Costa Rica Part II - La Fortuna - San Jose

November 26th – November 29th,

La Fortuna:
Special Edition: Costa Rica with Caro and Philippe

Just a few days ago I was reading the blog in Miami and here I am tasting a bit of adventure with Philiippe, Maria and Aubry. I found out this morning we were on our way to Costa Rica although I had a few hints in the past weeks. In the plane this morning Philippe would still not tell me where we were going and I knew so little about the country that I didn’t know what to expect. What I was mostly curious about was whether we’d meet up with “the travellers”, since Philippe and the family had a conspiracy going to trick me otherwise.
When we arrived in San Jose I was secretly peeking through the glass panes in the baggage terminal looking for Maria and Aubry but I did not see them anywhere. When we went straight to the taxi men I started to think the trip was just the two of us. The three hour taxi ride was amazing and I was immediately fascinated. Every new swerve in the road came with new colors in the landscape. Although it was very foggy and traffic didn’t look too safe, I was so excited to begin this adventure.
We were very hungry since the 6am wakeup and just a quick bakery stop but Philippe was in a hurry to arrive for our 3 PM “check-in” which I thought was awkward. Along the way, the taxi man found a turtle crossing the highway and he actually picked it up to join our ride as he told us he had 11 more at home. The turtle Philippe was sitting curiously in the co-pilot seat as the taxi driver had a hard time finding our hotel La Roca Virgen and we ended up in La Roca Negra, a beautiful green entrance near the Volcano Arenal. But actually, we had to turn around to make it to the posada we are actually staying at since we had people waiting for us… The car parked and I saw two blonde girls hanging from the hammock in the little terrace. I smiled at Philippe and jumped out of the car as Aubry and Maria ran out of the house to welcome me.
The travellers were waiting for us with Genevieve and Katy, their Australian friends that have been travelling with them for the past few stops. They’d been waiting for us all morning after their 13 hour bus ride yesterday. A nice surprise was our Thanksgiving lunch, lettuce, avocado, tomatoes, bread, cheese, and ham. More surprises to come as our first activity was already booked, an afternoon in Hot Springs near the Volcano. There were more than 95 springs of hot and cold waters, slides, waterfalls, and a nice buffet dinner to wrap up the day.
Now we’re all laying on my bed and chatting about the day as I type away, excited for wild water rafting tomorrow.

Nov 27th 2009 – Rafting Day! – Special correspondent Philippe

We woke up at dawn to the sounds of roosters, sounds that Chapinha and Fofinho have now grown accustomed to, and that no longer disturb their sleep.
Our bus picked us up at around 8AM, where we met part of the staff, including the cook, Soccorro, which bore a name that was not so reassuring, but promising quite an adventure. After going over the basic commands (forward, stop, back paddle, lean in, and get down), we hopped onto our Canoe and made our way down a class 3-4 river. AMAZING! In some parts, it seemed almost like a tourist attraction on rails, and gave us the opportunity to appreciate the luscious scenery. Then, to the command of “FORWARD”, we started paddling energetically to avoid rocks and whirlpools. We were quite proud to be the group in the only canoe that did not flip over of the five that went out. However, you wouldn’t tell from our clothes that were drenched.
After hours on the river, we enjoyed some of the sweetest pineapple we ever tasted from one of the adjoining plantations, changed into dry clothes, and were off to a delicious typical Costa Rican meal prepared by Socorro. We there met a few more travelers who were going Northbound and told us of their tales on Death Road in Bolivia. We ate heartily, after all of our efforts, and then made it back to the hotel by 4:30PM. We hesitated to go to the Volcan Arenal, but the clouds were menacing, and we preferred to get make our way back to the hostel for dinner.
To thank our hosts for their amazing organization skills and such a memorable day, we cooked one of Carito’s famous salads and some ginger-beef pieces, topped with a bottle of wine. By 9PM, we were all dead and falling asleep on our game of cards, trump.

