Photos from Central America

[GoodSense]

Inspired by Brewer's photos...from Jan 2008 (thinking warm weather!).

[bots2019]

These are awesome! What country (ies) are they from?

[Sarah in SC]

Beautiful! Did you see Tikal while you were there? That is one of the most spectacular places I've ever seen! Your pictures are impressive! Thanks for sharing!

[chinaco]

Nice!

[GoodSense]

They were from Guatemala. Yes, I did visit Tikal and loved it. Wish I could be there now!

(Tikal--note how small the people were on Temple V, and sunrise over the jungle; Lago de Peten Itza; and the slowly erupting Volcan de Pacaya)

[brewer12345]

Beautiful pictures! Amazing.

[playaman]

Thanks for sharing some really great photos. Guatemala has been on my list for years. Now, it's been notched up.

[Sarah in SC]

Goodsense, we had a blast there years ago--what I really loved was the view from I think it was Temple Four (we had to scramble up ladders and various ramshackle stairs, as the entire "staircase" was not at that time uncovered). It was so cool to be up above the tree line, looking at the tops of the other temples.

Were there any of the young people running up and down the stairs of the temples? I got the biggest kick out of that--here we were, clinging to the stairs to make it up there and they were so nonchalant and fearless.

Makes me want to go back, it has been a long time! We stayed on the lake in Flores and I really wished we'd stayed longer, but we had to get back to Belize for the long drive to Placencia.

Your pictures are magnificent. Thanks so much for sharing!

[travelover]

I really loved Tikal when I was in Guatemala. I'd recommend to anyone that they stay overnight there so you can be there at sunrise or sunset - the place is magical.

Guatemala is like an elephant graveyard for old American school buses. Everywhere you go you see them - some still with the original school system name on the side. The history is amazing -Antigua was actually founded in 1543.

[lazygood4nothinbum]

gorgeous pictures. i've been reading up on guatemala recently, particularly the rio dolce where a fair number of cruisers seem to enjoy it as a safe summer hurricane hole reached via livingston on the caribbean coast. some report about 300-500 boats from europe & north america there at any one time. the cost of living is supposed to be very inexpensive with dockage available at about us$200/month. looks like an amazing place to spend a $1000 summer.

[GoodSense]

I spent a few days in Rio Dulce. It had a lot of yachts, some of which looked very expensive. My hotel was very affordable--$8/night for my own private room w/o bath. Food wasn't cheap, though (by Guatemalan standard). A pasta in a restaurant probably cost $5-7, and breakfast cost around $3-4 (coffee, fruits and pancakes). If you cook your own meals it should be very very cheap.

About one hour west of Rio Dulce is Finca el Paraiso. It's a hot spring waterfall with a little natural pond at the bottom of the fall, perfect for cooling off after immersing yourself in some very hot falling water. There are some other hot springs too near Rio Dulce.

I think Antigua was probably still my favorite, followed by Tikal and Semuc Champey. The country was so diverse in terms of history, geography and culture. The bonus is, the US dollar is still worth a lot there. Where else can you get three lovely sugar cookies for US$0.14?

[Bree]

Awesome photos Goodsense! I've been researching the next move away from Shanghai and didn't have Guatemala on my list, but it sure is now!

I hope you don't mind, but I've printed out and added your first pic to my vision board here at home - very inspiring!

Cheers

[JB]

Fantastic pictures. That's another country added to the list of places I want to visit.

[oma]

Beautiful region of the world. Last was in Honduras about 10 yrs ago. Would love to live there indefinitely, but was always concerned about crime.