The first leg of the journey! Guatemala & Honduras

Hey guys,

Quite a while since my last update! This will be a long one, I've done a lot the past few months! I've made a few instagram posts of my travels these past months, check them out if you want to see some photos!

We last left off that I about to leave for San Cristóbal to chill there in the hotel of Bob's dad. We would take a bus to Guadelajara, and then from there we'd fly to Tuxtla. It was a bit more trouble than expected, since the night before leaving there was an incredible thunderstorm. The rainy season had started in may, so it was to be expected. However, when we got on the bus, it took ages to even leave León, and some underpasses were flooded to street level. We were running very late, and arrived at the bus terminal with just some 30 minutes to spare before our flight would leave. We decided to go for it, and jumped in a taxi while telling the driver to step on it, and rushed through security once we got there. We just made it in time, and could stop worrying about having to arrange accomodation and buy new flights.
Finally we arrived in San Cristóbal, and we went straight to the hotel to relax in some hammocks. It's a beautiful place, very chill and luxurious. Chris had already arrived, since he came from Oaxaca by bus. We relaxed there for a few days, mostly watching movies. One day Jaime, a Brazilian that owns a burgershop in town, invited us to come camping with him on the weekend, and we'd have a nice Brazilian BBQ. It was a great trip, a beatiful place in the hills, and we had good fun all together. Another trip Chris and I did was to Chamula, an indigenous town, with very different customs and rituals. The church there is very diffent from normal catholic churches, as they still practice maya rituals. The community there is also very autonomous. It's a very interesting sight, and a cool part of maya culture. After a week and a half we decide to head to the border while first making a stop in Comitán, a small town very close to the border with Guatemala. There is not much there, but we went to the Lagos de Montebello. It was drizzeling almost the entire day, so it was almost deserted and we could enjoy the place all to ourselves. Then the rain got too heavy and we went back to the hostel. The next morning we left early for the border, expecting a bit of a queue.

Guatemala
Crossing the border was quick and easy, and we were soon on the other side of the border in a chicken bus, headed to Huehuetenango (Huehue). This part of Guatemala isn't very touristic, and all the locals would ask us all the time where we were from and such. It was always funny when they didn't expect Bob to be Mexican. And we were the only 3 white people on the bus, so we did stand out. Arriving to Huehue we couldn't find much to do, so in the end we decided to head south to Quetzaltenango (Xela) a few days earlier. Traveling with the chickenbuses was a delight, they run all the time, they are dirt cheap, and the people are lovely. The only downside is that I didn't fit in the seats.
Arriving to Xela we went to a nice hostel, where many other interesting people were staying. There was one guy that Chris has met on 3 seperate occacions while traveling and a French guy that had hitchhiked his way from Europe to Cape Horn (southernmost point of South America) and then all the way up to Guatemala. Now he was hitchhiking to Mexico, and then on to California to find some work. He had many crazy stories, and inspired me to maybe do something similar in future. Besides people, Xela also has very nice architecture in the center, and beautiful hikes just outside the city. One of the hikes we did was to Laguna Chicabal, a vulcano crater that had filled up to become a lake. The Maya people consider it to be a center of cosmic convergence, and therefore it's a holy site in their eyes. They come from far and wide to offer at the laguna. We left early in the morning to get up the crater before the clouds would arrive. The entire vulcano was covered in forest, which made the hike a lot cooler. We were at the top in some 90 minutes, and we got a beautiful view of the lake, and vulcano Santa Maria in the distance. We walked around the crater to the south side where we could supposedly see the southern coast, but the clouds were blocking it. No less than ten minutes after we arrived to the southern ridge the clouds had arrived to the crater, so we went down to the lake to see them roll in from below. It was a mystical experience, the clouds would gently float by, and block out the entire view in a matter of minutes. Suddenly we couldn't even see more than 10m in the distance. The sight would vary with the clouds twirling around in the crater, but it was now covered completely. We hiked up to the ridge and went down in the cool of the clouds. Another hike we did in Xela was to Santiaguito, one of the three regularly erupting vulcanoes of Guatemala. Unfortunately we got a bit lost, and by the time we arrived to the viewpoint the clouds had come in, and we couldn't see anything. Another day we went on a trip to San Fransisco el Alto, one of the biggest markets in central america. The entire town was transformed in a market, all the streets were covered in vendors trying to sell their wares, and a buzz of activity and people trying to work their way through. They were selling everything there, from car parts to drunk chickens and full grown cows. We also found some meats that you would not normally find in your supermarket back home; entire cow/goat heads, brains, eyes and balls. It was a very cool town, and just a maze of maketsalesmen. Then the time came for our little group to split up, since Chris still wanted to see a lot of stuff, he decided to go to Lago Atitlan a bit earlier. Bob and I stayed for a few more days, after which I joined a three day hike to San Pedro La Laguna, while Bob went on ahead with the bus.