Nov 28th 2009 – Happy Birthday Caro!
San Jose:

The first thing we heard this morning was blasting music from what we later discovered was the owner of the hostel returning from quite the night out on the town, as demonstrated by her horrific hangover face the next morning. We awoke a few hours later again to the tune of “Happy Birthday To You” sung by Aubry and Maria holding a beautiful purse for Caro wrapped in a towel; backpacking wrapping. We then enjoyed fruits and coconuts (Philippe’s morning challenge was to open up the cocounuts) for breakfast, and received the items we were going to bring back to alleviate the weight of their bags. In the hours of the morning, we drove to an artificial lake that was constructed to supply the hydro-electric plants.
We then embarked on a 5h30 bus ride, that passed by quite fast actually, as we alternated between enjoying the landscape, reading, eating snacks, and sleeping before reaching the terminal, finding a hotel, and going out for dinner to celebrate Carolina’s birthday in San Jose. After a nice dinner at a restaurant in El Pueblo center, we tried our luck in one of the local discos, which was quite a sight: One fat man with a microphone, a girl in shredded pants dancing, and a sketchy DJ. We danced for a bit, had fun, and then headed back to our hotel for a well-deserved night of sleep.

Nov 29th 2009 – San Jose:
Correspondent: Carolina

Very fresh morning after a night in a comfortable bed, what a difference! I was the first one up and in the shower after seeing the sun rays seeking into the room. The breakfast ended at 9 am so I woke everyone up and we ran out to enjoy the leftover fresh fruit, bakery goods, juices, and coffee. The layout was perfect eating on the terrace of the hotel overlooking the pool.
The morning began with a Skype chat with Male and Francisco while we planned out the half day ahead of us, since Philippe and I had our flight back to Miami in the afternoon. We discovered that the historic downtown was just a few blocks from our hotel. The main plaza of the city, Plaza Cultural, is surrounded by colonial buildings and the one that stands out is the Teatro Nacional. We were pleasantly surprised along the way with a few buildings we spotted out. Last night we didn’t have the luck of seeing the nice part of town so I’m glad we had a few hours to discover San Jose under sunlight.
We also bumped into an event about to happen, a yearly celebration called Desfile de los Boyeros. We learned that this is a prelude to the Fiestas of San Juan and it was a parade of all the bull-raising families of Costa Rica exhibiting a pair of their most prominent bulls decorated pulling a typical colorful carriage. Each carriage wheel is composed of 16 pieces, giving each carriage their individual song. The first bulls carried San Juan surrounded by beautiful flowers and each pair that passed was blessed. Since Philippe and I were still looking for some artesania, we walked to the Mercado Casada, an antique house with many beautiful national works of art but we only left with two of their typical carriages (miniature sized) to remember our days in Costa Rica.
After discovering the parallel streets and experiencing the end of a mass in the Catedral, we sat down for a great lunch in Q’ Café. A very nice deal considering the restaurants and streets weren’t too promising. We came back to the hotel San Tomas for our luggages and came upon a beautiful souvenir shop along the way where I finally found a hammock and we found some special gifts for our parents. A great end to an amazing weekend! Thank you Maria and Aubry for allowing us to share a few days of your adventure and I can’t find the words to thank Philippe for such an amazing and unforgettable gift! Keep enjoying your voyage and keep up your blog for your avid readers…

Costa Rica Part I - Montezuma - Santa Theresa

November 2oth – November 25th,
Montezuma – Santa Theresa:

