June 2010

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Cocoa Lagoon

Just outside of the city of La Ceiba, Honduras lies Cocoa Lagoon and the Honduran gulf coast. While I was in the area I had the pleasure of kayaking through the mangrove jungle that surrounds Cocoa Lagoon and eventually out into the Gulf of Mexico. We saw howler monkeys, bats, and various other wildlife. You can check out the original post here and the video below.

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Kayaking the Cocoa Lagoon

The town of La Ceiba itself is not much to look at. There is a fairly good night life if you are in the right parts of the city but I haven’t really been in those parts very much. The surrounding areas of La Ceiba have quite a bit to offer travelers; mainly tours of the rivers, mountains, and the nearby coast. Today I took one of those tours. About 10 minutes before I was supposed to be picked up

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Outside my Cabin at Omega Lodge

Honduras is Messing with My Head!

My first 24 hours in Honduras sucked… Nothing really bad happened, just a lot of little annoying and frusturating things. Most of my problems had to do with getting to and from a few places. My trip to Honduras started with a ferry from Placencia, Belize. The ferry wasn’t too bad except for the 1 1/2 our stop for immigration on the way out of Belize but things got a little more interesting once we got to Honduras. We docked

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Sailing the Coast of Belize

While in Belize my friends and I took a three day sailboat trip down the coast of Belize. This was easily the highlight of our time in Belize and possibly the highlight of the entire trip up until that point. You can read the original post here for a bit more background info but you can watch the video below.

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Sailing the Coast of Belize

Four days ago I boarded a sailboat at 8:30am in the morning for what would end up being my most memorable experience of my trip so far. We were set to sail down the coast of Belize from an island called Caye Caulker, to the small town of Placencia over the course of the next three days. I had seen the pictures and heard the stories of the places I was going to see, but seeing a picture and experiencing

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Leaving on a Sailboat

Just a quick post. I’ll be leaving from Caye Caulker, Belize tomorrow on a 3 day sailboat trip. We will be stopping on some other cayes but from my understanding I’ll be without internet until thursday night or friday morning. Hopefully by then I’ll have an awesome post of the sailboat trip but until then be sure to read up on everything else I’ve done this past two weeks!

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Caye Caulker

I Wanted to Go Slow, But Not That Slow

For the past 3 days I’ve been in Caye Caulker, Belize, which is an island located just off the mainland of Belize.  Throughout the trip so far, whenever we had met someone who had been to Caye Caulker, and we mentioned the fact that we were going, we were told, “be sure to just go slow”.  It was almost as if “go slow” were some sort of password we would need to get onto the island.  Many people explained that

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Monkeys in Tikal National Park in Guatemala

While in Tikal I was able to catch this short video of a family of spider monkeys moving through the trees. You can read the original post the video appeared in here. In the background you will hear our guide talking about them a bit as well as everyone else in the group.

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Visiting Tikal – Mayan Ruins and Wildlife

Another early morning today. Our bus left for Tikal National Park here in Guatemala at 4:30am this morning. Or at least it was supposed too… In typical tour company fashion they were 15 minutes late. We arrived in Tikal about an hour and a half later and from there set off on our adventure exploring the Mayan city state of Tikal. Tikal is known, not only for its giant Mayan Ruins, but also for its wildlife. Our guide, Caesar, made

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Postcard of Flores

Don’t Miss Out on Flores!

Flores, Guatemala is a small town located on an island in Lake Peten Itza. The town stretches roughly 10 blocks and the island is no more then 1.25 square miles (2 square km). Many people view Flores as simply a bus stop on the way to Tikal. I’d be a liar if my original plan didn’t involve something of the same, where we spent just a few hours in Flores before going to Tikal and then moving on to Belize.

