This is the place for photos and reflections of my visits to Latin America beginning in 2012. Previous blogs are linked on the main pages of my photo collections on flickr. HAPPY TRAILS!

Sunday, March 22, 2015

OREGON to ANTIGUA to LAKE ATITLÁN - HAPPY!

Hi, all!

We couldn't have hoped for a smoother trip south. We rose with the sun on Wednesday and headed from The Dalles to Lebanon to visit my wonderful Dad





then slept near PDX and headed across the new carpet and past the very Portlandesque food trailers and away from Oregon...









...via DFW...



...to Guatemala City where nice driver José met us and drove us to Antigua.



We enjoyed waking up at our favorite little hotel there, Casa Cristina.



That's La Merced from the rooftop terrace.





We had a típico breakfast a few doors down at Fernando's



then spent a few hours strolling around Antigua.











Next we headed with nice driver Alfredo Garcia (recommended: alf.transport (at) yahoo.com ) to Panajachel on Lake Atitlán, 



then across the lake on a boat and on a tuktuk to our home away from home, Ti Wachooch. For those of you new to my blog, Mike and I are building an apartment and a rooftop terrace on top of the home of dear friends Mynor and Josefa and their 2 awesome boys. We arrived just in time to celebrate Mynor's birthday - a special way to reconnect with this beloved family whose space we share.



The 6 of us enjoyed a nice birthday dinner out with live music at the Mikaso Hotel before turning in for the night.



After a beautiful sunrise and a relaxing morning, 



we reconnected with favorite shortcuts (and half a dozen Beca Project friends!) 



enroute to the beautiful Cooperativa Spanish School where we confirmed our Spanish classes for next week.



We made some important stops at the market for vegetables, nuts, spices, and beans 



then spent the afternoon and evening settling in and relaxing,









making a memorable dinner together,



and enjoying the neighborhood views from the terrace.



You can find the complete photo collections for this trip HERE.

Happy trails!
Stacey

3 comments:

  1. Thanks. I love your blob and embedded recommendations. I'm looking forward to reading many more.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hello! Fellow Oregonian and Teacher here, planning Belize travel for THIS summer, I'm a last minute traveler of many places but never to Belize. Specifics on where to stay and what to do with my 14 days would be MUCH appreciated. I have stayed at 5 star hotels and cheap hostels across the middle east, spain and europe so quality isn't necessary. What I seek is the experience of a new adventure! I speak no Spanish and neither does the fellow teacher traveling with me.

    ReplyDelete
  3. These pics re great. Do you have any recommendations with regards to getting SIM cards for a cellphone and iPad. I usually do this at the airport on arrival in another country but I don't know if this is an option here. Do you have a recommended network provider?

    ReplyDelete