The Branson Family had a great time exploring Guatemala on a travel circuit known as the Gringo tour. We started in Antigua, which is a UNESCO World Heritage city. Antigua was an old Spanish colonial capital before multiple earthquakes leveled the town and forced the Spanish to relocate to Guatemala City. But, it survives today as a vibrant town with lots of local color and character.
After Antigua, we proceeded to Lake Atitlan via Chichicastinango, a huge outdoor marketplace where all the nearby Mayan people bring their textiles, fruits, vegetables and everything else to sell. It's an
explosion of colors and interesting people. Lake Atitlan is abundant with natural beauty and is surrounded by an volcanic archipelago, so there are volcanoes in view in all directions (in fact, the country has 33 volcanoes, a few of which are still active).
After that, we flew to the northern part of the country to visit the ancient Mayan city of Tikal located in the tropical jungle. At its height, Tikal was inhabited by over 100,000 Mayan people. However, it was mysteriously abandoned by the Mayans in about 1000 AD and remained undiscovered for over 800 years. Today, it's the largest excavated site in the American continent. While in the jungle, we also managed to have our first experience with zip lining though the jungle canopy. Everyone enjoyed the thrill -- even those of us who aren't exactly keen about heights. I was glad we had the medical-evacuation insurance just in case.
Guatemala was a surprising trip. It was easy to reach (a 4 1/2 hour non-stop flight from LAX). Our tour group was fun, informative and nimble with only 9 people (including the four of us). The Guatemalan people were uniformly friendly and helpful. We even made it back with all our belongings (including my camera) and without any pick pocketing or other safety incidents despite the somewhat dire warnings on the U.S. State Department web site. It's a poor country (with a per capita GDP of about 15% of the USA), but the people seem genuinely happy. It's obvious that that the Mayan culture proudly lives on in Guatemala.
View images from our trip at www.shuttereye.com/Guatemala/
The trip was not only memorable for the amount of animals we saw but also for the people and accommodations at the two camps where we stayed. Our first guide, BK, was a wealth of information about the animals, landscape and down to the plants and what they were used for. Everyday out was a learning experience with him. All the people at the camps were gracious and the food was excellent.
Our second camp in the Okavanga was just as good as the first as far as the staff, accommodations, food and animals. After our experience at the first camp we amazed that the high quality remained the same. Our guide, G, made sure we were able to enjoy every experience including a rush through the bush to witness a cheetah and an ensuing hunt that he heard over his radio.
In both camps there were enough guides out that if they saw something the other guides were informed which helped in seeing as much as possible. It was also nice that the concessions were large enough that we did not have vehicles following each other throughout the day.
Normally there is always something in a trip of this length that we think could be improved upon but this is the rare case where we cannot think of anything. From the time we left the States to when we returned it was one of the most hassle free vacations we took.
Perhaps emphasizing the use of the laundry facilities at the camps would be useful because of the luggage restrictions would be the only thing I can think of as an improvement to future clients.
Kenneth Dropek
1 day ago
Mary was so pleasant and professional. She made sure all of our questions were answered.