We had arrived at the "Jungle Lodge" in Tikal the previous night after a day of buses from Semuc Champey. Lots of tourists stop and change over near a town called Flores but we'd decided to mission on and stay in the park itself. This way we could be up first thing in the morning to explore before the tour buses arrived. And that we did. We dressed for the jungle - long sleeved tops, mosquito repellent and rain jackets and met our guide (who we'd arranged the nig...

Day 1: Reaching Semuc It was time for us to leave Antigua and head to Semuc Champey, a rural area with famous blue limestone pools and cave systems. We piled into our shuttle minibus which would be our home for the next 6-8hrs or so. Unfortunately we spent the first hour of our trip circling the bumpy cobbled roads of Antigua picking up other travellers from their hostels. But finally, we were on our way... that is until Guatemala city. Our driver informed us th...

Ok, so this is worth writing straight away. To set the scene, We are on a shuttle from Antigua to Linquin through guatemala city. We got onto the shuttle as they pick everyone up from their different hostels. They don't do this in an order, just at random and we circled Antigua city a few times. We left at 9:30 instead of 8 as they wait for people or nothing, you're never really sure. We get into Guatemala city and pick up 2 more people. The slide chairs into the...

Volcan Pacaya The only possible time to get up this volcano in our small time was new years day in the afternoon. The 4km was easier than San Pedro but very different. An active volcano with a huge amount of pumice, like walking uphill on sand. 100Q for a horse ride up the volcano till near the top which is tempting. Sarah missed out on riding in and around San Pedro so for 100Q, this was cheep and fun. Really wasn't ready for that type of climb in the heat of t...

Antigua We had most of 3 days, but we know why people stay longer, why people get lost here. There is so much to do and the place looks amazing. I can't think of anyone reading this that would not feel the same. We went to markets, shops both local and foreign, photo studios churches and ruins. We checked out bars and restaurants, lookouts and rooftops and took photos of locals, animals and buildings. The buildings have bright colours, characters and history; m...