The hike was with an organization that's run entirely by volunteers, and all the profits go to a school in Xela, completely run by honduran teachers, and they even have a "hogar abierto", which is like a boarding school for children that have violence or addiction or something at home, or simply live too far away to make the walk to school every day. Since it was vacation, some of the kids were invited to come along on the hike with us, so they could see a bit of their country, learn where their school was being paid from, and just have fun. Besides the three kids it was a mixed group, quite a few Americans, Brits, an Australian and some Swedes. We got up very early to take the bus to the starting point of the hike. From there we hiked up 800 meters, after which we spend most of our day going down. Since it is raiy season at the end of the day we had to hike through half an hour of rain, but it was fine since we had enough gear and the rain was not too bad. The next day we got up early again to start hiking, which was quite calm at the start, until we arrived at "record hill", a very steep part of the hike, where we would climb 200m as quick as we could. The kids were running throughout the hike, and here they were very fast as well, one almost broke the record! The kids were a lot of fun, their English wasn't that good, but they had fun stories and loved to joke around. That day, near the end of the hike, a downpour started, and we still had an hour and a half to go. At some point we were supposed to cross a river, but it had grown to three times it size, and we just had to wade through. All the tourists were worried that their stuff would get wet, and the kids were having a blast! At one point they were cutting down banana leaves, and using those as a makeshift umbrella. After a while we arrived to our lodging for the night, where everyone desperately tried to dry their shoes and clothing at the campfire. The last day we woke up around 3:00 to get to the mirador (viewpoint) before the sunrise. Once we got to the mirador we took out our sleeping bags and crawled back in, waiting for the first beams of light to appear above the mountains. When the sun finally arrived it was an incredible sight, the entire lake before us turned purple, the clouds were all diferent colours, and there were 3 different vulcanoes in sight. The entire lake is formed in an ancient supervulcano, the eruption that blasted away the vulcano and created the lake was so powerfull that signs of that eruption have been found from Peru to Florida. After breakfast at the mirador we went down to the town for a well deserved cup of coffee, after which we went to San Pedro by pickup.
Having finally arrived in San Pedro, I went to meet up with Bob and Chris. Chris was leaving the next day, since he still wanted to see a lot in both Guatemala and Mexico. Chris was also staying with the host family that once hosted Maaike (my Dutch sister), when she was studying Spanish in San Pedro a few years back. I stayed with them as well, they're lovely people and very helpful. Some home cooked meals are also very nice. I also went to check out the apiaries that the grandfather owns in the hills. That week it was also feria (a fair, it was the day of San Pedro), so there were festivities all around, and dangerous mechanical attractions. They also lit fireworks the entire time. Bob was staying in a hostel, where we would chill most of the time, just relax with the bar staff, play some games of chess and swim in the lake. We also did the pubquiz which was a lot of fun, and in the end we ended up staying at the lake for almost two weeks. We also went to FreeCerveza, another hostel at the other side of the lake, but after one night there we chose to come back to San Pedro. We also visited San Juan and San Marcos. I left to go pick up Thomas, my friend from the Netherlands that was coming to travel with me for a month. I left to Guatemala City, and stayed there for 1 day beforehand, just viewing some museums. It was nice to see a friendly face from back home after having been away for a little while, and talking Dutch didn't even take that much effort! The next stop was Antigua, where we would meet back up with Bob and climb a vulcano together!
