Guatemala
September 2006
Travels through Guatemala heading south
Crossing the border from Mexico into Guatemala was a major milestone for us. We spent just under 6 months in mainland Mexico exploring the coast, interior and the southern mountains. The border formalities were really quite easy on the Pan American route near Comitan de Domiguez. The Mexican side of the border was very formal and high tech while the Guatemalan side was typical of Guatemala, basic but full of smiles and nice folks. When we pulled away from the border we realized that we had crossed not only a political boundary but a geographic line and that we were now truly in another land. The steep hills and mountains, lush jungles, colorful busses and Mayan names marked the clear difference between Mexico and Central America.
We found the roads to be excellent and were surprised at how well marked everything was and that there were Texaco and Shell gas stations. The scenery was beautiful as we drove from the border all the way to Solola, Panajachel and the Lago Atitlan area. When we first saw the two volcanos backdropped behind Lago Atitlan our mouths dropped and we looked at each other in amazement. We found a place to camp and settled in pretty quickly. Our first couple days were spent walking around, adapting to the new culture and finding a place to take Spanish classes. We picked Jabel Tinamit for their reputation locally, facilities and all around good vibes. We spent the next 2 weeks intensely studying Spanish one on one with our own teachers. We were able to rent a cell phone through the school and used it to catch up with family. We broke our studies up so that we had weekends off and a mid week break so that we could explore the surrounding area.
One of the major highlights was riding the "chicken bus" to Chichicastenango, Xela (Quetzaltenango) and riding across lake Atitlan. The whole hot rod chicken bus Feeling the need to smell the ocean, we took a little side trip to the Guatemalan coastal town of Sipacate where Eric scored some waves and we found a beautiful secluded spot to camp on the beach. We met a nice couple who needed someone to housesit for a couple days so we had the luxury of staying in a house in Panajachel for a few nights after returning from the coast.
Knowing that we would be passing through Guatemala again on our route north from Panama we decided to hit the road toward Honduras. We drove through Guatemala City on Guatemala’s independence day, not recommended, camped at a gas station on the side of the road and woke up to make the final push toward the Honduran border. Guatemala was great and we left with a feel for Central America, improved Spanish skills and loads of good memories.