Migration North: Final Thoughts and Reflections

As I sat on the shore of the Pacific Ocean yesterday, I watched the beautiful sight of hundreds of migrating birds heading north for the summer. It occurred to me then that just before this trip, I sat watching these same transient birds heading south for the winter. I smiled to myself, realizing that I had officially completed the goal I’ve been dreaming of since I was thirteen-years-old: I had successfully missed winter by spending six months traveling in Latin America. 

With only hours until our return to the United States, Alex and I are both in the reflection stage of the trip; our thoughts on the volunteer experience, how we have changed the lives of other people, how we, ourselves have been changed by the people and experiences we’ve encountered, and the valuable lessons we’ve learned from immersing ourselves in a foreign culture. We truly realize how fortunate we are to have experienced such as life-changing adventure as this and the doors we’ve opened for ourselves by doing so.  

Our final sunset in Xela 

A friend of ours from Holland was spending time in Guatemala compiling research for his Masters in Psychology. He was studying the relationships formed between volunteers and the indigenous people and both Alex and I were able to sit down with him and have a great conversation about our thoughts on the relationship. This was a great way to wrap up our volunteer experience because we were urged to recall our escapades in Peru (which seems so long ago!) and the adventures we’ve had here in Guatemala. Our friend also asked us to reflect on incidences during our trip that made us uncomfortable or that we weren’t completely thrilled with. And while no one likes uncomfortable situations or being unhappy, I believe it is under these circumstances in which we often grow and learn the most.

All in all, I believe the volunteer experience is a fantastic way to not only see the world but to also integrate oneself in the culture and day-to-day life of native people. However, like many things in this world, the end result is heavily dependent on the input of effort and enthusiasm. We volunteered through a young, non-profit organization and that lacked organization and structure. Metaphorically speaking, the organization built for us a sturdy, plain house but what we put into that house was completely up to us. For example, in Guatemala I was taken to a school that was in need of an English teacher. Yet, what I wanted to teach them, the activities we did and how I wanted to precede in actual teaching aspect was entirely on me. Yes, I realized I was a little in over-my-head but this only encouraged me to swim to the top. I was pushed out of my comfort zone and challenged in ways that helped me evolve as a person.

Doing the robot and looking like a fool -
it was totally worth it. 

One of my main goals for this trip was to change the lives of others. This has been a big pondering topic for me during these last few weeks simply because I’m not sure I wanted to change the lives of other people so much as I wanted to make an impression on them. The vast majorities of the people I’ve encountered on this trip have beautiful lives just the way they are. Why would I want to change that? More than anything I realized I wanted to make a positive impression - a positive difference.  In Peru, after learning how the orphans functioned as a family, I understood that changing their way of life wasn’t going to accomplish anything, for, just like every family, they have their own structure.  So my motives shifted; instead of changing their lives or their way of living, I just wanted to impress upon them love, attention and encouragement. Despite the fact their parents abandoned them or couldn’t take care of them, I tried to show up everyday and give them the love and attention they so longed for. I brought arts and crafts projects everyday to encourage their creativity and through that to build and strengthen their individuality. Looking back on it now, I’m confident I succeeded in my goal. I’ll never forget a girl who, upon arriving at the orphanage, had incredibly low self-confidence and was afraid to do anything on her own. I had to help her step-by-step with every project. By the time I left she was more creative and independent than I ever imagined and I like to think it was partly the positive impression I made on her. Volunteering in Guatemala faced me with few more challenges than in Peru – not only was I forced to speak in Spanish ninety-nine percent of the time in order for the students to learn anything in English but I also felt responsible for their learning. To say this task was occasionally frustrating would be a major understatement. I quickly realized I wasn’t going to accomplish anything without patience and understanding. After issuing out the final exam on my last day, the students threw me a surprise party where they made tacos, fruit salad and cake and while we were all enjoying the tasty treats, many of the students stood up and expressed how much they appreciated me. What I cherished most was that every single student acknowledged and showed appreciation for the patience and friendship I showed them throughout my time at the school. To hear them say that made every sickness, every uncomfortable situation, every over-charged bus ride – just hearing those words alone - made the entire trip worth it.

