If there was ever a Jaunted Field Trip that made us want to close the laptop and report immediately to the airport, it was Claire Duffett'sRomp through Guatemala and Belize. Hell, with views like the one above, how could you not wanna skip down to Central America right now?
Claire Duffett lives in New York City and recently completed a 10-day trip from Guatemala City to Antigua, Lake Atitalan, Tikal, and the cayes of Belize.
Not a bad way to escape this downright dreary North East April weather, huh? Claire will be sharing her field trip experience with us over the next week. Enjoy.
In Caye Caulker, dozens of travel agencies line Front Street, the island's main drag. Each hut sustains itself by selling snorkeling trips. In short: it's the thing to do.
Claire Duffett lives in New York City and recently completed a 10-day trip from Guatemala City to Antigua, Lake Atitalan, Tikal, and the cayes of Belize.
Not a bad way to escape this downright dreary North East April weather, huh? Claire will be sharing her field trip experience with us over the next week.
In this episode, Claire answers the Guatemala travel questions sent in by Jaunted readers this week. Enjoy
First Question
I'm wondering what is the best way to get from Belize to Tikal. Can the arrangements be made prior to arrival in Belize or is it easier to make arrangements once in Belize?
The Rough Guide to Guatemala was Jaunted Contributing Editor Claire Duffett's weapon of choice, during her March 2007 jaunt through Guatemala City, Antigua, Lake Atitalan, Tikal, and the cayes of Belize. Sometimes these guide books get it right, and sometimes they are off. In this feature, we will tell you what the guide pros said about a place and then give you our take.
Rough Guides Says:
Guatemala City (or Guate as it's referred to locally) has a distinct flavor. There are rickety urban buses roaring along in thick black clouds of diesel, trawling for ever more passengers. There's the shocking contrast between the glitzy Zona Viva, home to luxury hotels, gourmet restaurants and trendy nightclubs and the poverty-stricken outlying shantytowns.
Our Take: Everyone warned us of the perils of Guatemala City. Co-workers and friends shared with us friends' of friends' of friends' horror stories, and instructed us to leave the airport and head immediately to Antigua.
When I stepped out of the airport, the smell of leaded fuel stung my nostrils. Freshly washed, white BMW shuttle buses lined the parking lot, waiting for tourists. The city, like any enormous metropolis in a second-world country, has its poverty. Yet there is a surprising mix of wealth. Between crowded outdoor markets and abandoned shacks, symbols of capitalism dot the roads. I spotted at least 10 multistory, high-end car dealerships while driving through Guatemala City. The fast-food chain Pollo Campero is as populous in Guate as Starbucks in Seattle.
The billboard-lined roadways are clean, new, and pothole free. Grass medians with manicured bushes separate the lanes. The city's main infrastructure shames any in the U.S. Our shuttle wove between chicken buses spewing out heavy diesel and young people driving shiny new SUVs on their way home from the office. Driving through Guatemala City felt less foreign to me than I expected. It reminded me slightly of my hometown, Buffalo. A sprawling hodgepodge of an economically-depressed but modern city.
The Rough Guide to Guatemala was Jaunted Contributing Editor Claire Duffett's weapon of choice, during her March 2007 jaunt through Guatemala City, Antigua, Lake Atitalan, Tikal, and the cayes of Belize. Sometimes these guide books get it right, and sometimes they are off. In this feature, we will tell you what the guide pros said about a place and then give you our take.
Rough Guides Says:
Hotel Mansion del Lago, right above the Pana dock. The most comfortable place in San Pedro, where the spotless, superb-value rooms all have nice pine beds, private bath and balcony areas with lake views. Also has a rooftop Jacuzzi and Internet café. Book ahead at weekends.
Our Take:
Weary and eager to drop off our bags, we assumed upon arrival that we found a bargain. We believed the guidebook's promise of hot water and booked one of the last remaining rooms.
The place looked pretty from the outside. Inside, our room felt sterile and institutional rather than simply "clean." It reminded us of a hospital room. The place still smelled of aerosol from the bubbly white flowers spray-painted on the walls.
The clerk charged us for Internet and refused to sell us coffee from an urn sitting in the middle of the lobby. The "Jacuzzi" -- an empty cement pit on the roof filled with leaves.
Sleeping near the bars and restaurants surrounding the main port presented a challenge. We lay awake, listening to the bohemians' celebratory drumbeats and the ruckus of the alcoholics loitering near the dock. In the morning, sleep-deprived and surly about our ill-advised choice, the water remained fiercely cold between lukewarm bursts.
Worse, we paid Q50 each (about $7). We discovered cheaper places dotted throughout the town when we explored the next day. These hostels, tucked behind charming gardens and atop the hills, cost about Q20 per person. Most had actual hot water, a clean but still cozy feel, with porches facing the lake.
Claire Duffett lives in New York City and recently completed a 10-day trip from Guatemala City to Antigua, Lake Atitalan, Tikal, and the cayes of Belize.
Not a bad way to escape this downright dreary North East April weather, huh? Claire will be sharing her field trip experience with us over the next week. Enjoy.
Fernando's Kaffee does Guatemalan breakfast best. The perfectionist owner has mastered each facet of desayuno tipico, from the warm, doughy tortillas to the soft, fried plantains and the exquisite coffee, made onsite and sold to Ferndando's followers in air-sealed bags.
Claire Duffett lives in New York City and recently completed a 10-day trip from Guatemala City to Antigua, Lake Atitalan, Tikal, and the cayes of Belize.
Not a bad way to escape this downright dreary North East April weather, huh? Claire will be sharing her field trip experience with us over the next week. Enjoy.
Citing the most beautiful place in Guatemala is sort of like pinpointing the gaudiest casino in Vegas. Too many overwhelming sites of natural beauty riddle the landscape. Semuc Champey, however, may be to Guatemala's beauty what The Aladdin is to Vegas' kitsch.
Claire Duffett lives in New York City and recently completed a 10-day trip from Guatemala City to Antigua, Lake Atitalan, Tikal, and the cayes of Belize.
Not a bad way to escape this downright dreary North East April weather, huh? Claire will be sharing her field trip experience with us over the next week. Enjoy.
San Pedro La Laguna boasts two primary appeals: scenery and drugs. Locals offer gringos a kayak and heroine in the same breath, we joked. Without judgment, they want to sell tourists what they want to buy. If rowing makes you high, so be it. If you require pot, LSD, or cocaine, you're in luck.
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Rough Guides Says:
