Guatemala

Click here for my Adventure!

I don't even know where to begin so I will just start from the beginning. In our group of twelve, seven of us planned to take a trip to Guatemala, leaving early friday morning. In Belize it was Garifuna Settlement day so there was no school across the country. We heard the weather was supposed to rain all weekend in Punta Gorda, but we were hoping for better luck in Guatemala.

When we woke Friday morning we woke up to Grey skies and a light drizzle but made the best of it anyway. We walked to customs in the rain around seven thirty in the morning to catch a boat to Puerto Barrior, Guatemala that we thought would leave at eight as scheduled. Of course everything here runs in "Belize time," so we boarded and took off around nine thirty.
We boarded our little boat after they tinkered around with wires and such which made us pretty uneasy. But so do lots of things in Belize, you just kinda get used to it. We were told prior to getting on that we would be provided with rain gear to keep us dry for the hour and a half ride. As we got on and sat down, large, black, and very wet sheets of plastic were stretched across us. As we laughed we realized that this was our rain gear. We finally set out into calm water, but this did not last long. Before we knew it, it was pouring rain, and the waves in the sea were getting very large. We huddled under the plastic and tried not to look at the
waves that were growing higher than the sides of our little boat. Daisy and I kept looking at each other and just laughing to disguise how scared we were. Sitting next to us was a younger
man from Sweden traveling to Honduras. He turned and asked the two of us if we know how to
swim which did not make us feel any better.

About an hour or so into the ride I started to feel really nauseous. It must have been a
combination of being terrified, and our boat be tossed every which way. I kept wondering how
our captain knew where to steer the boat, every time I thought a wave was going to crash over
us he would somehow avoid it. I could not see land in any direction I looked. For my own
sanity I stayed under the plastic and stopped watching.

Puerto Barrio
I don't have any photos of Puerto Barrior because we were only there for about fifteen or
twenty minutes. Before we left we heard several horror stories from past weekends about
foreign travelers to Guatemala, so we were trying to be very careful. A few of the stories
were about groups of travelers getting robbed at gunpoint on the street and on the bus. We were supposed to walk like we had a purpose and never ever look lost even if we were. Not talk to anyone that offered us tours that was not with an agency, and really avoid talking to anyone that approached us.
As soon as we got to Puerto Barrior we did not feel safe. We walked to the immigration building near where our boat docked to get our passports stamped into the country, then decided it would be the best idea to get right back on a boat and head for Livingston, a city a little more north. We would see if we liked it better there, and try to find a place to stay.

A captain approached us and we were able to get on another boat fairly quickly. We really must have stoop out there for him to find us so fast, which is why we wanted to leave. We felt like we had "rob me" signs on our foreheads. So before we knew it we were so happy to be back on a boat we were so desperate to get off of. The ride up to Livingston was a lot less eventful. We stayed pretty much near the coastline where there were not too many waves.

Finally Reach Livingston
We finally reach Livingston where our captain shows us where to stay, it is a place right where we docked. The hotel/hostel is owned by a family. We meet the mother, father, son who is about 16, and their younger daughter who is about 12. They show us to our rooms and give us the keys for the pad lock on the door. We each paid 25 Q a night to stay there which is about $4 USD.

We are starving so we sit down to get some food at the place we are staying. There is so menu, but Wallace, their son and our waiter tells us they have fish, beef, chicken, and shrimp. I decided I would get shrimp because I love shrimp and what better place to get the best shrimp ever right!? Well...I had a hard time eating it because it stared at me the entire time.


After we eat our Captain stops back to see if we would like him to walk with us around Livingston and show us around a bit. We are so thankful for this even though we feel so much more safe here. He is a really good man who seems to know a lot of people around town, including the family that we are staying with. We walk by a park that has concrete slides, and next to the park is a big stone pit filled with crocodiles...nice park right!?


