WE ARE HOME!

Hello All-

We arrived safely last night at about 11:30 pm after starting out from Guatemala City waking up at 4:30 am to get to the airport. We are excited to be home and it must not have been too bad for Rose because she is already planning our next trip for next summer. She wants to get backpacks and do El Salvador, Honduras and Costa Rica. Wow, I'm still tired from Belize and Guatemala. Thanks for following our blog! Hope you like the photos.

Semuc Champey

Hello All-

We went to some limestone pools called Semuc Champey a few days ago. When we got there we had to make about 3K up a mountain to get to the mirador (lookout) to take some great photos of the river and the pools. The river rushes down under the limestone pools. After we went swimming the guides pulled out a rope and said we were going to swim through all of the pools and then use the rope to climb through a waterfall into the cave where the river comes out. Well there were about 30 people for 2 guides and needless to say we didn't do that, but those that did said it was pretty cool. There were lots of little (and big) river fish, so Rose didn't really want to go swimming. It rained while we climbed up the lookout so the trail was all muddy and we got pretty dirty (more me than Rose) as I looked like I had been rolling in mud. It was a lond day, but they were beautiful. --Mom and Rose

Guy Needs Pants

Hello--
Today we spent 6 hours in a shuttle going to Coban and then we got a hotel, found a tour to the limestone pools tomorrow and booked it and a shuttle back to Antigua. After that we were walking around Central Park and there was a guy there wearing just a shirt walking around in traffic. You know it has been a long, boring day of travel when "Underwear Guy" is the highlight of the day. But Rose is pointing out that his name should not be "Underwear Guy" because he was not wearing any of those either. Just another day in Guatemala! Missing everyone! Mom and Rose

WE SAW LAVA!!!

Hello All--
Today we got up at 4 am. and rode on a bus for an hour and then hiked up a Volcano. The Pacaya Volcano was so cool. The first part was muddy and very Jungley. We thought we were almost at the top but then she told us it was half way over and we had to climb up another even harder mountain the Volcano. It was all rocks and ash. When we got up it was hot in some places we thought we were going to burn our shoes. we bought some marshmallows and at the end we gave them to the group after us. the lava was so cool and really HOT! IT was 2 hr. there and 30 min. at the lava and 2hr.back. The whole thing all together was 2.2 kilometers up. the height of the Volcano was 2772 meters. Then we slept the rest of the day. I send my love!! *****ROSE
So...instead of going shopping, we climbed a volcano. I can't believe I made it all the way up but it was worth it. We didn't get goo close to the lava, but it sure did look cool rolling down the hill. I did start to get a little nervous when the guide told us that the rock we were standing on was today's lava!! We were so tired, we went directly to McDonald's and have done nothing but lay around the whole rest of the day. Tomorrow we are off to Coban--to go to the limestone pools at Semuc Champey (a little less work for me!) Hope all is well, now we are on the countdown and getting pretty excited to come home. Love, Mom

Macademia Farm in San Miguel Duenas

Hello All
Today Rose and I rode in the chicken bus out to the Valhalla Experimental Station AKA Macademia Farm. It is all organic and it was very interesting to see so many macademia trees and find out about them. They gave us a little tour and then a lady gave me a quick facial using macademia stuff, Rose didn't want one, but I thought it was cool. Rose bought some chocolate macademias and I bought some soap made from macademias. The farm was very quiet and we were the only ones there, just the sound of macademias dropping from the trees. We also saw how they process the nuts and that was very interesting. ...Mom
After that we we were going to go to a church, but Mom got us lost...so we went to the big church in Central Park and saw the inside this time. Right now we are in McDonald's and it's so big...about 4X the size of ours. It has an outside fountain. Tomorrow we are going to go to Chichi to go the market and then we are going to Coban. Send my love...Rose

HOT...HOT...AND MORE HOT in Monterrico

Hello All-
We went out to the Tortugario and weren´t all that impressed enough to stay for a week. We are both sweating sitting in the shade. All the volunteers get to do is go out at night and walk the beach looking for sea turtles. They have some eggs buried in the nursery, but none close to hatching--we would have to come later...so not much work to do. We are going for a night walk on the beach to look for turtles tonight with a guide. The waves on this side of Guatemala are HUGE: a kid died here a few days ago--but we just stand in the surf anyway, it´s much too violent to swim. We decided to go back to Antigua tomorrow and see if we can go to Semuc Champey for a few days before we come back...and maybe Chichicastenango for Market Day. Write more later. Love to all--Mom and Rose

