DIPS in the Mexican Riviera – Tulum

Posted by on Jun 10, 2013 in Guatemala, Mexico | 0 comments The Mexican government had organised a welcoming committee for our arrival at the seaside town of Chetumal in the form of armed guards and a sniffer dog. Actually, we didn’t feel that special as this is standard for all boats arriving at the port. Central America and Mexico are part of the super-highway for the drugs making their way from the producers in South America to the users in the US....
read more

Under the Ceiba tree: The World of the Mayans part 2

Posted by on May 23, 2013 in Belize, Guatemala | 0 comments The following afternoon around 3pm we took a transfer to Yax-ha,  the third largest Maya city in the region and located on a ridge overlooking Lake Yax-ha approximately 30 km southeast of Tikal. Although the children’s entry in Tikal was free, Yax-ha was not and when we questioned this, the guards standing around the ticket booth all seemed to raise their automatic weapons. As the place was...
read more

Under the Ceiba tree:The World of the Mayans part 1

Posted by on May 22, 2013 in Belize, Guatemala | 0 comments After spending our first few days at Flores, we were ready to begin exploring some Mayan ruins, and where better to start than Guatemala’s most famous: Tikal. We moved around the lake to El Remate, a small woodcarving village of approximately 370 families, located on the east end of Lake Petén Itzá, for the next four nights staying at La Casa de don David (although we didn’t get to meet...
read more

DIPS in Flores, Guatemala

Posted by on May 21, 2013 in Guatemala | 0 comments To save a ten hour + bus ride, we took a 1 ½ hour flight with TACA from Guatemala City to Santa Elena about 3km from Flores where we had booked three nights’ accommodation. We stepped off our commuter plane and, even though it was after 7:30pm, we were engulfed by smoke, heat and humidity.   With the rainy season on its way, the farmers apply the practice of burning fields then waiting...
read more

Gringos in Antigua, Guatemala

Posted by on May 20, 2013 in Guatemala | 0 comments Almost from the time we walked out through the Guatemala City (GC) airport doors, we felt as though our journey had come full circle and we were back somewhere in Asia. Far from the organised streets, polite citizens and manicured gardens of Naples, GC is busy, roads are chaotic, and potentially dangerous. For this reason we decided not to stay in GC but instead headed directly to the ‘old...
read more

Naples to Fort Lauderdale via the Florida Keys

Posted by on May 5, 2013 in Guatemala, USA | 0 comments Hire car really is the most convenient and cost-effective way for us to get around the States, so we booked another car with Alamo which would have us dropping off the car at the Fort Lauderdale Airport in two days’ time ahead of our flight to Guatemala City.   Andrea took David to Naples Airport to pick up the car and he came back driving a sleek black compact-size Chrysler. Having...
read more