Unfortunately Bob got sick, so we spent a bit of time in Antigua enjoying the beautiful cobble streets in a city with so much atmosphere. We went to some very nice restaurants, some cool markets, we hiked up to the mirador, and went to some places nearby. After a few days we decided we'd just do Acatenango with the two of us, since we'd have to move on as well at some point.
We got up early in the morning, had some breakfast and hopped in the van to go climb the vulcano. Since we were able to leave a lot of stuff in the hostel, my backpack was lighter than it had ever been. Our group was made up of some Americans, some other Dutchies and some Brits. Once we got to the start of the climb, we distributed all the food and snacks, got our sticks and went on our way. The first part was pretty steep, but it was mostly solid ground and under the cover of the trees. After a while, and quite a few breaks, we more or less leveled out, only having to climb another hundred meters or so to get to the campsite. Some people at this point were having issues with the altitude, so we had to take a few extra breaks. When we finally arrived at the campsite at 3750m, we had a great view of Fuego (the vulcano that actually erupts), and a very nice hut to sleep in. The guides got to cooking quickly as well, which was very welcome. As the food was getting prepared, the rain started coming in, sending us for shelter in our hut. The entire night it stayed quite rainy and cloudy, but we stayed warm and happy near the fire. As darkness fell, you could see a orange/red glow peaking through the clouds, as the lava was hurtling through the air. We stayed up to near midnight, just to catch a good look at one of the big eruptions. As midnight drew near we finally saw one, and that only reeled us in for more, but finally we had to give in and go to bed. It's an amazing spectacle, the force of nature becomes very appearant when you're standing so close to an active vulcano. The next morning we awoke about an hour before dawn to hike to the summit. The hike was not that hard, and everyone had adjusted to the altitude by now. In the beginning it was pitch black, making our headlamps very useful. After a while the sky turned lighter, and we could see Fuego in all its glory, but it was still dark enough to see the orange glow of the lava. Once we got to the summit it was too light to see much of the glow, but the breathtaking view of the lands before us made us forget all about it. You could see the vulcanoes near the lake, you could see Tajamulco, the highest mountain of central america, which is near Xela. At 4000m we were right above the clouds, and we could slowly watch the sun rise above the clouds. Acatenango is so big it casts a massive shadow over the surrounding area with the sun at the horizon. Then we hiked back to camp, had breakfast and went down back to Antigua. When we got back to Antigua and met up with Bob, who had finally found his way to Antigua as well. He was going to stay in Antigua to do Acatenango, and just relax, Thomas and I would move on. The next day we went on east, to the town of Lanquín to visit Semuc Chempey!
On the way to Lanquín there is a town called Cobán, where we thought we could break up the long ride, and maybe do some nice hiking. However, once we arrived there we couldn't find much to do, but there was a fun Dutch girl in our hostel that was there for her thesis. According to her there was absolutely nothing to do, and we were in the middle of nowhere. So the next day we went to Lanquín. Once we got there, we got yelled at by everyone in a pickup, in case we maybe wanted to go to Semuc. We went to a nice hostel with a lot of room, and relaxed there for a bit, and the next day we went to Semuc, to discover the beautiful natural pools of Semuc. It's in the middle of the jungle, and looks really cool. We met a nice couple in the hostel the day before, and we decided to go to Semuc together. Just hitching a ride with a pickup, having a nice breeze in your face and enjoying the view. First we went for a hike to the mirador, and got an amazing view from above, after which we decended and went for a swim. After we headed back, it was time to plan the next leg of the Journey, to Rio Dulce, our last stop before we'd hit the carribean coast.
