Guatemala has earned quite a reputation for itself as a destination for learning Spanish. The main advantages of studying in Guatemala include the fact that the accent here is pretty soft and easy to understand, unlike e.g Argentina with all their jajajas. The quality of the teaching is also high with most teachers having to obtain a diploma in English teaching. The classes are usually on a one to one basis, which means you can tailor them to meet your specific n...

Antigua really has quite a good culinary scene with a number of high quality international restaurants, refreshingly owned & run by both locals & ex pats. What it is however somewhat lacking in is restaurants serving good quality Guatemalan food. However given that it is such a tourist town, and tourists love to taste the typical dishes of the places they visit (well I do at least.) I think this is a definite gap in the market- restaurateurs take note! ...

Antigua has been the highlight of my trip to date, for so many reasons. First and foremost it is a stunningly beautiful UNESCO protected city. It's very manageable size makes it easy to get around (although of course I still got completely lost on many occasions). Its cobblestoned streets are filled with gorgeous perfectly restored colonial buildings. And behind each of these huge wooden doors lie some new gem to discover; cafes & restaurants set in beautifu...

Lanquin is a little village about 2.5 hours from Coban in Central Guatemala (the last 5km of which are down a pretty treacherous road/track) and it is beautiful. The two main lodges to choose from are Zepher and El Retiro. We opted for the latter which has a range of gorgeous wood cabins and dormitories set in lush gardens along a river. We ended up getting a little too comfortable swinging in the hammocks there and spent five nights there. The first few days we ...

So I arrived in the jungle of El Panchan in the dark so I thought I'd leave the same way, opting for a 6am minibus to start the journey to Flores in Guatemala. Feels very weird sitting in a designated spot in the dark in the jungle waiting…. The words 'sitting' & 'duck' sprang to mind a few times in the eerie silence interspersed with animal noises and not a one legged man in sight to help me out this time. Eventually my knight on his white horse showed up...