What a long trip!!! Getting to Montezuma has been for sure one of our longest trips yet. We left San Juan at 6.30 am, and got a taxi to drop us off at the border between Nicaragua (Nica) and Costa Rica (Tica). We hadn’t seen such a busy border thus yet. We had to stay in a line for quite a bit, just to check out of Nica. Before reaching the Tica border, we were controlled like 2 other times, but they never checked your baggage, just your passport. Once in Tica, we caught a local bus to Liberia (the city, not country, hihi), which was also stopped two times on the road by police controlling passports. The bus ride was never ending. Once in Liberia we had to switch buses to get to Punta Arena. None of us, except Kate, had money, so she kindly paid for our ticket as we still needed to take out cash. It was a lot of bargaining with the drivers, as we wanted to pay in Dollars, and they were giving us a bad exchange rate. At least we got on the bus. That bus drive was another long one, and once in Punta Arena, we had to catch a ferry towards Paquera. We decided to walk till the ferry, which ended up being a good 3-4km walk with all our luggage’s, so you can imagine me grumbling most of the way. The port was depressing, very dirty and full of strange people. At least we were going to take a different means of transport. The ferry ride was beautiful. It took about an hour and 15 minutes, which meant that we arrived in Paquera at 6pm and then took our last bus of the day to Montezuma, phheewwww. We got to Montezuma at around 7:30 and were at this stage, completely knackered.
Our hostel didn’t help much to improve our moods, but we agreed with the Australians to just spend one night there. To cheer up our temper and fatigue, we went to a superb Italian restaurant. I had the best pizza and Aubry his favorite, lasagna. The restaurant is owned by Argentinians, which is making Aubry all the more excited to meet this country and its great food. We liked the city as well, which is basically two roads with adorable stores and restaurants, but a tad bit pricy for backpackers doing a long trip as ours.
Next morning, we checked out of the horrendous hostel and went to Hotel Aurora, which was a bit more expensive, but in which we felt comfortable. We walked on the beach, swam, and hung out around the hotel most of the day. There was a supermarket close by, which allowed us to prepare our daily lunches. One night we even got to watch a soccer game of their yearly league, for veterans.
On our second day in Montezuma, we went to explore the waterfall which was close by. There was no fee to enter or signs to follow, so it really felt like we were discovering the way on our own and simply following the sound of the water. The cascade was enormous! We climbed to the top and were so proud to have made it. There were two pools at the top, which gave the impression to people down in the first pool that we were so close to falling over. We met many people up at the pools and had a fun afternoon there. The water was fresh and cold. On our way back to the city through a different way, we saw many monkeys. It gave us the feeling that nature is still intact in this country.

After leaving Montezuma we headed to Santa Theresa, only about an hour away. It’s known to be a great beach to learn to surf. We found a cute place to stay called, Tropical Pasta, and we were the only guests there. The town is very nice and more beachy than Montezuma, not to mention the beach is more beautiful as well.
We rented surf boards, spent a great deal of time in the water, and managed to stand up a couple of times. Felt great! At night we’d walk around the small town, and even got treated to sushi one night. We also ate once at a very nice pastry place owned by a young Belgian.
Santa Theresa was a great place to meet, very peaceful, not to crowded, fun ambiance at the beach, great to have long walks, and definitely a place we’d like to go back to one day.

Nicaragua Part V - San Juan Del Sur

November 18th – November 19th,
San Juan del Sur:

Arriving in San Juan del Sur was exciting, because we had been invited by a friend of Daniella, Lucia, to stay at her families beach house. It’s about 3 hours from Managua, and many Nica’s go there for weekends. We found the house quite easily as everyone knows her family in the beach and were thrilled to stay in such a beautiful home. It was on the beach and had a fantastic infinity type pool. Thank you Lucia again for the sweet invitation, we were so happy at your place! We immediately noticed from a distance the Crist her father had built as a promise, which resembles a lot the Corcovado Crist in Rio de Janeiro. Everyone in the town knows and admires him.
Our Australian friends, Kate and Genevieve, came to San Juan with us, and stayed in the town. We caught up with them, had a nice lunch, and then enjoyed what we had left of the day to meet the village. That night, we hung out at the Iguana bar playing our favorite card game, trump.
Next morning, the girls brought us a delicious breakfast to the house, pancakes and bagels, which we ate by the pool. It was a great, relaxing day, enjoying the pool and beach. That night we celebrated Michael’s (Belgian) birthday with some of his other friends he has met during his trip, at a fun, live music bar. Too bad we couldn’t stay till the end, because we had to leave early the next morning to Costa Rica.