Our house in Xela

I like to believe that there is a strong parallel between how I’ve influenced others and how others have influenced me. Through working with girls at the orphanage in Peru and teaching students in Guatemala, I believe I’ve grown incredibly grateful for the flexibility and value of patience. I treasure how far a little bit of patience can take you. Without our host families, we wouldn’t have had nearly the experience we did and I’ve learned so much from them as well. Their ability to open their house, hearts and lives to us was incredibly admirable and I only hope I can show that kind of hospitality in my future.

The list of lessons learned and values appreciated is quite extensive but what tops the list is how much Alex and I have gained a great admiration and respect for the accessibility of travel. Six months ago, hopping on and riding a chicken bus through an entire country seemed practically impossible. Now we feel lost without those busses: they were our main form of transportation.

With this said, I’ll end by saying how much I’ve learned to cherish the extraordinary. All to frequently in this life, we allow the extraordinary to become ordinary. Three months ago, I stood mouth-agape as I watched indigenous Guatemalan women balance incredible objects atop their heads as they climbed through the city streets – it was such an extraordinary sight to see and I couldn’t believe my eyes. However, by the end of our time in Xela, I would pass by a woman carrying an impressive load and hardly notice her. It is this alone that feeds the want for travel. We so quickly become accustomed to the extraordinary and therefore are constantly in search for new, remarkable experiences. And while I believe I’ve caught this bug – this constant search for the extraordinary – part of me is excited to return home to the ordinary things I love so much and have gained much more respect for.

I’m afraid to write the words that will end this blog because it truly indicates our adventure to South America is coming to close. We’ve had so many absolutely monumental experiences during this trip - memories were made that will last a lifetime. And while I feel like saying goodbye to this country tomorrow will be like saying goodbye to a wonderful friend, I can’t help but feel the jittery excitement of knowing I can start planning my next trip.

Mayan Adventure: Río Dulce and Flores

After nearly five hours on a bumpy, four-wheel-drive-only backroad we descended into the lush river basin of Río Dulce, Guatemala’s most pristine river that flows into the Gulf of Honduras. Our shuttle driver dropped Alex and I, along with the enjoyable Australian couple we shared the ride with, off at our stay for the night, Hotel Backpackers. This old, rickety wood structure is planted firmly on the banks of the river and is run by orphans in which all the proceeds made at the hotel go to support. Not long after our arrival a massive, unseasonal rainstorm hit and the clear sound of rain steadily falling on the rusty, tin roof and pattering on the palm leaves outside our room quickly lulled both of us into a glorious nap. We were awaken by loud music coming from the hotel’s restaurant and, after deciding it was about feeding time again, made our way to dinner. Little did we know the restaurant’s loud music was accompanied by swarms of vacationing Guatemalan’s dancing salsa and merengue to the club-like music and quaffing Gallo by the gallons (Gallo is the Guatemala beer equivalent to that of Bud Light… tasteless and ubiquitous.) It was like Dinner and a Show! We spotted the Australian couple across the restaurant and ended up spending the rest of the night with them sharing wine, stories, and a lot of laughs… not to mention proudly representing the only Gringos in the joint.

Rollin' down Río Dulce

            We woke up early on Thursday morning and despite the unrelenting rain hopped aboard a lancha headed for the coast town of Livingston. The hour and a half boat ride left us soaking wet but absolutely astonished by the beauty that is Río Dulce – no wonder it’s named Sweet River. We motored along, admiring the green, dense hills that greeted the riverbanks and the white chalk-like cliffs peppered with topical plants and trees that boarded the jade-green water. Various species of seabirds swooped, dove and glided over the water in search of food. When our boat popped out into the bay, it was as if we were no longer in the dry, hectic Guatemala we’ve come to know: we were transplanted in the vibrantly colorful, sailboat-laden, palm-tree-rich Caribbean town of Livingston.

