She's a beauty!

Okay....being the dog lovers that we are, you know we couldn't resist posting something about the dogs we have seen in Guatemala. They are everywhere...and I mean everywhere....I swear that there are 2 dogs per person. Most of them are street dogs and most are friendly. We were lucky to be staying wit the cutest and most friendly dog in Panajachel. Her name was Nyasa and she is Fransiska's dog (that is not the dog pictured above)...she protected us at night and followed us around during the day...on the day we left she followed us to the bus station and then when the bus drove off she chased after the bus...all the way to the edge of the city...she was fast! It is was so cute (and of course I was crying becuase it was sad to leave such a great pup)!

However, in addition to meeting Nyasa we also met the world's ugliest dog (pictured above)...we encountered this "beauty" in Santiago where (we have decided) all the ugly dogs go to live. It was hard to choose, but when we saw this pup we knew that we had found our winner~ There is a show on Animal Planet called " The World's Ugliest Dog" and we feel very stongly that this pup would make the top ten!

Tikal and Flores--We don't mess around

Our alarm went off at 4am and were met not with the familiar sound of an alarm, but the sound from a scary movie. We were sleeping in a bungalow in the jungle so the noise sounded like a very hungry large animal. Chris was sure it was a jaguar. It turned out to be only the howler monkeys. We then headed to our early morning tour of Tikal at 4:45 AM. It was a fast sprint through the forest with headlight on and up some steep steps to reach the top of the largest monument. We sat silently with all the rest of the tourist while we waited for the sun to rise on Tikal. We were above the tree canopy and saw the clouds break and the other tall monuments appeared while toucans and parrots flew by. It was amazing. We then got lucky and were in a small tour group only 7 oppose to the large 30 plus set up by our lodge. Our guide Antonio was very knowledgeable about Tikal. The monuments were built 700BC and the civilization lasted until 900AD. We went to several different sites and climbed up on another one under the direction of our guide who was such a character we gave him the nickname "Captain Ron."
After the tour we headed to Flores a beautiful small town on an island connected by a bridge. You could walk the whole town in five minutes, but it was filled with restaurants, bars, and hotels. Chris and I stayed in the bare budget $10 a night keep the lights turned off, don't touch anything, don't even think about taking a shower, and we suggest a few beers before you have to go home. We took an hour private boat tour for $12 and enjoyed a cold beer and the sunset. Yes you are right we spent more money on the boat ride than the room. Beers were $1.10. We had paid $100 to stay in the jungle the night before so we took a dramatic 90% decline. We are leaving Guatemala and heading for Belize! We are still alive on day 10!

2 American Teachers Almost Killed by Chicken Bus

This would have been the headline for CNN, followed by a picture of two cute but poorly dressed backpackers all in brown. Fortunately I am alive to give you the near death experience account.
After our great waterfall rope climbing experience and on the way to the caves our minibus was stopped. The windy road leading up the hill was blocked by two other minibuses and in front of that was a chicken bus (this is an american school bus painted that gives dirty cheap rides to the locals) who had broken down in the middle of the road. The tow truck was there and after about half an hour it seemed that the bus was going to make it around the bend and hopefully move out of our way. I decided to get a picture of the whole thing when all of a sudden the chain breaks on the tow truck sending the large chicken bus backwards down the hill. I of course am just standing there...Chris runs like everyone else. The chicken bus and driver go backwards over the side of the hill stopped finally by some trees. No one got hurt. If the bus had rolled after the chain broke it would have come right for all of us and the 3 minibuses. This gets my vote for closest near death experience in Guatemala!
Jess

