Ahhhhh….having completed our rendez vous with my brother, our travel schedule has eased considerably. Gone are the days of 150-200 mile drives.



On our last day in Antigua we said goodbye to Earth Lodge, made the long walk out one more time and connected with some friends Mike made when he was in Guatemala in April. We spent the day with Rosa y Daniel enjoying the city, eating and taking in the sights.

Mike and Chettie Making the Long Walk Out of Earth Lodge

They invited us to stay with them in Guatemala City, and although Guate City wasn’t on our itinerary, we so enjoyed their company we decided to head that way.

Our Westy in Guatemala City

We followed them into the city and spent the whole next day exploring the city, touring the National Palace and National Cathedral. It was a Sunday and the city was abuzz with people from across Guatemala who come to Parque Central to eat and listen to music for the day.

Mike Rosa and Daniel in front of the National Palace

As with our time with my sister-in-law Patty, there is no better way to see a place than with locals. We got a glimpse into Rosa y Daniel’s lives in Guate and met some of their friends, including Salvador who cooked breakfast for us, gave us helpful information about the border crossing with El Salvador and guided us to the road out of the city when it came time to leave.
We went to Monte Rico on the coast as a way-stop before our next border crossing and we spent one final night in Guatemala at Erhco Park, just outside of Chiquimulilla (which is a really fun word to say).


Into El Salvador we came. The border crossing was a bit of controlled chaos combined with confusion but Mike’s patience served us well and we were proud we didn’t pay one of the tramitadores who will help you cross the border for a fee.

Our first stop was Parque Nacional El Imposible—the largest of 4 national parks in the country. It was a near-perfect spot for our first few nights, and we shared the park only with the guides and rangers.

I hiked to the top of Cerro Leon with Rosa, one of the local guides. Hiking with a guide is required and for me it was a great way to practice my Spanish as she spoke no English. We both shared a love of nature and some things do not need words. The only downside is that dogs are not allowed on the trails, so Mike and Chet hung out in camp while I hiked.

The park is so named for a deep gorge in which many people died while bringing their coffee from the farms to the markets. Eventually a bridge was build and the trip was declared no longer ‘impossible’.


From there we decided to dip our toes in the ocean, and off to Los Cobanos we went. This is an area known for its beautiful beach, but no surf. The water is strewn with big rocks, deposited during a long-ago volcano. It was great for swimming and all three of us enjoyed a day at the beach. We camped at a small hotel on the beach.


And then I had a little mishap. We went to a roadside restaurant for dinner just a couple of blocks from our camp spot. After ordering I decided to go back to the van for some bug juice as the mosquitoes were getting ready for dinner, too. I came face to face with a small pack of dogs defending there territory and when I turned to retreat, one of them bit me. Twice. Hard.

It was scary in addition to painful. The locals were all very concerned and I got the feeling that dogs are a bit of a problem in Los Cobanos. Wish I’d been warned in advance, but alas. If I wasn’t so shy, I’d post pictures of the black and blues on the back of my upper thighs as they are pretty impressive, but that being my least favorite body part, you’ll have to use your imaginations.


We retreated to Juayua, a small town in the mountains where we knew of a Coffee Finca (farm) we could camp at and where there is also a health clinic at which I could get the rabies vaccine. Gabby and Julio, the finca owners, couldn’t be nicer and we have settled in for a few days.

Before leaving Colorado, I was referring to this journey as a Discovery Tour. Part self-discovery and part curious traveler, we knew we’d learn things previously unknown about ourselves and other countries.

One thing we have discovered is that we prefer the cool, high-country to the sweltering coastal areas. While I love the ocean, the climate at altitude suits us better. Chettie loves the waves, but even she seems taxed when we are in the intense heat. Remember, we are sleeping in our van….no air conditioned hotel rooms for us.

And so, we have used Finca Puertezuelo as our head-quarters as we explore the western highlands of the country. This also allows me to return to the clinic for follow-up shots. Chettie is happy here as she can run and roam free. There are thermal waters on the property and we’ll hike to them later in the week. We’ll hike to Los Chorros, an underground river that exits out of many cracks in several cliff walls. Again, a good activity for all three of us.

Another thing we’ve discovered is that kids love the van. Adults are interested, and generally nod with either an ‘I could to do that’ or an ‘I’d never do that’ look, but kids are fascinated. It has everything their home has, only in miniature; it seems the perfect play house.