Livingston, Guatemala

Gulf of Honduras 

            Livingston is unique to Guatemala not only because of its beautiful location (which is only reachable by boat) but it’s also home to the Garifuna people. Garifunas are black-skinned, Caribbean descendants who, when the Spanish invaded the Caribbean, sought refuge on the shore of Guatemala. They have their own language, also called Garifuna, and do not consider themselves Guatemalans.

        After docking, Alex and I meandered through the colorful streets and soaked our feet in the warm, Caribbean waters, soaking in Livingston’s unusual culture. Upon our search for lunch we were greeted by a friendly, English speaking, Garifuna man who insisted we eat in the Garifuna village and try some typical cuisine. An hour later we were slopping up a delicious bowl of Tapado and savoring the flavorful Pescado Frito. All the while talking to our new friend about the history and culture of Livingston. With full, happy stomachs we hobbled our way back through the lively town to meet our boat and headed back up the enchanting river to Río Dulce.

Rope swinging in Flores

Beautiful town of Flores

Sunset over Lago Peten Itza

           That evening we caught a local bus up to the lake-island town of Flores, a major hub for people visiting the popular Maya ruins of Tikal. With our Tikal tour scheduled for Saturday, we’d initially planned on just kickin’ back on the docks and getting a feel for Flores on Friday. That was, until a couple at our hostel told us about a crazy waterslide and rope swing we should visit. Being the big-thrill type of people we are, Alex and I took them up on their suggestion and on Friday afternoon, after paying for an overpriced lancha, were toted across the lake to the Zoological Park and home of this “crazy waterslide.” Upon our first go at the waterslide, we quickly realized that no warning from our friends could have prepared us for the pure extremeness of this slide. I am, in no way, exaggerating when I say that this slide was, hands-down, the fastest, most terrifying waterslide I have ever been on in my life. It wasn’t steep, there was only one big curve, and hardly any water was being drizzled down, so it remains a mystery as to how or why this slide was so ridiculous. There are no words suitable enough for this experience – please refer to the video for a better idea. Our extreme afternoon left us wiped and considering we had two-thirty AM wake-up call for our sunrise tour of Tikal, we called it a day shortly after the breathtaking sun set over Lago Petén Itzá.

Temple III in the moonlight

          Two-thirty came awfully early but was totally worth it as our group set foot on the sacred Mayan grounds in the coal-black of early morning. We walked through the park for nearly a half an hour, spotting massive ruins outlined by the light of the moon as we went. The eerie silence only added to the magic of the experience… that is, until the Howler Monkeys began their morning cry. If you’ve ever heard a Howler, you will understand when I say that, upon the monkey’s first shrill, I screamed and ran in whatever direction was opposite of the terrifying sound. To give you an idea of what this unimaginable roar sounds like, I can tell you that the producers of Jurassic Park combined the howl of a howler monkey with the roar of a lion to create the sound of T-Rex. This initial bellow thundered through the jungle sparking a chorus of howls that lasted until just after the sun rose. Our guide informed us that the monkey’s howl is considered the “Jungle’s Alarm Clock” because they begin their cry every morning at five-thirty on the dot.

Sunrise over Tikal 

Minutes after sunrise

Beautiful, wild toucans

           As dawn broke, our group climbed to the top of one of the tallest temples in the Mayan world, Temple IV, and settled our eyes on the eastern horizon as the sun crept closer to our special spot in the world. I will never forget the tranquility I experienced sitting atop that Temple, as howler monkeys called forth the sun and dense fog lifted from the jungle’s canopy. Just as the big, grapefruit sun broke the surface of the horizon, a flock of wild, vibrant toucans settled in a nearby tree to admire Mother Nature’s show. It was truly remarkable.