Nicaragua Part IV - Isla Ometepe

November 16th – November 17th,
Lake Ometepe:

The Australians and we had planned on meeting in Granada, as they had gone off to a lake for a few days, so that we could all travel together to Ometepe. What a long journey. We left Granada at 11:30am in what we thought would be a simple one hour bus drive, eventhough we were the last ones on the bus and standing. Poor Aubry and Kate couldn’t stand straight considering their height. Our bus driver kept stopping and opening the engine cover as smoke was all over the place. He would let it steam off and continue driving, but eventually it broke down, and we had to wait for the 12:30 bus. Once on the next bus, we made it to Rivas, and took a taxi to San Jorge, where the ferry departed from. We got onto the ferry and were impressed with the volcanos that laid majesticly in front of us. We were taking pictures like paparazzi’s, until the ferry was attacked by pirates who submerged with scuba tanks from the 7th biggest lake in the world. They took everything from us, including the golden front teeth from our Australian friends. Aubry couldn’t stop them with his muscles from Brussels.
We arrived to Ometepe in tears, but happy we were alive and not abducted by the pirates into their underground world. The girls smiled a toothless smile as we alighted the ferry. Haha, just kidding! We then ran into the first taxi driver’s arm. We drove first to Finca Magdalena, even though
Kate was hesitant with the guides description, and were totally disappointed. The rooms looked as if they were in an old barn, and we later found out that the place was riddled with bed bugs.
We finally found a nicer place in Porvenir, called Albergue Ecologico, and were thrilled with having private bathrooms. There we played cards and went to bed early, seeing that we had travelled from 11 am till 8pm. Next morning we got up early with Genevieve to climb the Madera, the second largest volcano on the island. Our guide obliged us to follow a quick pace which was probably for the best in order to avoid the heat. The mirador had a spectacular view of the island and both coastlines. FYI, this lake is the only fresh water place with sharks.
We then returned to the hotel satisfied with our workout and accomplishment, even though Kate wasn’t waiting for us as she had promised with oranges and refreshments. We decided to go to the near by town of Santo Domingo, which ended up being a good 3kms away, but that luckily had great food.
Ometepe is no doubt a wonder of this world, but its town still has to become more tourists friendly. After two days, we then decided to move on and go to San Juan Del Sur, a very nice beach town on the Pacific coast of Nicaragua which was only a few km far from the lake.

Nicaragua Part III - Granada

November 13th – November 15th,
Granada:

After the Manticas kindly drove us to Granada and showed us the town by car, they dropped us off at our hostel, El Esfinge. What a nice surprise of Marginna and Chepe to drive us all the way from Managua. The house of the hostel was nice, but not our room. It was way too hot in it and the mattress was very uncomfortable. But well, we are now used to these conditions. We were happy though to be in Granada, as it immediately struck us as an elegant colonial city. We met our Australian friends who had given us the address of the hostel. Our first night they introduced us to a Belgian, Mike, and a French guy, Brice and all of us went out for a beer. We directly liked this city and its people. Everybody compares Leon to Granada but in our opinion, there is no comparison to be made. Granada is definitely a must see in Nicaragua.
The next day, we walked around the town a lot and rented bikes to go along the lake. After hours of discovering the town and the lake surroundings we were tempted by a horse carriage ride. We were able to see many neighborhoods we hadn’t seen. At night we went the two of us to eat a good piece of meat that we were dying for. In fact, we don’t eat a lot of meat during this trip!
The next afternoon we went to visit the Isletas, which are about 300 or more islands that were formed from the eruption of the volcano Mombacho. These beautiful islands are mostly private and host to amazing mansions of wealthy Nicas are almost glued to Granada.
After having spent three nights and enjoyed the city very much it is now time to move on and explore what people always talk about, the Lake Nicaragua and its biggest island, Ometepe.

