.jpg Alisha My favourite thing was going to the chocolate factory. I love eating all the chocolates I had made. We made with real cocoa beans and I filled mine with different toppings such as coconut, sprinkles and even two had chilli in but these were a bit hot. It's good to be out of the rain because on our boat trip it rained and rained and rained. I did not get wet because I was under a tarpaulin and I was wearing my life jacket and my raincoat and my waterproof trousers. Mummy had to snuggle up to me when I took my life jacket off because I was so warm. To see anything we had to peek over the tarpaulin that we were hidden under.

20140122-150224.jpg Gilly Here in Guatemala, I've had it confirmed that I'm a mountain girl. Although the jungles in the north and east of the country were beautiful and teeming with life, the bugs and persistent rain (yes, I know why it is called the "rainforest" but still that was a hell of a huge amount of water) started to grate. However, the highlands consisting of volcanic hills and lakes in the central part of the country have really got my heart singing. We stayed longer at Lake Atitlan than anywhere else on our journey so far, apart from at the beach with my Mum. It was the view of the volcanoes and the lake that held us captive there. I've loved seeing all the different costumes that all the Mayan ladies wear. Each village has a different design with different significance in the weaving. The skirts, blouses, scarves, belts and head straps are all woven locally on different type of looms. Although most of the men have changed over to western dress, apart from some of the older gentlemen we saw around Atitilan, most of the ladies outside big towns still wear them.

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20140122-150509.jpg Steve We have really slowed down our trip in Guatemala and have only done 1000km in 3 weeks. I was wondering whether we have really seen enough of the country but we have enjoyed spending time in just a few places. Whilst the ruins of Tikal were great and the Rio Dulce area was interesting the constant rain, mud and biting insects were getting us all down a bit. I think that's why we have enjoyed the highlands so much. The climate is perfect, warm sunny days and cool evenings. All the time been dry and hardly an insect in sight. Antigua and Lake Attitlan have been very different. Antigua is busy but very liveable with good restaurants which we have taken advantage of. Lake Atitlan was calm and very relaxing. Everywhere there has been epic scenery and we have spent a lot of time just admiring it. Lake Atitlan claims it is the most beautiful lake in the world. Whilst I can not confirm that, it certainly ranks highly. It's been nice spending time taking it easy and chilling but now it's time to get back on the road.

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