Highlights of Guatemala    (August 2006)
click for larger image	In Guatemala we planned to sign up at a Spanish school and also volunteer at a project conserving endangered turtles. We found that but also more. Much more. Fiercely independent indigenous cultures, the grandest of Mayan ruins, lava-spewing volcanoes and throughout, open people cheerfully dealing with the day-to-day challenge of living here.	Guatemala Fast Facts: Best Thing: Finding two nesting turtles on our first night at Parque Hawaii Worst Thing: Nearly coming to blows with a (midget) con-artist in Flores Big Surprise: Ordering mosquito spray - and receiving mojito drinks! Fun Fact: Guatemala is the only Central American country with an indigenous (Mayan) majority

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Tikaled Pink Tikal - a sprawling jungle-bound mother of all Mayan ruins. Not just an important archeological site, this is also the Rebel Base from the original Star Wars. May The Force Be With You!

You Silly Tubes In luscious Lanquin we tubed down a river swollen to dangerous levels by torrential rains. At night we awoke in darkness to find our tent flooded and passports floating gently past our horrified eyes.

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Good Morning with Richard and Judy / Regis and Kathy Lee Our daytime TV debut, starring as guest hosts in a video promoting our Xela Spanish School, INEPAS, and the work it does providing educational services for local indigenous children. During the filming we made great friends with Pep, the director (and sure to become the Spanish Scorsese).

A Child After Her Own H(e)a(r)t At an INEPAS/UNESCO funded school, Cheryl spots a kindred spirit in silly-bulbed-hatdom

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Kicking Back With San Simon A true latter-day saint, sunglass-sporting spirit San Simon brings good luck to locals...but only if plied with offerings of rum and cigars!

Ancient Mayan Ceremony While San Simon is a recent phenomenon, these Mayan ceremonies of fire and sacrifice have been carried out for thousands of years. Those chickens on the left had better make a run for it...

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Mellow Yellow Possibly architected by a colour-blind hippy, the church at San Andreas Xecul is a riot of bright tones and trippy scenes.

Caption Competition (Round 2) O.K. funsters, it's the second in our series of caption competitions. Send your suggestions in to the caption competition page. A prize for the best effort!

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Stiff Upper Neck These strange fashion statements are actually huge bundles of goods carried from the market using only neck power. Equally unexpected is that - though fiercely loyal to wearing their indigenous costumes - they have a fondness for carrying children around wrapped in U.S. flags.

Lago De Atitlan After non-stop study of grammar, vocabulary and imperfect tenses at Spanish School, it was time to release a little tension. The soothing blue waters of Lago de Atitlan are set amidst picturesque volcanoes and are fished with traditional hand-thrown nets.

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Anybody Home? A traditional Mayan sauna: heated rocks and eucalyptus leaves. We weren't quite ready for the alternative attractions in hippy San Marcos on the lake: tarot-reading, kabbalah and wandering the astral planes!

Is This Wise? Active Volcano Pacaya dramatically spews sulfurous fumes and lava. We raced to the top - totally excited at a first sighting of orange-red lava flowing beneath us. After a short pause to soak it all in...we raced back down - active volcanoes not being a smart place to linger!

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Lost In Translation A humiliating setback to confidence in our newly fluent(!) Spanish skills. We ordered two bottles of mosquito repellent and were duly served up two tasty, green mojito cocktails. Back to the grammar books!

Tortugas: Crisis Conservation We joined the ARCAS program working to preserve endangered turtles on the Pacific coast. There is great local demand for turtle eggs due to a superstition that they are an aphrodisiac. For 10 days we patrolled the beaches at night, luckily finding 3 nests (329 eggs) to relocate to the hatchery before poachers got to them. We also helped 63 tiny (and gorgeous) tortuguita hatchlings take their first steps down the beach and into the ocean. All in all a really amazing experience. At this point, the turtle population (around since the time of the dinosaurs) is in critical decline, so check out www.sponsoranest.com to see how to save some baby turtles of your very own.

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Hurricane Stan The ARCAS team also helps out with hurricane relief, such as these water pumps built for a relocated village that was devastated by last year's Hurricane Stan.

Mangrove Meanderings Lost again, this time in the cloying embrace of a mangrove tree. Another threatened ecosystem, the mangroves are a beautiful network of lagoons that supports hundreds of types of birds and iguanas.

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But Where Are The Chickens? The famed Chicken Buses bounced us between Guatemalan cities and got us REALLY close to the local people. By the end we had been squidged 5 to a seat, had our spines compressed on pot-holed roads and even sat beside a squealing pig. But strangely, no chickens!

- See more pictures from this section - Go to next section : El Salvador / Honduras - Go to previous section : Belize