Ok! Today was decision time... We got up early to catch our shuttle to Antigua... Luckily we were all on the same shuttle so we could make a call... Initially, Barbs and them were hoping to make it to Guatemala City in time to catch the 2pm bus to Nicaragua - this is the next country to logically visit while on the way to Panama and everyone says its incredible! Unfortunately, Guatemalan shuttle services are very unreliable and we only left at 8am (due to leave at 7:30am), we honesty stopped what felt like a million times to pick people up, stopped for a bathroom break, and only got to Antigua (about 1 hour away from Guatemala City) at around 1pm... Their plan A couldn't work anymore. (Note the bus ride was a joke- see photos for images of how we would just gun it down one-lane roads down steep mountains, hooting when approaching corners to warn people of our presence, and really throwing little caution to the wind!! Thankfully no dogs or humans were hurt in the journey...)

So we got to Antigua and we decided to put our brains together and come up with the best plan that would fit out budget and maximize our time and value!! I had heard of a place called El Hostale as a spot to stay so we got dropped off nearish to there.. Unfortunately I still had to drag my ridiculous suitcase (much to the entertainment of the new gang) along cobbled streets (Antigua only has cobbled streets) for a good kilometer I reckon... Anyways! Good for a laugh :) Naturally El Hostal was full but luckily just across the street was another hostel which could fit us all into a dorm (benefits of traveling in 6 starting to show)... Again, big ups to the hostel world in Central America! Clean and huge value for money!!

We then decided to take a limited amount of time to come up with a plan that would put us back on track... I had decided that if we came up with a plan that got me to Panama with the others while not traveling every single day to get there, I would join them. I absolutely love Antigua and am desperate to stay and live with a host family and learn Spanish, but have decided I will come back one day for at least a month and do this.. So! Laptops, I-pads and phones connected to s***ty wifi and we were off researching! Finally, the decision was made to very unfortunately skip Nicaragua... We will fly to Costa Rica (thus skipping 2 countries and making the cost of the air ticket worthwhile) and spend 2/3 solid days there, and then continue bussing our way to Panama City, whilst spending time in other spots in Panama on the way (makes sense if you look at a map!)... Everyone was on board with the plan - so we booked our flights, I took the spare boat ticket available for the ride from Panama to Colombia on 30 May, Sarah got one too, I booked a cheap flight to JFK from Colombia on 7 June (same as my friend Robyn) and managed to use a credit I still had available to me because of the cancelled flights to Washington during Nemo blizzard, and all was well with the universe again! Now time to explore Antigua!!

We set off walking in this exquisite town... Honestly we could be in Europe! It is so beautiful... Only has cobbled streets and gorgeous buildings all different colours and with such character! The vibe is just amazing and I can truely see myself spending a solid amount of time here one day... We walked passed a chocolate shop on the way to the "Parque Centrale"... We of course had to stop here and ended up signing up for a chocolate making course at 4pm that afternoon:) So we continued walking around, got some sandwiches for lunch, met some locals and just got a good feel of this gorgeous place! We then went back to the chocolate shop and started our lesson :) This involved getting a brief and informative history of chocolate and it's development over the years, and we got involved in the process of roasting the cacao, blending it etc etc... Our guide was very entertaining and we laughed a lot... I of course spilt some of the hot chocolate everywhere- once again providing much entertainment in the group! ;) We got to make our own tray of chocolates and fill them with all sorts of toppings and goodies... :) Such fun! And so delicious!!! We just took a moment at one stage and realized we were making chocolate in Antigua... Wow!

After sufficiently stuffing our faces and getting sugar highs of note, we set off home to shower and freshen up for an evening on the town... We had booked a coffee tour for the morning before our flight tomorrow and life was looking up again :)

We set about walking to this restaurant we had found on our days' walking and ended up having a really fun, relaxed dinner the 6 of us! We popped into a spot to dance a little bit on the way home and then we called it a day... Such a good good day!! :)

Lesson of the day: A sleeping bag is essential in San Pedro!! (Poor Vicks woke up with a ton of bites... Terrible!!)

Moment of the day: Setting out to walk in the amazing town of Antigua:)