Guatemala

(Continued from the previous post on our trip to Central America this summer)

On our day off, we climbed the active Volcano Pacaya, one of three volcanoes within about an hour's drive from Antigua. We arranged the tour with a company, and we rode on a van with about eight other people from all over the world.  On the ascent, we could either hike or local boys had horses for those who wanted a ride. 

It was so HOT (people roasted marshmallows in the lava), and very dangerous (I almost fell through some unsettled, dried lava rocks), that we were surprised tourists are allowed to make the trip.  

But, looking back, it was one of the best parts of our vacation. It was just awesome and so beautiful!

After we finished our week in Antigua with Prestoncrest, we were scheduled to fly up to Flores to visit the Tikal National Park. We had such a long wait for our flight that we decided to check out Guatemala City. We walked around the art museum grounds, but ended up spending most of the day at the Guatemalan Zoo.

It was an unplanned experience (and I insisted on having our itinerary prepared down to the T), but it was very fun and relaxing. Enjoy the pics of the beautiful animals…

 

Above: my favorite pic of the bunch!

Ha, these meerkats definitely entertained us...so cute!

We flew from Guatemala City to Flores and stayed in a small town named Santa Elena. We arranged to be a part of the sunrise tour for Tikal in the morning. We left the hotel at 4:00 a.m. so that we could make it into the park before sunrise, and we were able to climb one of the temples to see the sun rise over the temples throughout the park. Although it was a little foggy, the view was breathtaking. 

The ruins are world-renowned (Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher were there right before us). Historians and archaeologists fly in from all over to visit and excavate/restore. This was a truly wonderful and awesome experience!

Below is my shot for National Geographic submission :) 

Temple I

 

Above: Temple V; we climbed stairs to the top of that temple, and all that held us was a rickety staircase...no ropes or ledges. Needless to say, I was a little scared!

Below: Cool, huh?

Tikal is the largest ancient Mayan ruins in the world. It is located in the middle of a jungle, with only about 20% of the ruins uncovered so far. It has been estimated that Tikal was home to the Mayan civilization from 400B.C. to 800 A.D.

That's me at the bottom-right of the stairs :)

Central America in July

In July we embarked with other members from our church for the annual mission trip to Guatemala. I don't think I could write enough about how wonderful of an experience this was for both of us! About 80 of us flew into Guatemala City and worked in the surrounding communities. The days we worked the clinic were long, but very rewarding. I served on the medical team along with about 15 doctors, many nurses, interpreters and assistants. I was the new kid on the block, so I learned as we went along.

All geared up!

Brett was assigned to work in the pharmacy, but he pulled double duty and helped me tremendously! The group saw over 3,000 patients in total, with about 300 to 400 ears being examined and tested.

We stayed in Antigua, a beautiful town with the most wonderful and generous people. The church in Chimaltenango gave us a warm welcome, and the people we worked with definitely left impressions on our lives.

The scenery was breathtaking, and we were lucky enough to stay at a world-famous hotel, Casa Santo Domingo, a restored church and monastery from the 1700's that now also serves as a historical museum, art gallery, and candle factory. The walkways and gardens are beautifully cared for, and you are surrounded by history! We would highly recommend this hotel to everyone, and we hope our family gets to go with us in the years to come.

And we celebrated our second wedding anniversary while we were there, which made the trip even more memorable!

The Windy City in the Summer

We have been very fortunate to have done some traveling over the last several months (this coming from two people who have never really traveled much, unless you count our family vacations growing up and our honeymoon two years ago). It's been a blast, to say the least!

We went to Chicago for our first time in June for some work training mostly, but we were able to turn it into a mini-vacation. We were lucky enough that our stint landed on the same weekend as the annual Chicago Blues Festival, and we were able to see a few other great places during our sightseeing time.

We met some great people from all over the country, even some fellow Dallasites. We really enjoyed our short time there and hope to go back again!