Hola chicos,
Sorry that this post is so late... I’ve been recuperating from the very eventful week we had this past week!
We started our travel week by making the long 7 hour drive and 30 minute boat ride to Denny’s Beach. We spent our time there relaxing, listening to our leaders’ “know yourself” sessions, and also visited the Agua Caliente location across the lake. This waterfall was really cool because it spewed out hot water and also had tunnels in the rock under and around it for us to discover!
After a few days at Denny’s Beach we went on our way for another 7hr drive. We went to Petén (near Tikal) where we stayed the night before exploring the Mayan Ruins in Tikal the next day. It was exhaustingly hot up in Tikal but well worth the torture of the heat so that we could experience seeing the old temple ruins. I was amazed at their structure and the fact that the Mayan people from a couple thousand years ago built them with nothing more than a few tools and their bare hands! While we were here we also got to see some monkeys and many of us held a tarantula that our tour guide found in the woods! Overall it was an experience I will never forget; climbing two of the temples to look out across the horizon, exploring the ruins of an old kingdom, and learning the history of the indigenous people who lived on this land before settlers came and tried to destroy their culture.
As much as I love learning the history of our world, it can be very sad or disappointing to hear about certain events that have taken place in the past. But I am very thankful that the Mayan temples are able to be preserved so that the history intertwined with them will stay alive!
After our amazing but exhausting day in Tikal our group carried on to our next destination; Finca Ixobel (a hostel in Poptún, Petén). We spent a couple nights here enjoying the relaxation of being out in the country and away from the busy streets of San Juan and Antigua. We were able to pass the time by napping, swimming, painting, or just chilling in the shade. Myself and a few others got to enjoy an afternoon of horseback riding while here and we witnessed some amazing views of the area! Some of the mountains in the distance were actually Mayan temples covered with overgrowth. After enjoying the luxuries of relaxing, we made the long 10 hour drive home to San Juan del Obispo for one night before again taking off the next day on our next adventure!
We drove a couple hours out to the side of Volcan de Acatenango where we gathered our things on our backs and got ready to make our ascent to base camp. We started our climb with high spirits and reached the base camp at the top of the volcano with those same spirits even though we were exhausted after the 4 hour hike up. After mucho calor weather in northern Guatemala earlier in the week, we huddled by a fire atop Acatenango to keep from being frío. We also spent the evening and night watching Volcan de Fuego erupt time after time, never ceasing to amaze us.
At 4am the next morning we hiked up to the summit on Acatenango where we could see in every direction. Although the wind was frost bitingly cold, I felt a warmth within me to be so priveldged as to see the layout of the beautiful creation God has gifted to us! Being able to see the sleepy little world below us while above the clouds was an experience I will never forget!
After freezing our butts off at the top for a few photos, our group ate breakfast at our base camp and headed the rest of the way down the volcano to the bus that would take us back to San Juan del Obispo. We have since then started our final week of Español and final week with our home stay families!
This week is another crazy one so tune into the next blog for an update!
Adiós amigos,
Kiera & Noah