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Ziplining in Guatemala

Ziplining in the Guatemalan Mountains

While near Lake Atitlan in Guatemala we were giving the opportunity to take a half day tour that included a try at ziplining. You can see the original post here of the entire adventure but below is a video of my first time ziplining. Enjoy! *The laughter at the beginning was because I am an idiot and nailed my ass on the board I was supposed to jump off of*

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Lake Atitlan from Indian's Nose Point

Hiking, Ziplining, and Roaming the Market

Yesterday was easily the longest day of the trip so far, but also one of the most rewarding. We woke up at 6am to get ready to meet a guide we had hired for the day at 7am. For 250 Quetzales ($31.25 U.S.) our guide was going to take us in a private shuttle to the nearby town of Santa Clara where we would hike up Indian’s Nose (one of the most popular overlooks of Lake Atitlan), visit our first

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Maximon

Visiting Maximon

The video below is from my visit to the Maximon shrine in Santiago de Atitlan, Guatemala. The original blog post can be read here. You are normally charged to take pictures but I was able to take this video because I made an offering of a bottle of rum that the “keepers” of Maximon where sure to enjoy later.

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Visiting Maximon

Today I had the opportunity to visit the Maximon shrine in Santiago, Guatemala which is a small town that lies on Lake Atitlan. Maximon is traditionally a mayan folk saint but this particular shrine shows multiple signs of Catholic influence including multiple crucifixes and a coffin that is holding a statue of Jesus. In reality this particular shrine is treated much more like a tourist attraction than a religious shrine but there were a few locals there giving offerings in

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San Pedro Valcano

Kayaking on Lake Atitlan

During our time on Lake Atitlan in Guatemala we had the opportunity to go kayaking on the lake. I was able to get some great photos of the lake and also shoot this video to give you a quick tour of Lake Atitlan. You can check out the original post this video appeared in here. Sorry about the close up on my face in the beginning, not sure what happened there!

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Kayaking and Sightseeing on Lake Atitlan

Lake Atitlan is probably one of the most beautiful lakes in the world. It is easily the most beautiful lake I have ever seen. It has been overcast and sometimes rainy ever since we have arrived but that doesn’t change my mind at all. Multiple hills and cliffs surround the lake, as well as three volcanos. The natural beauty of the lake, the towns, and the people is overwhelming. I’ve been able to take a decent amount of pictures since

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Chicken Bus

Where Buses Go to Die

If you rode a bus to school during the 80’s or 90’s there is a slight chance I rode in one of your old buses to day.  Guatemala is full of chicken buses, which are basically old (presumably) U.S. school buses that have been painted extravagantly.  These buses are one of the main sources of transportation for locals and it is an experience that every traveler should have. Before leaving for this trip I had read all about the chicken

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Cerro de la Cruz

Antigua From Above

Many travelers who visit Antigua take advantage of the photo opportunity known as Cerro de la Cruz. Cerro de la Cruz is a large cross constructed on a hillside overlooking Antigua. Today I had the pleasure of visiting this location and taking in the beauty of Antigua and it’s surroundings in their entirety. The day began with us asking locals the whats, whens, and hows of getting up the hillside. We were told that the local police would make the

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Rooftop View

A Rooftop View to Kill For

I’m not going to lie… The closer I got to the airport this morning, the more nervous I became and the more apprehensive I felt towards the idea of traveling in a completely unfamiliar setting and at some points, by myself. And then I got here. Pictures cannot describe the beauty and mystique of Antigua, even on an overcast crap weather day like today. Every doubt I had about attempting to travel for the next five weeks, with one bag

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The Crap I Carry

Below is a video I made to show some of the gear I will be traveling with on my upcoming trips. The video will be permanently featured (until I make a new one of course) on my Travel Gear page and you can also get detailed reviews and links to the products mentioned in the video on that page. Enjoy!

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Finally… Plans are Set.

Things are slowly returning to normal in Guatemala.  I’ve been in touch with multiple people who either live in or are currently traveling Guatemala and they are all stressing that the country is back open for business, which is great news for the first two weeks or so of my trip. The country has suffered quite a bit of damage, mainly due to the mudslides suffered in the highland areas.  Some roads are still blocked but the country is urging

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Guatemala City Sinkhole

Mother Nature is Being a Pain in My Ass

It is seven days before my first backpacking trip to Central America.  Right now plans are kind of all over the place with the recent eruption of Volcan De Pacaya just outside of Guatemala City.  The eruption has closed the airport we are supposed to fly into and put a fairly significant dent in our plans for the first few days, which including hiking said volcano.  Now I’m a fan of the extreme, but hiking an erupting, or recently erupted,

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