Postcards Home
Yucatan to Guatemala
RetIRee BACkPACk AdVeNtuRe
San Pedro volcano viewed from SANtA CRuZ lA lAGuNA — across the lake from the town of SAN PedRO. The lake is about 20 km long and 10 km wide and has a dozen population centres of various sizes.
A view of lAke AtItlAN ANd VOlCAN SAN PedRO, GuAtemAlA, from the top of INdIAN NOSe. The town of san pedro spreads out to the point on the shore 2,000 feet below and behind us. left to right: stephanie (Calgary), Dolfino (guide), mary and me (David anderson).
Colourful flOReS, GuAtemAlA, is built on an island in a lake. originally a mayan town when the spanish came, it is the gateway to Tikal, an ancient mayan city ruin which began about 400 bC.
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ach year, Mary and I take a trip to ‘somewhere exotic,’ striving to avoid ‘vanilla’ tourism.
This winter, our destination was Guatemala, where we infused our time with a greater purpose than simply escape — by committing to study Spanish for a month. Both retired and in our early 60s, we challenged ourselves by backpacking using public transport. What could be more adventurous? We began with a flight to Cancun, a good jumping-off point for bus adventure to Guatemala’s gorgeous Lake Atitlan. Spanish schools are concentrated in several lakeside towns. Travelling by bus in Mexico is both economical and comfortable — if you avoid the dreaded ‘chicken’ buses. We did, by choosing reasonably priced deluxe buses. Moving south through the Yucatan, we stayed at Puerto Morelos, Tulum (with its Mayan ruins), and Chetumal, a ‘non-