Nicaragua Part II - Managua - Masaya

November 10th – November 13th,
Managua – Masaya:

We arrived in Managua anxious to find the Mántica home. I was so thrilled to meet them, as they used to know my grandmother in Miami and I had played with their daughters as a little girl. Oddly enough, they live right next to the Brazilian embassy in a beautiful finca. We felt at home right away, and their daughter Daniella was there when we arrived, which I recognized right away, even after 15 years or so of not seeing them. It felt great to be in a home, with such a friendly family. They took us that night to a delicious pizzeria which their son had designed, and met up with their oldest daughter, Marginna and adorable little daughter, La Michelle. Daniella picked us up with her husband to take us to his flag football game. Aubry was in heaven, being the sports fanatic he is, and was cheering on the game along with the other spectators. We met their nice friends who gave us more tips on what to meet, and Jorge’s team won, of course, being the undefeated team of the league.
Next day, we started off by accompanying Marginna to the supermarket, which felt very nice considering that we don’t get to do these normal things anymore. We decided there that we’d prepare them that night a Belgian dish. For lunch they invited us to Rosti Pollo, which was delicious, and then Chepe (our super safari guide) and Dani (who had to change from her high heels to sneakers) took us to visit the Masaya Volcano, so impressive! You could see most of Managua from up there, out until the lake, stunning!

The volcano has a huge crater that expels lots of smoke mainly composed of sulfur. The pictures fit what we were able to admire. Then they drove us to another close by town called Masaya, which had a very nice market. Chepe continued the tour, and drove us around Managua, pointing out all the key parts. We would have never met the city so well if it wasn’t for all their time. That night, Dani and her husband met us at the house for dinner, where everyone enjoyed nice appertifs, and our Belgian meal, tomate farcis. I hope they liked it! We ended watching their wedding dvd which was great.
Next morning we took it easy and only went out after lunch. Chepe and Marginna took us to a magnificent mirador called Catarina, from where you can see the Apoyo Lake and Granada. The ride was fun, as they are so easy to talk to and have so many stories to share. That night, we all went to Daniella’s trendy restaurant, Savor, which is in la zona viva, and got to meet her brother Jose and gorgeous wife Isabella. Her food is simply the best! She ordered a bunch of samples of her dishes, which we absolutely adored!!! I begged her to open a restaurant in Brussels. Spending the night with the Mantica family was a blast.
As if they hadn’t given us enough attention, next morning I was taken to a salon to have my beauty treatments which I so much missed, accompanied by a massage that helped me recover from carrying all this load, hihihi…. Daniella picked me up with Aubry, and we accompanied her to do some of her restaurant shopping and errands.
Since all good things come to an end, we had our last family lunch back at the house before heading off to Granada. Thank you again to all the Mantica’s for making Managua one of our favorite stops on the way, as your pride and love for your country and family are contagious. We hope to host you all one day!

Nicaragua Part I - Potosi - Leon

November 9th – November 10th,
Potosi - Leon:

Getting to Leon was one of our longest trips. From La Union we took a fisherman boat (in which we had no idea what the cargo was made up of) to Potosi (in Nicaragua), where we had our passports stamped by a laid-back guy, who told us only about 15 people arrive through per month. The ride through the Golfo de Fonseca was beautiful, smooth water, with a view to El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua. Once in Potosi, we had to wait about 2 hours for a bus that would take us to Chinandega. It’s about 80 km’s from one town to another, but as our bus goes picking up people all along the way, it took 3 hours. In Chinandega, we jumped into a van that was headed towards Leon. By this point, I had already telephoned Marginna, a long-time friend of the family which we were going to visit in Managua, who advised us to stay in Leon, as it was dark and the road could be dangerous.
So we found a really charming place in Leon, called Casa Leonesa. We had dinner in a typical bar near the cathedral, and noticed right away that the city was a student one. Next morning, we dazed around and walked a good 3 hours, till the heat got to us. We were looking forward more than anything to get to Marginna and Chepe’s home.

