Tikal | An Adventure in Guatemala

Hello!  I recently came back from a fantastic trip to Guatemala, a very little known country it seems.  I traveled with my daughter, Oneida, and my 7-year-old grandaughter, Sydney, who loved every minute of our trip, just as we did.  When I told my friends and co-workers I was going to that country they looked at me as if I had told them I was going to Mars.  There are misconceptions that are hard to die, such as a volatile political situations that stays in people's mind, no matter what anybody says.  Well, I was determined to prove them wrong, and I did!  The trip was a fantastic success.  My family was not kidnapped, and the Guatemalan people are the nicest you would want to meet.   They're very sweet and very helpful and that alone made the trip worthwhile.  

We saw incredible places, such as the Tikal National Park, full of Mayan pyramids.  It's a place in the middle of the jungle but it's very safe.  We didn't get jumped by wild animals or infected by exotic tropical illnesses.  In fact, the opposite is true.  We stayed at a beautiful hotel that included several bungalows, a restaurant, and a pool, among other amenities.  

The entrance to the park was right by the hotel, only a few feet away.  We bought a package that included several tours, including a hike to a volcano (Pacaya), a trip to one of the most beautiful lakes in the world, Lake Atitlan, high in the mountains and ringed by no less than three volcanoes!   The package also included the Tikal tour.  

I have so many beautiful memories of those places, including the inn where we were staying on Lake Atitlan, the Vulcano Lodge, run by a Norwegian guy who loved that place so much that he moved his whole family there.  He also run a restaurant, which is part of the inn.   

We were very lucky in that someone had just vacated  one of the most beautiful suites I've ever seen, which included two bedrooms, a spacious living room, a bathroom with a painting of a quetzal, a beautiful bird the color of emerald and a long, long tail of the same color.  The quetzal is also the symbol for the Guatemalan currency.  It's in every bill.  But the most beautiful part of the suite was its spacious verandah, with a railing covered with bouganvillea flowers and other plants.  The verandah also boasted three hammocks so that we didn't have to fight for them.  

The view from the verandah was breathaking!  You could see two of the volcanoes and the lake.  

Enough talking already!  I know you're dying to see my pictures.  Here they are.