Final week in Guatemala

First day at school
Me at school







Antigua catherdral at night

Finally heading off to Honduras in the next few days and have spent the last week back in Antigua studying more spanish and reading loads of books (5 this week alone). I experienced my second earth tremor last weekend which was apparently 5.2 in strength and lasted 1 and a half minutes - much stronger than the one in Mexico. I was sat outside my room in the sunshine on a rickety wooden chair and didn't really realise for a few seconds what was happening. It wasn't until other peolple came running out of their rooms in a panic that it dawned on me that it was more than a wobbly chair - the whole ground was shaking!! The volcano had just belched quite loudly half an hour before this so people thought it was completely erupting. All was well and there was no damage anywhere and the report in the paper the next day said that it covered a 100km radius. The volcano continues to smoke away and makes loud noises occasionally but no more nights of glowing lava - that was definitely a one off.

Guatemala has been a wonderful place to spend nearly 3 months, mainly because the people are so friendly and have a very relaxed pace of live. It is such an easy place to learn Spanish as everyone speaks slowly. The country also offers such a range of scenary and history that it offers something for everyone (Tikal, Semuc Champey and Lake Atitlan being the highlights). The only downside is the safety at night and the corruption of the government here which is slowing progression in this very poor country, making it very frustrating at times. However, tourism is a way that people here can earn a living and improve their standard of living, including basic health, education and housing.

I have been fortunate to visit many of the voluntary projects here in Anitgua and just this morning visited a school that was built in the Common Hope project. It was the first day that the school was open and so it was full of excitied children. For me, being able to speak in Spanish with the teachers and commicate with the children was amazing. There was one class of 20 which was a special needs class with an age range of 9 - 15 years. The teacher asked if I would come back and volunteer in the classroom - if my visa wasn't running out next week then I would be tempted to stay. I'm sure there will be more opportunities throughout Central America to help.

As I said when I left Mexico, this really is a great country to visit. And if you are interested in voluntary projects there is so much opportunity to get involved. I'm sure I will be writing the same about Honduras next month!!

(I've included a mixture of pics from the previous weeks in Antigua)

Lanquin and Semuc Champey

OK, so I thought I had seen some pretty amazing things so far on this trip but I definitely had my biggest ´WOW´when I looked down at the waterpools of Semuc Champey. The most naturally beautiful things I have seen anywhere. I'm staying in the coolest place here in Lanquin called El Retiro. I have a cute little room in a wooden hut on stilts looking down the valley to Rio Lanquin. The hammock outside my room has been well used already by myself whilst donkeys and chickens wander about around me.

On Sunday I went on the tour to Semuc Champey which involved piling into the back of a pickup truck for the 40 minute journey across a dirt path that went up and over the mountains providing spectacular views. The first part of the day involved a cave tour. This was no ordinary cave tour - it involved swimming through the caves for two hours with a candle!! Amazing feeling, although it got very cold towards the end and my candle kept goign out. At one point I had to slide through what seemed like a tiny hole of running water which popped you out the other side of the rocks into pitch blackness - not my favourite part of the day but exciting all the same!!
Afterwards I explored the beautiful water falls and pools at Semuc Champey and then climbed up to the view point or Mirador. I hadn't expected such a steep slippery climb up, but the view from the top was incredible, looking down on the blues and greens of the water pools. The swim in the pools was most welcome afterwards.

I spent most of yesterday in the hammock but did manage to visit the Bat caves here in Lanquin at 4 pm. These caves were dry and mch bigger than the previous day but just as impressive. At sunset all the bats leave the cave and we all stood at the opening of the cave. It is quite a bizzare feeling to stand in the line of thousands of bats and have them flying past your head. There was a mixture of fruit bats and vampire bats. Luckily their sonars were wokring fine and so there were no collisons with our heads!!

Today the weather is bit damp so it's an excuse to read all day (I've just finished Memoirs of a Geisha and about to start a book about trekking in the Himalays in the 1970's). Tonight there is a big barbecue at the place where I'm staying which will probably turn into quite a party, so another lazy day tomorrow!!!

Tikal

I finally decided to go for it and travel on the night bus to Flores to see Tikal, the most important and impressive Mayan site in Guatemala. I arrived at 5.30 am this morning and by 6 am was on a minibus to the ruins. I decided that it wasn't neccesary to catch up on my severe lack of sleep and trekked through the jungle for 5 horus instead. Wow!! I thought Chichen Itza and the other ancient ruins in Mexico were impressive, but this place is in a league of it's own. This was probably due to the dense jungle setting and the impressive height of some of the temples. Only 15-20% of the site has been excavated and the rest is still covered by the trees of the jungle. Amazing to imagine what it could be like if more was uncovered. It remained untouched for 1000 years after being abandoned by the Mayans.
The added bonus for me today was seeing lots of jungle life - families of racoon like animals called coatimundi, lots of keel-billed toucans, white crowned parrots and other tropical birds I can't remember the name of, howler monkeys high in the trees making dinosaur-like noises and the amazing variety of plant life (the sacred ceiba tree for the Mayans and the once economically important sapodilla which used to be tapped to extract the resin for chewing gum) . Luckily we didn't encounter any deadly snakes or spiders on our trek.

Tomorrow I am heading to Coban where I will then move on quicky to Lanquin and experience the waterfalls near Semuc Champey. Everyone I have met travelling in Guatemala says that this is their favourite place so I'm exitied to be able to hang out there for the rest of the week before returning to Antigua for another week of Spanish.

Voluntary work

Just thought I'd share with you the voluntary work I've been doing this week back at Wings, the family planning organisation who I helped a bit with before Christmas. This week they recieved a shipment of 291,000 condoms, 14, 400 contracetpive pill packets and 1800 IUDs. My job was to sort through these and label them for distribution to various organisations in Guatemala. Obviously my PSHE days put me in good stead for sorting through thousands of condoms!!

I'm off to Tikal on the night bus tonight to see the Mayan ruins there, then heading over to see some waterfalls near Coban which are supposed to be beautiful. I will then return to Antigua for another week of Spanish at the end of January.

Happy New Year

Just a quick update to wish you all a happy new year (even if a little late). I've been chilling out at Lake Atitlan for the past week and am now back in Antigua for a few days before heading off on a quick travel around Guatemala for the rest of January. I am back to reading books again and have just finished Man and Boy by Tony Parsons and am about to start rereading Memoirs of a Geisha as it's such a great book. Now that I'm not at school I have the ability to concentrate on reading again!!
The firecrackers and the volcano have all calmed down here now so it's much easier to sleep at night. The weather has been fantastic, although a little fresh in the morning. The sunrises at the lake were just beautiful. It's such a special time of day and so peaceful, even if a little early!! I'm waiting for some pics to be emailed to me as I don't have the camera this month, so then I'll be able to share the beauty of the sunrises with you all.
Hope 2006 brings lots of joy and happiness to everyone. I feel blessed to have started the year in such a beautiful way.