El Salvador Part II - Lake Coatepeque - La Union

November 7th – November 9th:
Lake Coatepeque – La Union:

From San Salvador we took a public bus towards Santa Ana, as we wanted to visit the flower route. Unfortunately it was raining buckets so we thought it would be best to go straight to Lake Coatepeque. We got off a bit after Santa Ana, as we missed the stop, and went backwards to Coatepeque. The bus dropped us in the middle of the highway, where we had to walk up to the bridge El Congo. We had no idea how far the lake was, but after asking someone who told us it was only 3km away, we stopped a tuc tuc who agreed to take us for 4 dollars. As we didn’t have a hotel in mind, he took us to Rancho Alegre. The way there was very bouncy, as it was all downhill on a dirt road, and I don’t even know how we fit in the tuc tuc with our bags. The ranch was right in front of the lake which we liked, but our room was terrible. To say the least, there was no shower in the ranch, thank god though we had showered that morning in San Salvador. We went on a walk to meet the lake, and went into a nicer hotel which was booked due to a wedding that was taking place that night. We got to meet the bride while she was taking her photos, and she even invited us to their party, so sweet.
We did a tour around the lake, and saw some amazing houses, with beautiful gardens and all had like a little wooden house on top of the water where they keep their speed boats, jet skis and have adorable little chairs, tables. A lot of people have their weekend home there, and come from San Salvador for weekends or holidays. The lake is really gorgeous. There is a little island in the lake, where there is thermic water. We didn’t get there though, cause the guide wanted to charge us 50 dollars for it, a bit absurd.
Back at the hotel, we got to witness the departure of the bride in a little canoe with her dad, as they were heading towards the floating bar in the middle of lake, where all her guests were waiting. She got married on top of the lake, super cool. It’s the first time to happen. We spent the night down at the bar of the ranch, as we couldn’t move in our room and the music was loud. It was one of our worse nights, cause it rained so strong and we felt like our roof was going to fly away. We had drops on our sleeping bags, so we covered them with our raincoats.
Next morning, we woke up at 6, and took the first bus back to the bridge, to go to San Salvador. We found out then, that Saturday had been the day that Ida attacked El Salvador. Thank god nothing happened to us. At the station in the capital, some people were weary that no buses would go towards La Union, where we were headed, but they did go. We had a pretty scary drive. The roads were covered with dirt, fallen trees, and we saw many houses ruined. Very sad! That’s when you notice how lucky you are to always have a nice, warm shelter.

At La Union we went to the port to see if there were any boats going to Nicaragua. A guy offered to take us the next day in his lancha (fisherman’s boat), given that the weather conditions would be alright. We were lucky though, cause the ferry we were counting on doesn’t exist anymore, and we were so close to having to go back to San Salvador to take a bus to our next country. So we went to a nice hotel called Comfort Inn and enjoyed their facilities, like TV and washing machines, hihihi.

El Salvador Part I - El Tunco - San Salvador

November 4th – November 6th:
El Tunco- San Salvador:

As the Australian girls were going straight to El Salvador from Antigua, we decided to do the same, as the weather forecast in Guatemala was for rain another 48 hours. So we left early that morning at 8, just the two of us in a shuttle. It’s always exciting when we are going towards a new country, especially because we hadn’t planned on meeting El Salvador.
At the border, we didn’t even have to get out of the car, as there is apparently a good understanding between Guatemala and the latter, and thus no entry fee either to pay. We were so hot in the van when we stopped at the border, that we took off our shoes and changed in the bathroom into shorts.
The drive into El Salvador was beautiful. Very green, excellent roads, and a view to the pacific waters all the way. Only bad part was being stopped by the highway patrol for no reason. They kept insisting that our driver needed a document from the border, but of course there isn’t a document. They took him to the front of the car, so we couldn’t see what was happening, and back inside he told us they just wanted money. It was only 5 dollars, but we felt really bad for him. He hadn’t done anything wrong and kept apologizing to us that the police had stopped us etc. Was very aggravating to see that the cops just took advantage of the situation and were so corrupt.
Anyways, we got to El Tunco, and our driver knew in which hostel the Australian girls had been dropped. We arrived in this surf village without any money in our wallet thinking that there would be an ATM. It was a really laidback place, only surfing shops, a few hostels and restaurants. We then asked the driver to go to the next town to find some cash. Life there is very simple and calm. Everything closes around 9 o’clock. We stayed at the same hostel that our Australian friends and their two New Zealand buddies. Our first night was very calm; we taught the girls how to play poker and then went to bed.
The day after, I woke up to go surfing. El Tunco is well known for its huge waves but at this time of year they are smaller. I spent some good hours in the water that day practicing to stand up. I succeeded four times, not too bad for a first day! As the rain was getting stronger and stronger, we decided to leave the day after, not before a last round of pocker with some Brazilians and the Auzzies.
On Friday we then left to San Salvador as it was time for us to go meet some other parts of the country. It was only an hour away from Tunco, and we went in a public bus. Our goal was to reach lake Coatepeque, with a pit stop in the capital. It’s the biggest city we’ve seen in the country, with a lot of American influence, especially as the currency is the dollar. We arrived amid heavy rain, and as it wouldn’t stop, we therefore took the opportunity to go to the close by metro centro and watch “This Is It”, the Michael Jackson’s documentary. We loved it. It was a relaxing day, but we didn’t get to see much of the city due to the storm, Ida. At least we are all ready to pack and go to our next destination.

