Still alive...

... and now in Quito in Ecuador!!
I was rather lazy lately and there wasn't much to read for you for quite a while now; I will do my best to update my blog within the next couple of days and let you know more about my experiences in Honduras, Nicaragua and Costa Rica.

Roatan Island, a Honduran paradise in the Caribbean Sea

On Tuesday morning we took the ferry over to the Bay Islands, where we stayed on Roatan Island for two and a half days, enjoying the nice hotel, our pool and of course the great beaches!!

The reef off the islands is the second biggest after the great barrier reef in Australia and so the spectacular diving and snorkeling draws visitors from all over the world....

We went on a snorkeling tour on Thursday morning and I really enjoyed it a lot (it was my first real snorkeling trip with a boat out to the reefs, just great to see the corals, sponges, fish etc.).

The only drawback was my sunburned bump and back, which I can still feel today.......well, it will turn from red into a nice brown suntan eventually!

After the snorkeling we enjoyed the spectacular beach at West Bay, one of the nicest places I have seen so far.... the only drawback where the sand flies, but in paradise you even put up with them!

From Guatemala to Honduras

In Antigua it was time to say goodbye to some of my fellow travellers and to welcome some new people to our tour group. From now on we are 17 people but with the exception of two guys still mainly girls..........
On Saturday we were leaving Guatemala and taking a minibus to the Honduran border and to Copan. Some of the greatest Mayan Ruins are found here and we toured the site with a guide on Monday morning.

We also had a nice barbecue dinner on Sunday evening by a hot spring and the drive their on a pickup truck was quite fun and bumpy too!

Antigua

After a trip from Lake Atitlán via Chichicastenango (where we visited the market and did test our bargaining skills), we arrived in Antigua on Thursday evening.
Antigua was founded in 1543 and served as the colonial capital for Guatemala during over 200 years. The city is nestled between three volcanoes and with its cobbled streets, colourful houses and colonial buildings it is a favourite place with many tourists. There are also hundreds of language schools all over the place and therefore you meet a lot of students from all over the world as well.
I really liked this charming city and could have stayed on for a bit longer.....


Catedral de Santiago, dating from 1542, which was damaged by earthquakes many times and only partially rebuild in the 18th century.

Palacio de los capitanes (old governmental center)
Iglesia de la Merced

Lake Atitlán

Our next stop was in Panajachel, at the beautiful lake Atitlán. The lake is surrounded by three volcanoes and we also made a boat tour and visited some villages around the lake.

Two local men in their traditional outfit

Fiesta in one of the villages at the lake

On the road to Guatemala

On Monday July 23, we traveled from San Cristóbal de Las Casas across the border into Guatemala. It was a very interesting trip with some rides on so called "chicken buses" to Quetzaltenango, where we stayed for one night.
Have a look at the very colorful old school buses from the US, which were converted into public buses in Guatemala; what great fun!

Mayan Villages around San Cristóbal

In the meantime I have joined my tour group and we have quite an interesting mix!

Including the guide we are 10 people (with one exception all female) and we also have quite a few nationalities represented:
- Tour leader is Greek
- 3 girls from Switzerland
- 2 girls from the UK
- 1 mother and here son from South Korea
- 1 Canadian girl and 1 girl from Ireland
We will travel in this group until the end of next week (Antigua in Guatemala), then a few more people will join for the second part of the trip until Costa Rica.

On Saturday we had the chance to visit some Mayan Villages around the hills of San Cristóbal. We first stopped in Zinacantán, where we visited the house of a local family and could see how they produce very colourful carpets, wall hangers and blouses.

We then stopped in San Juan Chamula, where they have a colourful (catholic) church where the local Tzotzil population performs their ancient Mayan rituals. It is not allowed to take pictures inside the church but we could observe the ceremonies, which they carry out sitting on the pine needle covered church floor, chanting their blessings, drinking coke and using eggs and chickens to keep the evil spirits away. Quite an amazing sight indeed........

San Juan Chamula

Family home in Zinacantán