Sofia, Gabby and Julio’s daughter, was no exception. She is six years old, smart and curious. She instantly made herself at home and had the most interesting questions and observations about our ‘carro casa’. After taking inventory and inspecting every nook and corner, she proceeded to give me a paper towel when I sniffled and got the scissors for Mike when he asked, washed her hands in the sink, and climbed up to the top bed over and over again. She taught me that ‘bunk beds’ are ‘camarotes’ and informed us that we needed an ‘escalara’ (ladder/stairs) to get up to the top bunk.

Rosa y Daniel in Parque Central

Daniel Rosa y Mike above Guate City

Rosa y Trish After the Hike up Cerro Leon

The Impossible Gorge (Notch along ridge top)

Sofia in our Carro Casa

Funny thing is that Mike and I are just as just as intrigued with how our little home was designed. We imagine the engineers who worked on the many proto-types, grateful for their clever innovations. In many ways they were ahead of their time. Some day when I have way too much time on my hands and reliable access to a speedy internet connection, I’ll treat you all to a tour of our home via a ‘van-cam’. I bet you can’t wait.

Antigua Guatemala

Every day we have encounters and experiences that make us smile, confuse us or enlighten us and we say, ‘That would make a great blog’. But maybe we don’t have time or maybe we don’t have an internet connection or maybe we don’t have the motivation at the end of the day. The next day there are new encounters and experiences. Eventually these encounters and experiences sum up to form an overall impression of a place.



Guatemala is a beautiful country with many nice people. Though we know there are crime problems we have not been bothered in anyway. The local people are dismayed by the crime and, of course, don’t want that to be our impression of their country.


Here is a (very) brief overview of our time in Guatemala so far:


We crossed the border with no issues on December 28, 2009 at La Mesilla. We stayed one night on a private farm in the western highlands and then headed to Antigua to meet my brother and his family.

John, Patty, Mike, Miguel and Trish

Patty's Grandmother, Patty, John, Patty's Brother Eswardo and his wife

Trish, Miguel and John

We spent nearly a week in Antigua with my brother and his family. Seeing them and having a personal tour guide was a great change of pace from our previous travel schedule. Camping opportunities in and around Antigua are not great and we eventually checked into their hotel. We actually missed our van, which has become our home.

One of our goals for this trip is to improve our Spanish skills and we intended to study at one of the many schools in Antigua. Patty, my sister-in-law tried to no avail to help us find adequate housing for the week we’d be in school. Feeling the school thing in Antigua was not meant to be we headed north toward Coban with the intention of studying there.

Again our plan was thwarted when the schools here did not meet our criteria. We spent several days in what is known as Alto Verapez with the highlight being a trip to Samuc Champey.

Trish at Pedro's Farm

Samuc Champey is a place that is difficult to describe and though I had read about it in several guide books I could not begin to imagine the uniqueness of the place. Here the raging Rio Cahoban plunges underground and is covered by a 300 meter natural limestone ‘bridge’ on top of which lots of pools form that are great for swimming. Downstream the river reemerges with all its fury and continues on its journey.

Pool at Samuc Champey

Rio Cahobon before it heads underground

Still determined to set up Spanish language lessons we made a plan to return to Antigua and to stay at Earth Lodge, a hostel in a spectacular setting. We had stayed there one night before meeting my brother and really liked the vibe. It is a 40-acre working avocado farm with several small A-frame cabins and a couple of dorms. This is a place swarming with young, international travelers that make you wonder why you haven’t traveled more. There is a Spanish teacher who comes to the lodge to work one-on-one with guests. It is also a place that works well for Chettie. There are a couple of other dogs, plenty of people around for her to interact with and she can hang out while we take our classes.

So back to Antigua we came. We checked into Earth Lodge on Sunday and have stayed in a cabin for the week. Clearly, we are the oldest people here—perhaps the oldest people ever to stay here---but we’ve loved interacting with the other guests who are from Holland, England, Canada, Isreal, Switzeralnd and New Zealand.

Evening View of Volcan Pacaya from Earth Lodge

View of Volcan Pacaya from Earth Lodge

Luis, our teacher, suits our style perfectly with a combination of casual conversation and structured grammar lessons. Yesterday we spent the afternoon with him in Antigua as part tour guide and part Spanish teacher.

Mike and Luis Studying Spanish

We have our final lesson this morning and this afternoon I am hiking the Volcano Pacaya. It is an active volcano that is visible from the lodge. Hiking it is one of the popular activities when visiting Antigua.


From here we will start making our way toward El Salvador. We have not nailed our route yet but have done a fair amount of research into places we want to visit while there.