There wasn't that much public transport we could find, so it was a few different trips. The first leg was with a local guy, who just brought his entire family along, it seems like we paid for a trip away with the family. It was pretty funny, playing very traditional banda and a very full pickup. People would just jump in the back, tag along for a while, and then get off, paying a few quetzales to the driver. They dropped us off in Fray, from where we had to catch a few more buses to get to Rio Dulce, where we arrived that day just a bit after nightfall. We just picked a hostel to go to, but after one night decided we really needed a change, so we ended up in "the Shack", a little shack out in the river, with a beautiful view over the river, and some nice hammocks. With the carribean setting we were in the mood for some coco locos, coconuts filled with some extra rum. However, they didn't sell coconuts anywhere, so we went on a treasurehunt through town to find some cocos. At one point we saw some nice trees in someones garden, so we asked them if we could have some of the coconuts. It wasn't a problem at all, and they told us to wait there for a bit, and they'd get some. After a while they yelled for us to get over to them, since they couldn't reach high enough with the stick, so they needed some help from us tall Dutchies. Then we just went back to the hostel to chill on the balcony and enjoy the breeze. Outside of the hostel it would be very hot, with scorching temperatures and little wind, so we needed all the respite we could get. There is also a massive bridge going over Rio Dulce, which connects the north of Guatemala with the part south of the river, but all the trucs running over it use Jake breaks, a compression release engine breaking system. This means that the valves open after the compression stroke, releasing the compressed gas with a loud bang, and slowing the vehicle. These bangs would go off all the time, and would disturb our lovely rest in the beginning, but we got used to it pretty quickly.
Then it was on to our final stop in Guatemala, Livingston! It's a very different place from the rest of Guatemala, it's not even connected by any roads, the only way to get there is by boat. The culture is also much less latino, and much more garifuna, the culture of the escaped slaves that settled on the carribean coasts of central america. We arrived to a hostel owned by the same guys as the hostel in San Pedro, and found some nice hammocks to chill in. The bartender there had lived in the states for several years, hitchhiking around and earning his money on the road by selling jokes or other ways to earn some money on the street. The second day there we went for a walk through town, which is very different from the rest of Guatemala, the culture is very different, and most people don't speak Spanish with each other. Walking around the beach we were looking for some coconuts, and that's where we met Jerry, a local guy that grew up in NYC, but now lives part of the year here. He was also a certified tour guide, so the next day he would take us to 'las siete altares' (the seven altars), and then we'd cook together in the afternoon. First he helped us get some good coconuts from the tree, and we were on our way. The pool at the hostel was very nice and refreshing which was very welcome with the heat. The next morning we met up with Jerry, and walked all through the town, with him telling stories about how it used to be. After the town we head up north to the beach, and walk along it for quite a while, until we get to a big garifuna shrine where we head into the jungle. We walk through the river, hiking over waterfalls. There are these amazing natural pools, filled with amazingly cool water which is soo refreshing. We hike up to the big waterfall, before we go for a swim and dive off some clifs. I just had to sit down for a bit and take it all in, it all feels quite normal to me, sometimes I need to remind me what amazing places I'm visiting, and what an incredible experience it is. The last few days in Livingston, we were planning ahead, drinking in the hostel and playing some chess. And then the time had come to leave Guatemala!
To get to our final stop of Utila, we would need to take quite a few different busses and boats. We started with the 5.30 ferry to Puerto Barrios, a big port that's half an hour by boat from Livingston. From there we took the bus to the border, using our final few Quetzales to get there. Unfortunately that meant we hadn't even had breakfast yet! When we got to the Honduran side, we got some food and headed towards Puerto Cortez, a port on the Honduran side. From here we went to San Pedro Sula, and changed bus to La Ceiba. Even though we had left very early, and everything connected pretty well, we still missed the final ferry leaving La Ceiba at 16.00, but we were already expecting to run late. We simply got a hostel and took the ferry the next morning. It had been quite a trip, changing a lot, and all busses took more time than was said beforehand. However, that is to be expected in central america. At one point our bus driver got out, got measured for a new suit, and after 20 minutes we were back on the road. This is a great country to relax, since you can't be in a hurry. However, back to Utila.
