Hopefulist's Fall 2015 Trip: Guatemala & Belize

Old Dec 14th, 2015, 10:31 PM
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Hopefulist's Fall 2015 Trip: Guatemala & Belize

Hi, all -
I spent 3 weeks in San Pedro La Laguna on Lake Atitlán in Guatemala beginning the 3rd week in October. I hosted parties with our Beca Project kids and their families, attended 4 graduations and lots of family celebrations, and settled into our little home there, Ti Wachooch.

Husband Mike joined me for the last week and we had a blast getting things up on the walls of Ti Wachooch, hanging with our Guatemalan family, Mynor and Josefa and their boys, hiking, shopping in the market, cooking, and eating.

Then we flew from Guatemala City to Flores and spent 2 nights in the park at Tikal, touring with archaeologist/naturalist/friend Roxy Ortiz and exploring on our own. We bused from Flores to the dock in Belize City and ended our trip with 4 nights on Caye Caulker, flyfishing, diving, snorkeling, and gorging on seafood.

I finally finished organizing my photos into sets and uploaded the whole collection to my Flickr site:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/staceyholeman/collections

There are 10 blog posts beginning with the 1 below; hit 'Newer Post' at the bottom each time or pick what you want from the Blog Archive on the right side:
http://hopefulistinlatinamerica.blog...guatemala.html

Mike and I feel so grateful to share these adventures, to spend time with friends who warm our hearts and in places that stimulate our senses and draw us closer together. And to return to beautiful Oregon and our home and beloveds here.

Happy trails!
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Old Dec 16th, 2015, 06:07 AM
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Thanks for sharing, Stacey. I haven't had a chance to read all of it, but jumped ahead to the Caye Caulker portion, and it really made me long to be there! Did you have a chance to visit with Caveman? He has quite the life story. Ti Wachooch looks great!
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Old Dec 16th, 2015, 06:12 AM
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We didn't, but enjoyed meeting him - quite a character. The guide, Ronny, was good.
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Old Dec 19th, 2015, 09:40 AM
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You are fortunate to have developed so many friendships and connections in Guatemala. Thanks for sharing!

I'm curious as to the cost of your lodging in Caye Caulker and the price of the flight from there to the mainland for your flight home. We've spent quite a bit of time just north of there in Xcalek, Mexico, because my husband is a fly fisherman.
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Old Dec 19th, 2015, 10:46 AM
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Yes - our travel blessings are easy to count! So many people have long bucket lists of places they want to see; we have decided that "intimacy of place" is a priority for us and have very beloved places to return to. We still like to see new things, too - heading to the Galapagos Islands and then to explore the Sacred Valley and hike the Inca Trail this spring.

Colinda Cabañas has cabin options ranging from $69 to $159; many have ac and/or kitchens. Our cabin was $99 this year which is really a splurge for us. Having a kitchen means we can shop at the local produce stands and docks and prepare most of our own meals, though, which makes paying more to have a full kitchen worth it, at least for us. That place is really fantastic in my opinion - beautiful dock and a great location.

The Caye Caulker to BZE flights are $80-90 1 way depending on who you buy from. Heading over we bused from Flores to the dock and took the water taxi which is $15 1 way, then you'd have the $25 taxi fee to the airport. Flights to the municipal airport + the taxi fee could work, too, and there's a water taxi to Chetumal. Great transport info here: www.belizebus.wordpress.com

All of these prices are USD.

My husband would love to hear more about Xcalek. Does your husband fish unguided or does the area pretty much require a guide with a boat?
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Old Dec 20th, 2015, 05:23 AM
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He has not used a guide in Xcalek. We stay perhaps 8 or 10 miles north of town in rentals with a kitchen. There he wades the flats. There is also some excellent snorkeling for swimming out to in the same area. This is too far from town to want to drive back and forth to eat out, so we do all of our own cooking.

Last year we also spent time a bit further north in the area north of Mahauhal (stayed at Mayan Beach Garden which has a restaurant). There he spent one day out with a guide, and they did both wading and boat fishing.
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Old Dec 20th, 2015, 06:20 PM
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Sounds interesting! Would you be willing to share the name of the rental? If you'd rather send it privately, you can go to my project website and get my email address off the contact page. www.becaproject.org
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Old Dec 23rd, 2015, 03:48 AM
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In Xcalak we've stayed at a number of different rentals and have also stayed at Sin Duda villas which is nice. Our last trip we rented at Coral Garden Inn.

When we were there in May that entire coast was having big problems with Sargasso seaweed, and I think the inundation is still going on.
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Old Dec 23rd, 2015, 03:13 PM
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Thanks, julies!
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