Leaving San Pedro--Heading Back to Antigua

Hello All-
Today we had our last day of classes in San Pedro. Rose worked really hard and it was hard for me to speak for so long in Spanish only, but really good practice. We finished our weaving today and are excited to go to Monterrico (sea turtle place) on Sunday. We have to go back to Antigua tomorrow and spend the night in order to get there. Rose doesn't mind Antigua and neither do I, pretty civilized city with a MCD's. We're going to try to stay at the same hostel and get a shuttle to Monterrico on Sunday. --Mom
A hermit crab died? How sad! Which one is it? I bet it was really gross. We had our last day of classes and I am so happy but so sad. I learned a lot more than I learned in the 2 weeks we were here last time. We bought about a bazillion beads to make bracelets and my teacher taught me how to make a different kind, too. We finished weaving and it was really fun, except when we got to the end and it was really hard because there wasn't much space left. We are headed to Antigua to stay a night there and we are going to save the baby sea turtles. Bet they're going to be cute. I'll take lots of pictures. Me and mom send our love--Rose

Weaving and Spanish School

Hello All-
Yesterday was our first day of classes and all went well. Rose seemed to be talking to her teacher a lot and laughing. My teacher is a 5th grade teacher during the day in San Pedro. All morning we have been weaving placemats with a little old lady here. Today Rose started really weaving as the preparation process takes a long time and a lot of string. It is really interesting to find out how to weave as we see ladies doing it here all day. It gives us more of an appreciation for how hard it really is. Although I think most of the things we buy are made on a machine, some of them are hand-made. My teacher and I are talking a lot and it is great practice for me and she is very nice. --Mom
Yesterday we weaved and then we went to school. My teachers name is Rose and she taught me how to count up to 9,999. We are learning verbs today. She even gave me homework. I had to write 21 sentences, 1 for each of the verbs. Today we went weaving in the morning and I am forther along than mom. My colors are teal, white, pink and blue. Moms are pink, purple, black and pink and black mixed one. I think mine is going well and looks good. We are headed off to school now and I will talk to you later. --Rose

San Pedro La Laguna, Guatemala

Hello All--
Yesterday we went to a Mariposario or a butterfly place. We saw the eggs, the caterpillers, the cocoons and the butterfly. Today we took a bus for three houres to San Pedro. It has changed so much. We are staying with the same familly and me and mom are the tallest. We are going to go to the same school Casa Rosario from 2pm to 6pm every day. Tomorrow we are going to weave and some other stuff I am not sure about. I send my love!! ········· Rose
I am excited to do school for a week and hang out around the lake. The camera was hopelessly broken when it arrived at the house of the family. So much for Guatemala fedex...at least they got the pictures that were in there. They marked the box fragile and it was totally squashed when they showed it to us. I guess it is the thought that counts. ==Mom

Antigua, Guatemala

Hello All--
We are in the colonial city of Antigua, which used to be the capital of Guatemala. Yesterday we went to a hot springs pool (no fish) which was very clean and was pretty warm to swim in. Today we went to a museum in Jocotenango to see how coffee is made. It was a great guided tour and also had a part dedicated to musical instruments and customs of the Mayan people here. Rose is mostly enjoying the market here. She has bought tons of things and is really practicing her bartering skills. She loves it here in Antigua (mostly because there is a McDonals, Burger King and Subway) because she loves to look at all the things she wants to buy. Since we've gotten here she was probably spent $400Q and is starting to dip into her savings account now. Tomorrow we are headed up to San Pedro on Lake Atitlan to see the people we stayed with last time. We still haven't been able to reach them--although we did send them their package through Guatemala Fedex when we got here. Rose is upstairs listening to Harry Potter--so sorry no witty commentary today!! Missing everyone! Kiss JAZ for us. ---Mom