We arrived to Utila, and went for some baleadas, typical honduran food that's a big tortilla with beans, cream and cheese inside, and they can add much more to it as well. Then we went on to the diving center, to get set up. The diving center we stayed at had a beautiful own beach, where we'd relax quite a few afternoons. We could start the next day, and we'd have a group of purely Brits and Dutchies, with a British and Dutch instructor as well. Another thing that we learned only in La Ceiba, the day before we got on the ferry, was that this week was carnaval in Utila. This meant there were parties everywhere, and that sunday there would be a massive parade through the town. So the first day of the dive course would just be classroom session in the morning, so that we could enjoy the parade in the afternoon. Utila is an island that has two main attractions, diving and partying. The other bay island, Roatán, is more family friendly, but also a bit more expensive. The first morning session it was clear that most people from our group were enjoying the carnaval festivities, and getting up early to put their noses in their books was quite a challenge. All in all we got through it pretty quick, and went on to the parade. We started on one beach, where we all gathered with carnaval wagons. They were loaded up with speakers, coolers and of course massive decorations. It was much more a carribean style carnaval, and was very colourful, but mostly filled with drunk tourists. The parade then made its way to the town, and people lined up to take a look at the wagons. We walked the entire street, down to the other beach. However, unfortunately I fell and hurt my foot pretty badly before we got to the other beach, so I carefully made my way back to the dive center and laid down.
The next day we started with our confined dives, these were done in very shallow water, between two and three meters. We had to run through several lists of exercises and did 5 confined dives. It was a very cool experience to stay underwater for so long, I'm quite used to swimming, but breathing through the regulator does feel a little strange the first time, but you get used to it pretty quickly. It also didn't feel that trapping, being reliant on this tank of air for my life. With a group, there are plenty of people that can assist, and then you just calmly solve the problem. The next day we got to the actual open water dives, which were very cool! We would do a bit of instruction, and then dive around and just explore the reef. We saw a lot of different fish, and amazing reef mazes and cliffs. The next day was another open water dive, and we also took some videos underwater with a gopro, although unfortunately this one couldn't go to a depth of 18m, so we had to stay closer to the surface. I also brought my Dutch flag while traveling, so I took it with us diving, and Thomas and I were swimming along with the flag, between all the brits. After having done all the open water dives we were done with the course, having learned what we need to dive with a buddy and a divemaster. We also got two fun dives as part of the package, but we chose to do a night dive instead. It was really cool! We started the dive when it wasn't completely dark yet, and dove around a wreck, with torches in hand. Then we'd explore the reef, with all the creatures of the night lurking around. For the final 15-20 minutes we gathered together floating above the reef, and then we turned off all our torches. After a little bit our eyes started to adjust to the dark, and suddenly we could see a crazy amount of bioluminescence. Everyone just started waving their hands around to see the water light up. When we got back from the night dive they were doing the dive master initiation. After finishing the dive master course, they become full dive masters, but first they humiliate them with various tasks in front of the entire dive school.
Then we just had two more days in Utila before we'd head to Roatán, to say goodbye to Thomas, who'd fly back from there. We found time for one more dive before heading off. Then the next day we took the ferry to Roatán, and went of to the airport. And so there was the start of a new chapter. With Thomas going home I would start traveling alone. It had been a great month, and a lot of fun traveling together. After saying our goodbyes I got on the ferry to La Ceiba. The plan was to head to lago Yojoa and relax there for a bit, since my foot was still healing from my fall in Utila. I would just need to stay with my feet up for a few weeks, and then hopefully I'd be ready to go. In La Ceiba I met some people that were also staying in our hostel in Utila, and they were also headed for the lake. The next morning we all got on a bus together to San Pedro Sula, from where we got on another bus south. Arrived at the lake, I went to a brewery/lodge, in the middle of the jungle, with very nice hammocks and some cute cats. I didn't do too much these days, mostly just reading or watching series and inviting other guests for a game of chess. It was a very nice place, but after a while I grew tired of always the same, and not being able to do anything because I shouldn't walk. So after a bit over a week I went to San Pedro Sula to stay there for a few more days until I would start teaching.
I stayed at a nice hostel called La Hamaca, and during the day there were only a handful of people, so I'd just chill in the AC and watch some netflix. As soon as the bar opened a ton of honduran people would come in, and I'd go hang out and talk with them. The people here are so friendly and welcoming, and there is so much I don't know about honduras, it's great to get to know some more through the locals.