Guatemala Part VI - Antigua

November 2nd – November 3rd
Antigua:

We got to Antigua a day after All Saints. On our shuttle from Atitlan to the old capital, we met a really nice girl from Venezuela, called Evelyn, who was doing community service as a piano teacher in a local school. We exchanged emails and planned to go out the next night for dinner. It was great meeting her during the ride, as we chatted the whole time and didn’t even notice all the traffic and long journey.
Back at our hostel Mochileros Internacional, we checked our emails and saw that our Australian friends, Kate and Genevieve were staying literally across from us, so we went to call them to see if they wanted to have dinner together. Maya and Chiqui, were at Guatemala City so they couldn’t join us, but we went to their restaurant anyways as we had loved it. The girls really liked it, and it felt like seeing old friends again, even if we only knew them for a week. It’s all laughs and good times with them, so I really hope we can stay in touch. At the restaurant, a waitress came to our table to tell me I had a call, I thought those scenes only happened in movies, hihih, I felt so important. It was Maya calling to check if we would stay late for them to pass by, and I told her how I loved the fact that she had called like that.
On Tuesday, we woke up pretty early to send our damp clothes to the laundry right in front of our hostel. We then found a cute café to connect and send emails. We had planned a lunch with Maya and Chique at her parents restaurant, Fonda de La Calle Real. It was super good. She even brought us her mom’s homemade fiambre, that they only make for all Saints Day. She then chose a few things we had to try from the menu, and our lunch ended up being a feast. They even invited us, so sweet.
Aubry and I then went shopping for a pair of havaianas, as he had lost his, then went up to el Cerro de la Cruz in a tuc-tuc, where you’ll see in our pictures an amazing view of Antigua. Just before sunset, we went to the Sky bar and met a fun group of photographers who were participating in a week long workshop, and gave Aubry good tips for his camera. We then had to race back to our hostel to pick up our laundry and get ready for that night.
Ended up being a really cool night, as we went to Monoloco with Evelyn, Maya, Chiqui and then Hadrien met up with us. Our last moments in Antigua made us feel at home. We already knew how to get around the city and its quaint streets are very charming. It’s a great place to come and take Spanish lessons. The set-up is perfect and there are so many trips you can do on weekends.

