Zach's Tracks

Day 1 - Arrival in Guatemala

Saturday, 28 March 2009 03:22 Zach

The trip has gotten off to an unexpected start. Seems Continental overbooked our flight, so they made us move to First Class for the Detroit to Houston part of the trip. It's a rough journey, let me tell you. I have plenty of leg room, comfortable seats, and I got a hot towel. I don't even know what to do with a hot towel, but I've got one. Score.

After a relatively easy passage through customs, we were transported from Guatemala City to a city on the Southern border called Puerto San Jose. The hotel, Soleil Pacifico, is the one I originally thought was in Antigua, but I was wrong. We won't be in Antigua until Monday night. Sadly, I won't be able to post this until then because the Hotel Pacifico wants to charge $7 a night for Internet. Maybe later in the week when I have more to post.

Day 2 - Nature reserve

Sunday, 29 March 2009 03:36 Zach

I started the morning out walking along the beach and watching the waves. It's the first time I've seen the Pacific Ocean. I remember summers when I was young, my mom and I would go to the beach regularly in the summertime. I haven't thought about those memories in years.

The waves on Michigan beaches can be dangerous in spots, but they don't even begin to compare to the beach here. The ocean's waves are massive. Parents won't let small children swim in the ocean because it would be far too easy for the rip tide to pull them out. Even adults won't go very far into the ocean. I stood pretty far out and several times the water came in so high that my shorts got wet, then went back out just as quickly. There's a huge drop off at the edge of the beach because of erosion.

Day 4 - The most insane thing I've ever done

Tuesday, 31 March 2009 12:06 Zach

Aside from the whole vacation being one big adventure, this was the first day we went on a real adventure.

We started off the day exploring Antigua. We left our hotel and spent several hours wandering the streets, staying mostly concentrated around Central Park. Central Park is in the center of the city and it was beautiful. There are a lot of shops that run along two of the streets surrounding Central Park; the other two streets had massive churches on them.

Day 3 - Arriving in Antigua

Monday, 30 March 2009 04:39 Zach

I started the day by swimming in the ocean. Several Times. I let the waves hit me and push me towards the shore, then let the undertow pull me back into the ocean. Every time I got hit by a wave that went over my head, I had to go back to shore and wipe the salt water out of my eyes.

I took lots of pictures and even a video of waves hitting me. Last December, I bought I waterproof pouch for my camera and being able to take it into the ocean today made it worth it. I wasn't able to get any underwater pictures worth posting because it was too frothy, but the pictures I got of waves about to hit me were fun to take.

Day 5 - Lake Atitlan

Wednesday, 01 April 2009 17:01 Zach

All three of us were a bit draggy this morning, but eventually we made it out of the hotel. Our first order of business was to walk a few blocks to the nearest GuatEx office to see how much it would cost to ship our fragile souvenirs. They wanted to charge us $200, which was more than we paid for all of that stuff put together, so they get wrapped in sweatshirts and we hope for the best.

One of the flaws in our master plan is that we have to bring all of our luggage with us to Flores, then back to Guatemala City. The only other option was to pay an extra night at the Antigua Hotel just so we could leave our crap there. We collectively decided it wasn't worth it.

More Articles...

«
Start
Prev
1
2
Next
End
»

Page 1 of 2

Zach's Tracks

Day 1 - Arrival in Guatemala

Day 2 - Nature reserve

Day 4 - The most insane thing I've ever done

Day 3 - Arriving in Antigua

Day 5 - Lake Atitlan

Login

Photo Gallery