Then after four days the volunteer coordinator Phoebe and her boyfriend Charlie arrived, picking me up from their way to the airport. After half an hour we got to Cofradía, my new home for the next few months. It's a small town of only something like 40.000 people, but most of the roads aren't even paved. Honduras is the poorest country of all of central america, and it shows. In Utila it was pure tourism, so you don't see the real Honduras. Here you can see the poverty, many people find it very dificult to find jobs, and the English level of most people is very low to non existent. But when we arrived we simply went to the house and to go get some food. The next morning we already started early with kindercamp! The new kids for the year don't have any experience with school yet, so before the school actually starts, we (try to) teach the kids how to behave in the classroom. We got there early in the morning, and the kids started arriving. The parents were saying goodbye in the classroom, which made the start of the morning quite a bit more dificult. The kids would cry when their parent would try and leave, so the parent would come back, and in the end it was around 45 minutes before the final parents left the classroom. One kid was a funny guy, as he was sitting next to a kid that had almost started crying, he turned to the kid and said "Hey, your dad just left" after which said kid immediately started crying full beans again. The first day in general was a lot of crying and screaming, with some children kicking on the ground as well. They were verry cute, but their first day away from the parents wasn't easy. Especially with the kids that didn't have an older brother or sister at the school. The kids weren't used to having to stay in the classroom for a set time, so sometimes they would just try and leave the classroom, while declaring (or crying) that they wanted to go home. One kid wanted to get hugged, otherwise he would be crying, so we had been carrying him around for a while as well. However, at one point he just started peeing his pants while I was holding it, so that was enough for that day for me.
Since it was just getting used for the kids the days were short, and the first afternoon we went to the airport to pick up Laure, a new member for our teacher group. She was born in the Netherlands, but grew up in France. Usefull to sometimes have someone to speak Dutch to, before I completely forget. She's just finished highschool, so she's a bit younger than the rest of the teachers. That night Tom arrived, he's from the states as well, a long time friend of Charlie. We have 4 Toms in our entire group of teachers, but the other Toms haven't arrived yet.
The next day we got the parents away a lot quicker, did some songs with dance, and got to know the kids a bit better as well. One is a mischievious little devil, going around stealing everybodies toys and chairs. Sometimes she would just grab someones toys, just to give them to someone else, or throw them away. During recess the kids would run around and climb on everything, teachers included. The third day we stopped the parents at the gate, so that the kids would not have the goodbye in the classroom. This worked really well, since they would usually get some 5-10 meters before they'd start crying, and then we could usually work them into the classroom where they'd calm down playing with toys. Some kids were already almost not saying goodbye to their parents, just wanting to get on with it and play with their toys. The fourth day everything went pretty smoothly, but the final day the parents had brought a ton of treats, cake and pizza, which we thought they would organise, but it turned out this was on us, so that caused quite a bit of chaos. In the end it was a fun week, but quite exhausting with 30 little kids running around. The week ended with Michèle arriving. She's a girl from Germany, who's gonna teach here for a month or a bit more. She's a social worker back home and will be teaching kinder and prepa here, the two youngest grades before they start the actual school. The weekend we just relaxed in cofradia, getting to know the town a bit more.
The next week we started teacher training, we went to school, but generally didn't teach yet, just getting instruction and tips from Phoebe, our coordinator. We did end up teaching some classes, as we wanted to to sit in on some classes, and then it turned out they didn't have a teacher for the hour, so we'd just teach them for a bit. We also discussed a lot of stuff back home, so that we'd be prepared for when we would actually stand in front of the class. Now last weekend we've been preparing our first classes which were today.
It went pretty smoothly, but the difference between the kids in some classes is quite big. I'd also like to do some projects with the kids (brew beer and make non-newtonian fluids). Charlie and I also started a computer club, where we'll teach the kids python. So far the kids have been quite interested it seems, but they're also a bit busy outside of school, so for the first meeting we only had 2 kids. Now we're all back home preparing stuff for our classes of tomorrow. Over the coming weeks more teachers will arrive, which means that we won't have to cover as many classes, taking some of our workload off, and giving the kids more consistent teachers.
I'm looking forward to how my next few months here will turn out. I will definitely be staying in Honduras a lot longer than I originally planned, but I'm sure it will be absolutely worth it.

That's it folks, I'll probably give another update in a month or so!