NGail,
We did not take any medication or get any shots before this trip. And we had no problems whatsoever.
We also did not find the bugs to be much of a problem. But we did put good bug spray (with lots of DEET) on everyday, so maybe that did the trick.

Happy, safe travels!

>-

www.luv2globetrot.com

Thanks for your reply.
We're looking forward to our trip.

Here's the CDC site for Guatemala:

http://wwwn.cdc.gov/travel/destinati....aspx#mal_risk

You can go to the one for Costa Rica by inserting CostaRica in place of Guatemala in the URL.

PLEASE be sure to at least update your routine shots and get Hep A. I also do typhoid and take chloroquine as prophylaxis for malaria in areas where the CDC recommends it. Malaria can be a life long plague once acquired, worth some effort to avoid in my opinion.

Have a great trip! I hope you post a trip report when you get home.

Just looked at the CDC website for recommendations. We aren't going anywhere that they recommend malaria drugs except maybe Chichi? Is that an area we should be concerned about? We will only be there one day. Thanks

I don't think that anti-malarial drugs are required in Chichi - it was definitely not hot and humid when we were there. It's high altitude and very cool at night.

In Guatemala it's just the low lying areas like Tikal, Monterrico, and Rui Dulce/Livingston where there's risk. Anything above 4500 feet is safe which includes Antigua, Lake Atitlán, and Chichicastenango.

We can't decide as we'll only be in Tikal area for 2 days - the rest of the time not in areas that cdc rcommends malaria pills for.
We do have a batch of unused Malarone on hand (fresh)from a cancelled trip. The site isn't clear if Malarone can be substituted for chloroquine. An e-mail to them got no rsponse. My "travel clinic" will just look on the cdc web-site. Anybody know?

Thanks for everyone's advice. It's appreciated. So glad I won't have to take Malaria meds for this trip as I am going to Honduras in April and will have to for that trip.

Malarone can produce some scary side effects but will work for malaria prophylaxis. The risk is probably really low with only 2 days in a malarious area, especially if you wear long sleeves and pants and are liberal with deet during the dawn and dusk hours the malaria-type mozzies are active. Permithrin empregnated clothes and scarves would help, too. It's a personal choice as medical people will likely keep directing you back to the CDC advice.

It's mefloquine (Larium) that can mess with your head. Malarone is pretty side-effect free. I just don't know if it's effective in Central America.

Oops - my bad! Reason number 23 not believe everything you read on internet forums.

Just sent off another e-mail to cdc re substituting malarone for chloroquine. They did respond that the e-mail was received, so maybe we'll learn something yet.

We did hear from cdc. Malarone is ok for Guatemala. Though we still haven't decided if we'll take any meds for just 2 days in Tikal.

Hi Everyone!

I have loved reading through this thread -- thanks everyone for your posts! My husband and I are planning our trip to Guatemala -- and based on luv2globetrot's itinerary, others posts, and our own research, here's what we've come up with:

May 7: Arrive in GUA at 1pm, travel to Antigua
May 8: Antigua
May 9: Antigua (day trip to one of the volcanoes)
May 10: Travel to Lake Atitlan (Panajachel)
May 11: Explore Lake Atitlan and surrounding villages
May 12: Make our way back towards Antiqua and Guatemala, and plan to take an overnight bus to Tikal
May 13: Arrive AM in Flores area, take a bus to Tikal and stay in the park at one of the 3 hotels; take nap and start exploring Tikal after 3pm
May 14: Tikal
May 15: Zip line outside of Tikal in morning; travel to Flores afternoon; stay in Flores
May 16: Early flight back to GUA from Flores (stay near airport at luv2globetrot's recommended hotel); take transportation back to Antigua, spend the day and night in Antigua:
May 17: Leave early in the morning for GUA Airport from Antigua, catch flight back home at 11:45am

How does this itinerary look? The only thing I am fuzzy on is our May 12 plans -- figuring out how to get from Lake Atitlan to the overnight bus to Tikal. I wonder if there is an overnight shuttle/bus to Tikal leaving from Panajachel?

Any advise would be great. Thank you so much!

Theresa