Rio Hondo and now, Antigua

Hello All-
On the way back from Belize we stayed in Rio Hondo near the water park, which was closed because it was Monday/Tuesday. The hotel had a pool which we lazed around for a day before coming to Antigua yesterday. We are staying at La Casa Amarilla hostel, where a towel for a shower costs 5Q. Ha! The climate here is much cooler and we are spending the day walking around and there is a huge market, so Rose is in heaven. We will be here about 3-4 more days. We are thinking about climbing a volcano tomorrow. -Mom
We have been on a lot of busses lately and I'm glad we're staying put for a while. We are going to stay here a few more days and I am not looking forward to the volcano tour. There was a gecko and a whole bunch of bugs at the pool place. There was about a bajillion of them and I'm so glad we're gone from there. I got to have ramen for dinner last night. Yeah!!!-Rose

!!!SHARK!!!

Yesterday we went snorkeling. We went to an island that was pretty much just a tree. We went snorkeling and found lots of little fishes and they were sardines. They were like 3 inches long and got to hold a sea urchin that was red and wasn't poisonous. We got to hold a starfish and when he took it off our hand we could feel the suction cups and that was cool. We saw angelfish that were 8 inches long. We wore flippers and had to walk backwards so they don't flip you over. Then we went to his island that his dad left for him. He built a shack on it and had lunch. We had vegetable plantain rice and chicken, cole slaw and watermelon. The cole slaw was better than KFC. Then we went snorkeling there and we saw more angelfish and more sardines, a dorie fish, striped fish, common sea fans, brain coral, finger coral and sea rods. While we were swimming along a little yellow jack followed under us while we were snorkeling like the whole time. We saw some starfish there too. The guy was pointing to something and I couldn't see it and he said he was going to touch it. When he touched it a nurse shark came right up underneath me and it was like as big as me. I screamed through my snorkel because I was so scared but I got over it. But it was really big. We saw more fishes and then we came back in his boat and went back to the hotel. Wow! What a day! -----Rose
We had to move from our hotel today because they had a big group coming in--so we are staying at the Cozy Corner Hotel for tonight and then heading back to Guatemala. The weather is not very good today--very rainy and windy--but it is pretty cool. I was really impressed with Rose and her snorkeling, she did a great job. I didn't know that we were going to see a shark so that was kind of a surprise for me too. The guy was very knowledgeable about snorkeling and the ocean and we learned a lot about the ecosystem. Hope all is well at home. --Michele

Vomit!!

Well we got you to read it didn't we! Yesterday we picked the Tradewinds Hotel in Placencia, BZ. We have a little house right on the beachfront, but don't be too jealous until you read on. First of all there is a lot of sea grass, so in the afternoon and evening the beach is pretty dirty (although it is worse in the middle of the inlet). Right after arriving we took a shower and when I got out, I went and sat in the hammock to wait for Rose. Then we started to walk up the path to get some dinner. Rose asked what was all over the back of my pants and I put my hand there and wiped off what smelled like vomit. We went straight back and I changed and cleaned up. Needless to say, our hammock was changed out for a new one when we got back. I'd have expected move for $50 a night, since we've been vomitless in GUA for $15. I guess it's all about location. We are going to try to go snorkeling tomorrow (today it was too windy and choppy to go) with a guy named Renee. I started taking some antibiotic (Zithro) because I got a sinus infection and we plan to cross back to GUA the day after snorkeling and they are hell on anyone who sneezes at the border (as if having a runny nose is a crime) but later the same day I broke out in a rash. Benadryl, anyone? BZ is pretty expensive, so we are probably going to go back the day after we go snorkeling. Rose is really not all that impressed with the beach so far, so I think we'll head down to Rio Hondo to the water park there after this. -Mom
Today we went and ate cake for breakfast, that was pretty cool. We went to the beach all morining after breakfast until lunch. For lunch we went to the Pickled Parrot and there was a cat sitting under my chair. When we came here in our blog there was a dog who followed us, all because I said HI, but he's gone now, he was pretty stinky. They speak English here and I'm so happy about that. Tonight we are going to have pizza and I hope we have lots of fun snorkeling because the last few days have been boring. The day after that we're going to the water parks, which I want to go to. As you heard about Mom's puke story that was yucky. Until next blogging....Rose

O MY GOSH !!!!!!!

