...The rest of Guatemala

Jonathan:
After two intense weeks studying Spanish in Antigua, we've spent our last week working our way north through Guatemala on our way to the small town of Rio Dulce where we are now. Without really intending to, within four days we managed to do just about every adventure activity Guatemala has to offer, and this country is an adventure's paradise.

Here are a few of the highlights: We went tubing down a crystal clear aqua-colored jungle river; we descended about 1km deep into a natural river cave with only candles to light our way (many times it was too deep to stand, so we had to swim while holding our candles above our heads); we ascended a rock wall to reach a high ledge above a deep pool, and we jumped off into the water below-- inside the cave; we slung ourselves about 20 meters out over a river on a gigantic rope swing, only to let go and fall into the river (sometimes gracefully, sometimes not); we went tubing again in a different river; we descended a waterfall on a rope ladder to explore a dramatic natural cavern behind the water; and we spent an afternoon swimming through a tranquil series of natural limestone pools. To cap off our action-packed days, we spent our evenings hanging out at our youth hostel with other travelers, drinking Moza (our favorite Guatemalan beer), and playing a giant Jenga game made out of 2x4s before going to bed in a bamboo hut with a grass roof.

Yesterday we took a sunrise tour to the Mayan ruins at Tikal. Having gotten up at 3am to make our way from Flores to the ruins before dawn, we arrived at the top of the tallest temple just as the fog was lifting to reveal the absolutely massive series of dramatic temple pyramids peaking out of the dense jungle below. We watched the sunrise in silence, and basked in the rich energy of this ancient Mayan capital.

This afternoon, we will depart from Rio Dulce on a seven-day sailing trip up through the southern reef islands off the coast of Belize. We'll see how it goes since it's been raining here for a solid two days, and evidently there's a decent sized storm on the way... but we are looking forward to trying out our sea legs for a few days, and getting our first glimpse of the abundantly rich sea life of the western Caribbean.