Trip Report: Guatemala & Belize in March/April 2022

Old Sep 12th, 2022, 05:37 AM
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Trip Report: Guatemala & Belize in March/April 2022

Better late than never, here's a trip report from our March/April adventures.

We flew out of Portland, OR through DFW, arriving at GUA around 9:30pm. We stayed one night at our favorite little hotel 2 minutes from the airport, Villa Toscana. Our favorite driver, Alfredo Garcia, drove us to Panajachel the next morning where we caught a lancha across the lake to San Pedro La Laguna. We have a little home there that we built 8 years ago on the top of the home of dear friends. They are adding on to their part of the house so due to the construction we stayed on the lake outside of town in a one bedroom apartment they own.

We were only there 10 days but packed in a lot: hikes along the lake and to the San Juan mirador, hiking and birding to see resplendent quetzals with guide Rolando Tol Gonzalez in the Reserva Tepepul Rey near Santiago Atitlán, a friend’s birthday party with traditional music, meals out with local and expat friends, markets and coffee shops, visiting Beca Project (our scholarship and social aid nonprofit) students and families, a traditional temascal (Maya sweat bath), and a final adventure with our best Guatemaleco friends that included a short stay in Antigua (Posada La Merced with meals as Casa de Sopa and Fernando’s) and the Pacaya volcano hike.



We slept our last night next to the airport at Villa Toscana and flew from GUA to BZE and on to Caye Caulker where we stayed at our favorite beach place, Colinda Cabañas. My husband enjoyed flyfishing, I enjoyed diving, and we both enjoyed snorkeling, buying fish from local docks to prepare it ourselves for dinner, and - always - a wonderful dinner out at our favorite restaurant on the island, Wish Willy.



We flew from Caye Caulker to the municipal airport and on to Dangriga where we were picked up by the Bocawina Rainforest Lodge people for their amazing Antelope Adventure. This includes a challenging hike, gorgeous views, a refreshing swim in a waterfall pool, and then rappelling down the face of a series of big waterfalls. Fabulous! After lunch they delivered us to our next stop, Placencia Villas in the heart of Placencia Village. We had stayed there 10 years before on our previous visit to Placencia, still great.

In addition to exploring the town and several great meals out, we took the Hokey Pokey water taxi across to Independence/Mango Creek where we were met by local birding guide Chelso Cho for a drive to Red Bank Village and birding in the hills above it. Even though we were too late to see scarlet macaws there, we saw lots of birds and other critters - a day well spent. Mike had a day of flyfishing with Wayne Castellanos (also a repeat of our 2012 trip) and he caught a permit; if you know anything about saltwater flyfishing you know what a prize that is.

We hired William the Taxi Guy from Independence to meet us at the other end of the Hokey Pokey and he took us to the Belize Spice Farm for a tour before dropping us at Beya Suites in Punta Gorda. Mike went out fishing 2 days with Alex from Garbutt's. I strolled around town and through the market, enjoyed good local food, and visited Hickatee Cottages outside of town where we've stayed several times in the past for a nice jungle hike and a visit to the butterfly farm.

Maya Island Air was amazing and honored more than $400 of flight credit from a cancelled 2020 trip but they don't fly from Punta Gorda to BZE again yet, so we flew on Tropic to Placencia and stayed a night at Beachside Villas north of town ahead of our flight to BZE and home - a beautiful, relaxing way to end the trip.

We loved it all! Here's a link to the blogpost for the trip - lots of photos and more context including links to lodging and guides.
Hopefulist in Latin America: GUATEMALA & BELIZE 2022

And here's a link to my photo collections including this visit:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/stacey...n/collections/

I'm happy to answer questions if you have any! Happy trails!
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Old Sep 12th, 2022, 08:06 AM
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Thank you for this trip report on some of my favourite places (Antigua! Pacaya! Caye Caulker!)

Best wishes,

Daniel
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Old Apr 30th, 2023, 02:12 PM
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Some questions

Thank you for the nice trip report. I’m planning a Guatemala trip for early September with four nights in each of Guatemala City, Antigua, and Quetzaltenango, and since you invited questions, and if you’re even still following this “thread” (and if you’re reading this, you evidently are), I thought I would post an inquiry about lodgings you would suggest in those cities. (I've made note of Posada La Merced, but maybe you know of others.)

My preference is for attractive, independent, mid-range hotels and guest houses, preferably in a city’s historic center when it’s safe. Nice lodgings that fit in well with their neighborhoods, as distinct from big “world-class” hotels that look as if they’ve landed from outer space. It’s better if I can make a reservation directly, through e-mail or the hotel’s own website. (I may be hopelessly old-fashioned, but I don’t like the mechanical anonymity of making reservations through “consolidator” sites like “Booking,” though I realize it can’t always be avoided.) And if only Spanish is spoken, I’ll take that as an additional good sign.

I won’t require restaurant recommendations; for one thing, I prefer the discovery process of just walking around and picking places out; and second, I’m not much of a “foodie” anyway — if Guatemala offers “comida tipica” of the same contents and good quality as what I can find in neighboring Honduras, that’s probably what I’ll have most of the time.

I should add that this trip is not certain yet; it hinges to some degree on how well a certain dental issue goes this summer. Still, I’m planning in advance so that if all goes well, I’ll be ready just to dive in.

Thank you in advance. (Incidentally, I've noted the Villa Toscana, but perhaps you know of good places-- as I defined them -- further into the city.)

Last edited by Faedus; Apr 30th, 2023 at 02:24 PM.
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Old May 1st, 2023, 01:05 AM
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The system sent me an email about your addition to this thread so here I am! I just returned from a 3+ week trip to Guatemala and stayed at Villa Toscana in Guatemala City and Posada La Merced in Antigua again, 3 nights split between arrival and departure and 2 nights, respectively. I also visited the Tikal and Yaxhá Maya sites in the north and spent a long weekend in Departamento Huehuetenango with friends to visit the beautiful lakes and cenotes near the border with México. I spent most of 3 weeks on Lake Atitlán - I have my own place there. I don't have other lodging personal recommendations for you but there are lots of options in all 3 cities. I choose to stay 2 minutes from the airport in Guatemala City because I'm always flying in really late or leaving really early in the morning if I stay in the city. In Xela my only overnight stay was 6 years ago and it was a hostal-esque place with friends which I don't think would suit you, although the building was lovely. Frankly, you'll get more responses if you start your own thread on the Trip Advisor forum - many more travelers and posters who frequent or live in Guatemala there. https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowForu...Guatemala.html

Not a town/village person? Lake Atitlán is the highlight of the country for me and I love Tikal enough to have visited 7 or 8 times. Have a great trip, whatever you decide!
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Old May 1st, 2023, 08:24 PM
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hopefulist: Thank you much for taking the time to respond; I appreciate it. It appears that my omission of Lake Atitlan surprised you — actually, I did see the lake (plus some near-by communities) once, though that was 40 years ago; and while it merits re-visiting, I find that my most rewarding trips are those off the conventional tourist paths. I know that Antigua is securely on one of them, but then, I happen to like aesthetic, well-preserved Spanish-colonial cities; and anyway, Antigua is so easy and convenient to get to, it seems it would actually require some effort to miss it.
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Old May 1st, 2023, 11:40 PM
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To each his/her own! I find it easier to connect on a personal level with locals and the local culture in small towns than in big cities and (being from the Columbia River Gorge) am a nut for gorgeous views, hiking, and birding - I'm not much of a city person. Enjoy your trip!
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