Toasting Marshmallows on a Volcano

Whilst we could have spent several days just wandering the streets of beautiful Antigua (see here) we thought it about time we climbed atop one of the other local landmarks - a real active volcano! Central America is home to an arc of 1500km consisting of a series of volcanoes; some dormant, some extinct, some smoking and some spewing.

So whilst we've been lucky enough to climb one or two in NZ we were excited about scaling the dizzy heights of Pacaya - one of the most active of Guatemala's volcanic field, and the first of what's likely to be a few on this trip.

We decided to do the guided hike in the afternoon - with evening light promising to be beautiful from the top. Here's a few shots of a great afternoon!

Views about halfway up - a crater lake (not quite the size of Taupo!)

More views from halfway - checking out the
other volcanoes and a town in the valley

The big one and the little one
(with the even bigger one in the background)

We were followed on our hike by a couple of
the local strays - reminders of India again!

A very handsome husband, trying not
to melt his feet on the hot rocks beneath...

...As they really are hot enough to toast marshmallows!

Matt found the perfect hot hole

Looking out to the beauty of Guatemala

Magic!

'This is how much fun I'm having!'

A break in the clouds

Moody skies

Trooping back down - pretty dusty!

The next day it was time to depart from Antigua - our new fave place. Just enough time for a visit to some more ruins and a delicious local lunch before catching a shuttle to Lago de Atitlan...

The biggest fountain in Guatemala, apparently

Volcanoes and architecture together = Guatemala in a nutshell

We loved those cobbled streets

The central park at lunchtime -
people watching a plenty!

Antics in Antigua

After a great time staying in Flores and visiting the amazing Tikal, it was time to head South on a 10 hour coach trip to the Guatemalan Capital City, appropriately named Guatemala City. The thrill of a 5am wake up call, and the wait for the bus to appear, was made a bit easier by watching the sun slowly rise and the moon slowly fade away into the daylight...

Flores Sunrise

This coach was a lot better than the chicken buses in Belize, not sure my bum could take 10 hours on one of those bone shakers!

Relaxing in comfort

Arriving in Guatemala City (not the safest of places sadly), it was a quick hop-foot from the bus to a shuttle to whistle us away to Antigua, a Spanish word referring to the fact that this is the old capital city before numerous earthquakes meant they gave up and relocated. What's left behind is a town that's a bit stuck in the past - full of lovely cobbled streets, ruins next door to towering churches and great little markets. Arriving late, we headed straight to bed and then started our day with the chance to appear in the hostel's new promotional video and photos - here's the crew setting themselves up for filming us eating. An odd way to start the day.

Lights, camera, action!

So, with the amazing sunrise the day before and speaking to the film crew about photography - I thought it best to dust off the photography skills and try and capture this amazing town. Here are a few of my efforts...

Ruins

¿Como es das? Very well, fangs for asking.

Carnival masks

Craftwork everywhere

The town centre and old government buildings

The cathedral ruins

A good place to hang your washing

More ants. Can't get enough of the ants!

Why paint the sky, when you can...

The Crypts

Spirits in the sky

The Spanish Consulate - one of the coolest buildings in town

Corridors. Fact.

Piñatas for sale

The cobbled streets

The order of the holy cross

Ash Wednesday offerings

Fun and flowers

Stunning Tikal

Welcome to Guatemala, blogettes! We have been here over a week now and are loving it. In fact we've been so busy exploring that we've got a teensy bit behind on the blogging... No matter, today is a designated lazing about day (we may have had a few too many happy hour 10Q (80p) mojitos last night) so perfect timing to catch up with you all on what we've been up to!

Our first stop in Guatemala after a rather bizarre border crossing from Belize was the town of Flores - an island in the middle of Lago de Peten Itza, connected to the 'mainland' workaday town of Santa Elena by a causeway. Our first tuk tuk ride of the trip dropped us at our lakeside hotel before lunch so to kill some time before check-in we had a little explore.

Well, before exploring we had a little pause over a cuppa

Every few years the high water mark encroaches
somewhat on the island's lakeside walkway - a real shame 

Back in the land of tuk tuks - happy memories of honeymoon part 1

The main reason for staying in Flores - apart from a lovely place to mooch about in - was its proximity to Tikal - the mother of all mayan ruins, located about 1 hour away by minibus. The city of Tikal was constructed progressively over the course of 800 years, reaching the peak of its importance around 700AD. No-one's really sure why the importance of the city eventually waned but it wasn't until the 19th Century that it was rediscovered, deep in the Guatemalan jungle.

Anyway, history lesson over, we had heard such great things about the place that we felt the need to book onto the 4.30am minibus to ensure we were at the gates for opening time at 6am! It was definitely worth it as we pretty much had the vast site to ourselves for a wee while, although it never really got busy.

The Gran Plaza - at approximately 6.30am

Morning light behind Templo I - a beautiful sight

The place really was magical with temple after temple, interspersed by palaces, ball courts and other architectural wonders sprinkled about dense jungle lush with wildlife including toucans, snakes and howler monkeys (an unnerving sound when heard from some remote corner of the site with no-one else around...!)

A very little-looking Matt in awe of Templo V

Strange to think of the feet that will
have trodden on these steps centuries ago

Back to Templo I

Modern day antics!

A lovely spot for a break - or at least until we
were told by a guide that we weren't allowed to sit there. Ooops

Imposing

Templo II located opposite I on the Gran Plaza

It was a day of contrasts as the other thing that wowed us about the site were the ants. Yes - as silly as it sounds we spent a fair amount of time watching ants go about the impressive work of transporting bits of leaves huge distances (or at least in ant terms) around the jungle.

Ants carrying leaves - mesmerising, really!

We eventually found the nest after
following the superhighway for a while

Don't worry, Matt didn't climb in the nest - this was
an underground cave system which Matt explored.
I demurred on account of the possibility of snakes! 

By about 11am (five hours into our visit) we were beginning to flag but after mulitple breaks atop various ruins we soldiered on to the more remote parts of the site. Some of the ruins have been restored/fully uncovered whilst others are just a mound with a few stones visible through the trees.

Typical combination of ruin and nature 

Mother Nature is the queen of Tikal now

More of Tikal's current residents

The highlights of the day were probably the two occasions we climbed to the top of Templo IV which provides a stunning view of the jungle with Templos I, II and III poking above the canopy.

One of those views we'll always remember

Before we knew it, it was time to head back for our 3pm return mini bus. Just time for one last shot of the big boy...

Tikal = TICK!

On our return to Flores we were treated to a beautiful sunset from the rooftop terrace of our hotel, and some well earned feet-up time. Recharging the batteries for the impending 10 hour bus journey to our next stop - Antigua!

Stunning

Peace and tranquility