When we are walking around doing a little shopping, a girl in our group gets a phone call she had been sort of waiting for to find out more information about what was being decided as a course of action regarding a night she had in Punta Gorda. She had gone out one night and got really drunk, and ended up calling a local guy she has been hanging with to help her get home. Anyway, to make a long story short, after we all discussed details from that night, another girl in our group decided to go to a faculty member from UMD when they we here to observe us teaching, and rat this girl out about that night. So while we are shopping show gets a phone call reeling her that she is expelled from the program and must come home right away. She starts balling and crying and is sitting on the street not knowing what to do or think. Our guide/captain friend who is confused and does not speak English finally understands we need a little space to get things figured out. We question wether to go home right away, but the
Weather is too bad to get until Sunday morning. She agrees to make the best of the trip while we are here, so we walk around some more, do some shopping, and stop at a place to get some dinner.
This place is really nice and even has menus! We get a couple beers, and I had a delicious hamburger and fries. Very American of me I know, but after my last meal I just needed some good food!

Day Two
Where the Real Adventure Began
We wake up to a rainy day, and are questioning our plans to take a boat just a ways up the coastline to see these waterfalls. All of us are a little shopped out, so when the rain let's up we decide we has better see some of Guatemala while we are here. Our guide that has been helping us out set us up with his friend who agreed to take the seven of us to these waterfalls for 34Q, which is only about 7 or 8 USD!
One of the reasons we were reluctant to go other than the weather, was another Guatemala Horror story we were told happened about a week ago. A group of travelers, both men and woman, hiked into the rain forest to see the famous Mayan ruins with their guide. On the hike back, they were approached by men who robbed that at gun point and took all of their stuff. Their guide told them that they were very lucky because if they had been further in from the coastline than they were, he feared they may have taken the woman to sell in the sex trade. So he we are, six girls, one guy, and our old man guide, on a boat heading towards shore. I was so scared I must have prayed the entire boat ride! The waves are pretty big, but this guy knew what he was doing to dock us. He was throwing roped and anchors everyday, jumping in and out of the boat, and before we knew it we were at the shore. I am a little confused because I thought we were going to see these waterfalls from the boat, but here we are all getting off.(the whole Spanish, English communication thing was a struggle.)
So we all get off the boat, and our guide tell us to walk up the hill (as he pointed) and he would be waiting Herrera for us when we got back.

So we head we head up the hill oblivious to the adventure we are about to face. We stop at a hut where a man tells us each to pay 15Q to keep going, as if we knew what we were doing. He pointed at a series of pictures and gave us instructions. He said normally it pretty manageable, but due to all the rain, the river is really moving so be very careful. he said to use this rope to the cross the river here, as he pointed, walk up the river for about 15 minutes until you reach this waterfall. And that was it, he sent us off.
We get to the rive and Im thinking "you have got to me kidding me!" Not only "how in the heck are we going to cross that?!" but I was also wearing flip flops, and carrying my purse with money and my camera. It would have been awesome to know we would be hiking up a raging river so I could be more prepared! We considered turning back, but without really discussing it, just kept going! I mean when else would we get this opportunity?! So flip flops, purse and all, I grabbed onto the rope and made my way across trying not to slip and get washed down the river. I had no idea at this point his would be the easiest part of the hike.

So after we get across we have to walk up the river. At some points you could walk along the side holrding on the vines that hung down, trees that stuck out, and bending down to hold onto rocks. dome of the time you just had to walk in the river and be careful to slip!
After hiking a while I have managed to keep from falling so I still have a dry camera tucked in the purse! Then we turn a corner and I look up ahead and see a huge waterfall. I'm thinking there is no way to get around that so we will have to turn around soon.
Another group of hikers that we later found out were from Spain, caught up to us at this point. They actually had a guide with them, so I felt a little more comforted by this. The guide told us we had to cross the rive here, so we did what he said. When we got up to the waterfall there was a rope tied up the left side but I was thinking there is no way we are going to make it up this thing.
You can see a blue rope tied to a rock, and it drops down the left side of the falls. This is what we were supposed to climb up next. And yes, we do!

The guide then climbs up the rope, makes his way to the middle of the falls, then jumps! So of course we want to try it. Darren goes first.....