Semuc Champey

Jess and I are now in full backpacker mode...we left Panajachel and hit the open rode on our way to visit Semuc Champey (sem -mook -champ -pay...trust me, I didn´t know how to pronounce it either)...as you can see by the pics, this place is absolutely georgeous, but it is hard to get to. We almost gave up on going because arranging the tour was quite difficult. However, we found a travel company that handled all the details (our bus ride, our hotels, and even our meals). So at 6 am (yep, you read it right) a bus picked us up from The Tower Hotel (more on that in another post) and we began the long and bumpy road to Semuc Champey (3 hours long)....IT WAS TOTALLY WORTH ALL THE EFFORT! This is one of the most beautiful places I´ve ever been...the blues and greens of the water were breathtaking, but the was not the best part....the best part was that our guide helped us scale down a waterfall!!! I have done some cool things in my life, but this ranks at the top of the list... literally our guide threw a rope ladder over the side of the fall and helped us climb down...his "assistant" (and I am using that term loosely) tied one end of the rope to a rock and acted as the "spotter"in case things went wrong. The climb was a vertical drop and I almost chickened out, but Jess talked me into it and I am glad she did...it was a total adreniline rush and I will never forget it. Once under the fall we could see the rush of water flowing into the river! So cool...I wish we had pictures of that part of the adventure, but we were so focused on holding onto the ladder that the camera didn´t enter into our minds. This was no Wild Water Rapids ride:)

-Christine

Panajachel

I just realized that we have not really posted any pics of what this place looks like...this is the view from the the top about 6 at night...Panjachel is one of the lakeside towns...the lake at the bottom is Lake Atitlan and there are 4 volcanoes surrounding the lake. We did not hike any of the volcanoes becuase it is the rainy season here. The weather was rainy and overcast most of the time, but it definitely didnt detract from the beauty of the place...Jess says that it reminds her alot of Alaska (but not THAT cold)!

Fransisco-Santiago´s littlest hustla....

Now that Jess is back in action we decided to take a boat over to the town of Santiago....it is a 30 minute boat ride. One of the main attractions to see there is a statue called Maximon pronounced (mo sschee mon)...he is the Mayan god of debauchery...basically this statue is revered in this town. Each year he is moved into someone else´s home and you have to ask a local Mayan to take you to the house...once you get there you are supposed to make an offering of rum and cigarettes...you can also take a picture of him (for 10 Q which is about a$1.20). Immeadiately upon reaching Santiago a little boy named Fransisco tells us he will take us to see Maximon for a ´cheap price´ ...that was his favorite saying ´cheap price´... he was cute(and a third grader, no less) so we took him up on the offer and he began to take us there...once on the way he told us that for a ´very cheap price´ (are you catching on) he would take us on the Grand Tour which included Maximon, the church, the market, AND the shopping area.. we took him up on the offer....haha, turns out that all of the things the church, the market and the shopping area DID NOT need a guide-they were in plain view! What a little hustler!!!!! But he was sweet, friendly, and we certainly needed him to find Maximon (located in a house in a back alley-surrounded by men drinking rum and smoking cigars)...ha ha.... I took a video of Fransisco and I tried to post it (his accent is so cute) but the computer is not cooperating so you will have to settle for his picture...I will definitely post the video when we get home

Top Pic Me and Fransisco

Bottom The elusive maximon

That skinny bitch!

So Jess, being the smart girl that she is, aquires some sort of parasite infection just in time for bikini season in Belize!!! Jess is always thinking ahead!! We are not sure what caused this infection, but we can be sure of what it did cause...vomiting and weight loss!!! Jess was sick all day, so we called George (our local tour guide and the principal of the English speaking school)...he gave us directions to the English speaking doctor and even rode his bike there to make sure that it was open (yesterday was some sort of holiday)...check out the pics to see the doctor´s office...although it looks a little sketchy, the doctor was great! She gave Jess a shot (in the you-know-where) and some medicine, and we are happy to report that Jess is doing great! Now that she is nursed back to health, we are leaving at 6am tomorrow for Coban for two days and then to Tikal. Once we have explored Tikal we are off to Belize...where Jess will be lookin good thanks to (what we like to call) the Guatemalan Bikini Plan...some girls have all the luck!

The top pic is the clinic

The middle pic is Jess waiting on the bench...the doc was out running an errand and a note said she would return in 15 minutes

The bottom pic is Jess getting a shot(which had to be cropped for obvious reasons)