Mama and baby Spider Monkey 

Temple III 

          Our guide led us from temple to temple until we were set free to explore the park on our own.  Considering it was only about eight in the morning, we still had most of the park to ourselves which made the experience that much cooler – instead of feeling like just another tourist, it was like we were exploring these ruins for the first time. Bopping around from ruin to ruin, as Spider Monkey mothers and their babies fed in the tree tops above us, and the heat of the day grew more intense was definitely a highlight of our Guatemalan adventure. And while I will recommend Tikal to anyone visiting Guatemala, there is something about the park that is a bit disappointing. There are over seven thousand temples and ruins in Tikal but only a handful have been excavated because the government doesn’t have money to spend on excavations. I could only imagine the treasures to be found in the thousands of uncovered ruins – for all we know, one of them could contain an artifact that says, “Just kidding, the end of the world actually isn’t until 2021. Turns out the sculptor of our calendar had a hint of dyslexia.”

Infront of the Grand Plaza 

My personal favorite - Temple V

Alex in front of Temple II

  As you can tell, our big Mayan adventure and Semana Santa travels were, yet again, quite incredible. One Pacific Coast, one mountain cave, a handful of limestone pools, one sweet river, one Caribbean coast, hundreds of Mayan ruins and forty-four total hours of bus riding later, and we’re back in Xela.

The route during our week of awesomeness

Expect. More. Adventures.

Thanks for reading!

Mayan Adventure: Tilapita and Semuc Champey

Tilapita pacific coast

           Happy belated Easter! I hope everybody had an Easter full of family, egg hunting, and sugar highs.   As you can imagine our Easter this year has been a bit different.  The week before Easter Sunday, Semana Santa, most schools, families, and organizations take a week or half-week vacation, which is pretty much the Guatemalan spring break.  This left Sarah and I with the opportunity to head out to some of the destinations of Guatemala that we had left on our checklist.  Although there were no hidden eggs and chocolate gorging we had the opportunity to explore and that was enough for us.  We started our travels the weekend before Samana Santa officially started.  Sarah was eager for some beach time so we decided to head out to the Pacific coast.  After surveying some Guatemalans on the closest and prettiest beach, we headed westbound towards a town called Tilapita.  Tilapita is a small beach community with one hotel located just south of the Mexican boarder.  To get to Tilapita you have to get to the neighbor town of Tilapa and take a lancha (skinny boat) on the inlet to Tilapita.  It took us four hours and two busses to get to Tilapa.  We arrived after sundown Friday so we had to settle for a cheap motel since the lancha drivers were about half way into a twelve pack of beer by that time.   Sarah and I didn’t mind because we got a chance to mix with the locals gathered at a corner tienda with a movie being played outside.  The tienda was serving beer, quesadillas, snacks, and most importantly milkshakes.  I’m going to rant a little bit about these milkshakes because the guy made whatever you wanted with whatever fruits he had on hand and for only 7 Quetzales (which is lest than a dollar!).   Served in a bag to go (or if you were drunk) or in a nice fishbowl glass.  He even topped your smoothie off with what was left over in the blender.  To this day we frequently crave his milkshakes.  Anyway, I am done ranting about milkshakes. 

Our hotel on the sea

Lancha ride to Tilapita

            We woke up Saturday morning and took a lancha along the inlet to Tilapita.  Everyone knew where we were going because there was only one hotel there and, not surprisingly, everyone seemed to know each other.  We knew we were in the right place for relaxation when we showed up and there were no paved roads and travel was done only on the sand by motorcycles or four wheelers.  Once settled into our room, we spent the rest of the day on the beach.  The beach was unlike anything we have ever seen.  First of all, the sand was black.  Second, the waves were huge and the undertow was dangerous.  We talked to a little girl that warned us that swimming was dangerous, and just the day before a person drowned in the riptide.  We settled for sweating it out in the sun and hot sand and taking shallow dips.  That evening we saw arguably one of the most beautiful sunsets either of us has ever seen.  We shared a bottle of wine and enjoyed the sundown and relished in the beauty that was away from all the tourism and people gathered in the cities for the week of celebration.

