Thursday afternoon Angela picked me up and we headed toward San Ignacio, which is a small town just a few minutes from the Guatemalan border. It also happens to be the home of Juan, our tour guide turned friend who we also met on our November cave adventure. We stayed with Juan and his family Thursday night, hopped in the car early Friday morning, and were in Guatemala by 7am. Once across the border we met up with Juan's friend, Saul, who was our driver/sidekick for the weekend. And that is when the real excitement began.
Friday we spent the day at Tikal, the archeological site of some incredible Mayan ruins. It was my first taste of Mayan ruins, and it was simply breathtaking. There is something really powerful about standing in the center of an ancient culture, just imagining what their everyday lives and traditions would have entailed. I'm a sucker for the history and culture of Indigenous people (I think there is a very good chance that in my past life I was a Native American princess), but Tikal is impressive no matter who you are or where your interests lie. I really don't think I could ever do justice to its splendor.
The wondrous Tikal
We spent most of Friday at Tikal (it was a very big site), but Friday afternoon we cooled off with a dip in the lake before we headed off to Flores, a quaint town that is actually located on an island in the center of the lake (it was a very big lake). Now I've never been to Italy, but Flores looks about how I would imagine Italian towns to be. It was full of small, colorful shops, restaurants, and hotels, had cobblestone streets surrounded by water, and the entire town is probably no more than 2 miles in diameter. Basically, it's gorgeous. We stayed in Flores on Friday night (in a hotel that cost $7 per person...that's right, I said $7), and went to dinner with Juan, Saul, and some of Juan's family. I don't know if you have ever spent an evening with a Guatemalan family, but things can get pretty rowdy and extremely interesting. I learned a lot. About a lot of things. It was definitely anything but a dull evening, and I won't go into detail, but let's just say that Angela and I had a lot to talk about that night when we finally made it to bed.
Friday night with dear Angela, and I have no idea why we are sparkling
Moving on, Saturday morning was a gloriously dreary day (if you know me at all then you know I legitimately love cloudy, grey days), and after a morning walk and breakfast we went on a boat ride for several hours around the lake. I didn't know very much about Guatemala prior to last weekend, but it is absolutely beautiful. There are all kinds of mountains and jungles and lakes and villages and islands and animals and I could go on and on. We did some sightseeing of the area and even went to a zoo on a nearby island. By the way, Central American zoos are so much better than North American zoos (except for maybe the Sand Diego Zoo; it's amazing). They are probably so much cooler because there is a lot less restriction on what you're allowed to get away with, and we were able to step right up to the edge of the cages and even feed some of the animals, including the monkeys. I don't think it was technically allowed, but it was extremely entertaining to watch.
After the zoo we did a little more sightseeing, spent the afternoon wandering around Flores and shopping around, and then headed back to Belize on Saturday night, where we again spent the night with Juan's family. Then we got up Sunday, hung out with Juan's kids for awhile (who are so cool by the way), and made it home by Sunday afternoon. It was, without question, an overall solid success to the weekend.
The lovely town of Flores
As you can probably discern from my recount of the weekend, it was an incredible experience, and a reminder of just how lucky and blessed I am to be here. I hate to admit it, but the week leading up to Guatemala I was feeling a little homesick, a little overwhelmed, and a little bit defeated, and this trip reinstated my enthusiasm and gratefulness for where I am and what I'm doing. It reminded me just how good I have it, and just how good my life is.