Yesterday we went to the Finca el Paraiso's restaurant and hot waterfall. The bus dropped us off in the middle of the street. So we were walking up the road to get there and a little lady said that it was about an hour walk so we were walking and a Coke truck (the kind that carries glass bottles) gave us a ride to the restaurant. Then when we wanted to go back they called a tractor and we rode in the back of a tractor on pop crates to the little road.Then we rode in the back of a pick up truck to the hot waterfall and it was awesome the waterfall was hot but the river was freezing. While I was standing in the water I noticed some fish so I tried to scare them away so I could get out. The tour guide told us that they bite but mom thought that he was pulling my leg. Then all of a sudden I felt a pinch and I jumped out of the water and I mean literally jumped. The little fish had bitten me and I did not get back in the water. Then we got a bus to El Estor and stayed at Hotel Vista de Lago.
Today we cought a bus from El Estor to Rio Dulce and then to Puerto Barrios were we are staying at the Hotel Europa 2. There isn't really much to do here. Tomorow we are going to take a ferry to Belize instead of Honduras. I don,t know what we are doing there so I'm going with the flow.
****Rose
Well after about a week of back and forth about Honduras, we can´t get a straight answer from anyone. Everyone has a different take on it--so we are going to head tomorrow to Placencia, Belize. We are trying to look for a few good places right now on the other computer. This place has AC so we want to stay all day. Yesterday was very eventful and adventurous, how many people can say they rode the coke truck in Guatemala on the same day you get to ride a tractor behind the farmer? -Mom

El Tortugal

The last 2 nights we have spent in El Tortugal in Rio Dulce. We took a river tour to Livingston just yesterday and it was beautiful. Today we are headed to the Finca El Paraiso to the Hot Springs Waterfall and River. We are going to try to spend the night there. It's still really hot here and we are sweating standing still. The town of Livingston was very poor and not really much there, but the trip up the river and tour were awesome. -Mom
The first night we were at El Tortugal, we went kayaking and we didn't fall out or fall over, but we did look a little silly getting into it. The first night we stayed in a cabin and the 2nd night we stayed in a dorm, which really wasn't that bad. It is so hot here that we're wiping our faces with tissues all the time. At the hotel there was a big dog named Jefe and he was really nice and followed us around. He liked it best when we were eating. There was also cats there and one of the cats got in our room and I had to take it out because Mom didn't like it. There were turtles, ducks and a turkey. --Rose

Today we went to the pyramids and stayed there until lunch the pyamids were so cool and now we are at Flores. It is an island in the middle of a lake and we went shopping and went swimming. We took a shower after we went swimming and when we got out we realized we have so many bug bites from the past few days. Tomorrow we are going to go to Rio Dulce and I don´t know what we are doing--it´s a surprise to me. --Rose
We visited the pryamids at Yaxha instead of Tikal, because we saw them last time. We quickly checked out of the girl scout motel and headed to ¨town¨ for a little civilization (and fewer ants in our room). Last night we had a rooster crowing outside our window starting at 1am. Must have been a special ed rooster. Tomorrow, off to Rio Dulce. --Mom

Arriving in El Remate, Guatemala

Today we took a few vans to get to El Remate, where the Tikal pyramids are. We arrived at our hotel (you could loosely call it that) and it´s more like Girl Scout camp. It´s a good thing that we´ll only be here for 2 nights. We are staying at Hermano Pedro Tikal. As soon as we got here to eat lunch it rained buckets for about 20 minutes. It was great to have a little cool in this heat. Tomorrow we are going to the pyramids and swimming (we think) and then we´re going back down to Rio Dulce. So far everything is going well. Our last day ot the finca we rode horses (our butts still hurt) and went swimming. We are hearing that everything is pretty normal in Honduras so I´m thinking we´ll still get to go. That´s the plan for now anyway. --Mom

Yesterday we went horse back riding and mine's name was Perdido that means lost. Mom's was named Muneco and that means doll. Then we went swimming only for a little bit. Today we road a bus to El Remate and we went to go eat lunch and it started to rain more than buckets. But we are thinking about going to the blue lake to go swimming, maybe. tomorrow we are going to the pyramids and then going to Rio Dulce. I've heard its a good place to go shopping. A lot has changed here more people have cell phones and lots more motorcycles and bicycles.I hope you are having a great summer too.-Rose