See all the pictures whilst we were in Guatemala

We arrived in Guatemala City, 21st August about 6pm. Our plan to leave the city as fast as we'd arrived worked out nicely when at the airport a friendly Guatemalan lady asked us if we wanted to take a shuttle to Antigua.

The traffic, pollution and chaos of rush hour ensued as our driver fought his way out of the city. The rickety urban buses, chugging along emitting clouds of diesel. We'll get back to the subject of the buses later!

An hour or so later we arrived in Antigua. It was already dark. Our driver had been tasked with ensuring we found accommodation. Evelyn teamed up with an Israeli girl called Noah to find reasonably priced, clean accommodation.

After inspecting half a dozen hostels I started to think our luck was out. Ben and Noah's friend were happily sat in the shuttle bus waiting for us to find a suitable abode!! However, the driver, a very friendly and cheerful fella said he knew of a cheap, clean hostel called The Yellow House.

Cesli, the hostel manager/owner gave us a very warm welcome, introduced us to her husband Carlos and children. A very nice hostel, with shared kitchen, communal garden with some friendly travellers sat there talking. 40 Quetzales ($5 USD) per person per night, including breakast. It was a done deal....I was finally happy and went back to Ben to tell him we were sorted!!

The next morning Evelyn was so excited she was up and out by 6.30am to explore Antigua. Ben left to enjoy his sleep in peace! A bright sunny morning. Antigua is one of the oldest and most beautiful cities in Central America. The setting is wonderful, between three dramatic volcanoes: Agua, Fuego and Acatenango. Found a picturesque view of a clocktower and archway framing Volcan Agua.

Ladies selling newspapers on various street corners. Cobblestone streets, bright pink, red and purple sprays of bougainvillea overhanging walls and crumbling ruins. Most of the buildings were constructed during the 17th and 18th centuries when the city was a rich Spanish colonial capital, the period when the Catholic Church was rising to power.

The town was already starting to wake up and people bustling about. Local women and men wearing beautiful traditional clothes getting ready to sell their wares to the tourists. Read More

The Journey

Within a manic couple of seconds the conductor shouted out to us 'Chimal?'. 'Si!' we shouted back. A split second later our backpacks were hurled onto the roof of the bus and we jumped onto the back of the bus as it began to pull away!!! Our first experience on a chicken bus was fantastic! Salsa music blasting out of speakers. Ben stood underneath one of the speakers with a big smile on his face not being able to hear a word as I continued to try and gabble away!! The speed we traveled through little towns and villages was crazy. We passed fields of corn, sugar cane and beautiful green mountainous countryside. We were the only gringos on the bus, sat and stood amongst friendly, smiling and very happy Guatemalans.

We change bus in Chimaltenango, a very busy and not very inspiring town. A man kindly walks us to the place where we need to catch the next bus.

Guatemalan buses called Linda and Evelyn!

Waiting for our bus I begin to explain to Lilac how the buses in Guatemala are named after women. The name is displayed at the front above the driver. The next one which went by was called 'Linda' (Linda is a close friend) then followed another bus which pulls up in front of us called 'Evelyn'!!!! Unfortunately, I was only quick enough to get a picture of it on the non-digital camera.

A pickup pulls up by us. The lady asks if we want a lift to Chichi which is where we are heading. 10 quetzales per person, a bargain, so we jumped on and take her up on the offer.

We received a recommendation about Casa Rosario from a traveller on the Lonely Planet travel forum. We were not disppointed. We had thought to stay for two weeks having committed to only one. But each week we asked for another, totaling five by the end of our stay.

The environment for studying at Casa Rosario (www.casarosario.com) is wonderful. The "classrooms" are set in a beautiful garden which is full of fruit trees and brightly coloured flowers. The views of the volcanoes and Lake Atitlan are superb. We both had our own individual teachers. We quickly found we were able to start speaking Spanish. This greatly improved the time we spent in San Pedro as we were now able to get to know local families and made some wonderful friends. During our breaks we met and talkedwith other students making arrangements for activities in our spare time. We made use of the free kayaks (which had been handmade by Vicente, one of the directors of the school). We spent four weeks living with a family. This was a very good experience, our family were charming hosts. We were able to continue practicing our Spanish at the same time learning about a different culture.

In our spare time we helped Vicente and a few of his friends to replace a roof of an elderly villager. It was wonderful to see how happy this lady was when we finished the job, she no longer would have to put up with the dampness of the wet season in her home.

Guatemalan Independance day. Requires the use of one homemade torch (steel can, stick rag and petrol). As usual Guatemalan saftey standards rule as we light up in a petrol station!

A party was held on our last day at school. Vicente made a huge bowl of guacamole, salsa served with pitta bread. A sunny day, all the students sat chatting on the grass in the beautiful garden.