Black sand

            











            The next day we enjoyed the beach until it got too hot and then took off back to Xela to get ready for our week of travel to the rest of Guatemala.  We wanted to go to Semuc Champey next but in our classic way we had no plans of travel or hotel reservations on what seemed like the biggest week of the year for Guatemalans.   As soon as we got back in Xela late that afternoon we started calling and making reservations on a payphone in the street.  Mom would have been proud.  We surprisingly had no problems setting up hostel reservations and all we had left to worry about was our travel.

            Monday morning we took a chicken bus to Antigua, the Mecca of tourism and travel in Guatemala, to try and find a shuttle to Semuc Champey.  We ended up finding a shuttle and after enjoying lunch in Antigua we were headed off to the Jungle.  As with all things in Central American travel you should expect the unexpected.  An oil truck had turned over on the mountain highway heading north, which left us in our shuttle waiting for two hours as the Guatemalan police figured out what to do.  Eventually we passed on but extremely delayed with another four hours left to go in our drive.  We finally arrived to the town of Lanquin around eleven thirty at night where the driver stopped at the Zephyer lodge hostel to drop off the other couple in our shuttle.  It was only then did he tell us that he was not going to take Sarah and I to our hostel.  Granted I didn’t doubt him since our hostel reservation was another thirty minutes down the unpaved jungle road in the rain.  Zephyer lodge hostel had only two beds left and we had no problems taking them. 

Guatemalan rigged caving sandals

River view outside the caves

            The tour we signed up for included a cave exploration by candlelight and also a tour of the Limestone pools of Semuc Champey.  The next morning we jumped in the back of pick up truck with about ten other people from the hostel to head out to the national park.  As soon as we showed up we were laced up with some fancy Guatemalan style caving sandals and equipped with a candle.  So the tour was advertised as a cave exploration with the knowledge of the fact that in one small part of the tour you had to swim with the candle above your head.  But, since it had rained the whole night before, we soon found out that our experience was going to be a swimming cave tour, in that order.  During the tour we swam in deep water pools along stalagmites and stalactites, climbed up and down a waterfall, jumped off the cave wall into a deep pool, and dropped through a mysterious small hole into a pool, all the meanwhile holding a candle above our heads.  I have to admit everyone was a bit sketched out at first, but once you went in over your head, you were in for the adventure. 

Rope swing 

Trying Cocoa

Baby pineapple 

Birds eye view

            We made it out of the cave and headed to the rope swing and bridge for a little fun in the river before we hiked to the limestone pools.  The water was a nice aqua blue color and was begging to be jumped into.  We did a couple swings into the river and jumped off the bridge which kept the adrenaline pumping from the caves.  We had to hike up to the park about twenty minutes and when we got there our guide bought a cocoa pod and broke it open for us to suck on the raw seeds and taste the flavor.  There were kids selling chocolates, which were delicious and natural since the cocoa plants were growing everywhere.  We ate some lunch and then hiked up to the mirador (overlook) of the pools to get the birds eye view.  It was amazing how beautiful this place was with its limestone green and blue pools almost glowing out of the jungle valley floor.  We hiked down and got an hour to explore the pools.  I got to cliff jump into the pool and then Sarah and I went from pool to pool jumping off rocks and sliding down limestone slides.  Sufficiently cold and explored out, we made our way out of the park snapping photos as we went. 

Where the river runs underground

One of the pools

Waterfall on the way out

Shower with a view

            We piled back into the pickup truck to head back to the hostel for a well-needed shower and well-deserved beer before dinner.  The hostel was a great atmosphere with a chicken BBQ dinner and great company kept us happy until sleep crept up and took over.  We had a shuttle to catch the next morning to head east over to Rio Dulce.  The road to Rio Dulce is an off road trail for five and a half hours that is impassible when it rains, so we knew that we had another day of endless possibilities ahead of us.