Guatemala Part V - Lake Atitlan - Chichicastenango

October 30th – November 2nd
Lago Atitlan – Chichicastenango:

Lake Atitlan is right in front of us, while we have a tasty soup as the day gets colder, here in hotel Isla Verde. The weather here hasn’t been the best, but the scenery is stunning. We were told that this lake was one of the greatest places to visit in Guatemala, and indeed, it is. We arrived at this hotel thanks to the recommendation of Maya and Chique, our friends from Antigua. We trusted their words as they run a beautiful hotel in Antigua. We were happily surprised by the place, which describes itself as an “eco-chi hotel”. Maria has now gotten used to sleeping in rooms with spiders and taking showers in public bathrooms, which can mean running to the room after a bath amidst a tropical storm.
Sadly enough, Lake Atitlan is suffering from a disease. A bacteria, due to incorrect use of pesticides and a fish called Black Bus that was introduced to the lake 30 years ago, has attacked the lake. As a result nobody can swim or even fish and the lake lost its blue appearance for a brownish color.
On our first day, we went around the lake to see San Pedro and Santiago. Unfortunately, a rain storm got us while we were reaching Santiago. Unprepared, we had to buy a Guatemalan cover as we were freezing in the boats going from one place to the other. People say that such kind of weather, beautiful and hot in the morning and stormy and rainy in the afternoon, is unusual. Well, our three days here have been this way and we are glad to have brought warm and waterproof jackets.
On Sunday 1st, we headed to Chichicastenango via a mini van. It took us only an hour to reach this little town somehow anodyne. Thursday’s and Sunday’s are the market day which Chichi makes a living on. It is very popular and marvelous. It is a mix of wonderful colors and an array of art crafts. We planned to come this day to take part of the All Saints ceremony. What a good surprise we had! The whole city was around the center watching the celebration of the saints and dancing. Firecrackers flew from every side! I was happy to take so many pictures that you may have a look at.
On the way back, we had another rain storm and the electricity was down in our room as the power is generated by solar energy, and they just had to switch on the other system. We had dinner in the company of a very friendly Spanish couple on their honeymoon, Maite and Manuel, and then watched “Le Diner de Cons” on our laptop in bed. It reminded us of cold and rainy days of Belgium. Tomorrow we are off to Antigua before we go onto Monterrico.

Guatemala Part IV - Antigua - Volcan Pacaya

October 28th – 30th
Antigua – Volcano Pacaya:

Everyone we have met during the trip kept speaking about how beautiful Antigua is and how we wouldn’t be disappointed. We arrived at night time and the guy who brought us from Guatemala City offered to drop us off at a Hostel called Internacional Mochileros that he recommended. Not bad, private room with shared bathroom for only 100 Quetzales, so like less than 10 Euros a night.
We called Aubry’s cousin, Hadrien,who is living in Antigua. We met him at the main park of the city and were already happy to walk around the adorable streets, even though it was raining and colder than anywhere else we’ve been on this trip thus far. He took us to a really good restaurant, La Esquina, where he told us about his Spanish lessons, work and life in Antigua. It was nice to see him so happy and well adapted.
Next morning we woke up and visited the town a bit more. Aubry was happy taking all his pictures and that we had booked a tour to the Pacaya Volcan for 2 o’clock. We met the group in front of our hotel that would be doing the hike with us, and we all headed towards the Volcano in a mini-van. A nice guide at Pacaya, called Arturo, named our group Tucanes, and we were instructed to stay together the whole time. What an uphill, my god! It was impossible to run off and try to get ahead. My legs were killing me, and blisters were forming on my feet as we went up. However, the view got nicer and nicer, and pushed us to keep going.

We got to this part where the uphill was no longer normal dirt, it was like lava sand, and your feet would sink in. We were so close to the volcano, and could already see the lava coming down, and feel the heat increasing. The climb was rough and you had to be careful not to step on hot rocks. Once we got close to the lava it was incredible. It was like opening a hot oven and having all that cloud of heat coming out. I kept giving my occasional shouts, “Ai, que miedo” while others in our group were literally cooking marshmallows and doing crazy poses for pictures.
Walking down was another adventure, as it was getting dark and we couldn’t see where we were stepping. We got back to the hotel exhausted, and I passed out at 9:30 without dinner.
Next day we walked around Antigua again, and went to visit a couple from Antigua we had met in Semuc Champey, Maya and Chique. Their family runs a hotel and very good restaurants in the city, and they took us to eat at one of them. It was delicious! We ran back to the hotel and caught the van to Panajachel in Lake Atitlan.