Monterrico

Southern Pacific coast of Guatemala with black sandy beaches, nesting sea turtles, amazing mangrove swamp, cheap beers and good friends.

We spent almost a whole week here, on a holiday from our travels with Saya and Curtis....love you guys!

We spent most afternoons eating, swimming, swinging in hammocks and eating coconuts.

Toured the mangrove swamp, and got lesssons in the local fishing methods by Lionel, a sweet Guatemalan man who did his best to teach us how to throw a net, but still we only caught 3 shrimp!

Releasing sea turtles! Good luck little dudes!

Lago de Atitlan

Lago de Atitlan is a beautiful ancient volcano bed, now extinct and full of water.  The lake is skirted by very steep and tall mountains, and has three extinct volcano peaks on its southern shore.  There are many towns and villages built on any land flat enough.  The people of Lago de Atitlan live with the constant threat of flooding and mudslides...scary

The lake has an average depth of 300m...wow!

We visited the towns of San Pedro, San Marcos and Santiago de Atitlan.  Each place having a very different vibe.  Transportation between the villages here is by very full, and not very buoyant public boats...cheap, fun and dangerous.

 Art of San Pedro...

 Kate and dog...on boat

 The indian's nose...this mountain does really look like a person.

 The coffee of Lago de Atitlan is the best we have ever had.....i love coffee

We begin our assent of Volcan San Pedro...without knowing how high or long we would be walking...

Kate, exhausted, decides to stop after a 500m elevation hard climb up....

Who says im getting too old for this.....a climb of over 1000m elevation in 3 hrs! My first time above 3000m elevation.

Having a cigar and rum shots with Maximon/Sam Simon....a Mayan saint who loves offerings of expensive tobacco and alcohol.  What a dude!

 Hippyville ...... San Marcos

Ceviches

Mmmmm mmmm. Ceviches.

Beer and seafood sold from the back of a ute.....perfect!

Shrimp, octopus and clams dressed with lime, parsley, soy sauce and salsa.

Delicious.

Still in Antigua....

Hey guys

Sorry that the posts have slowed down.  We are still in Antigua.  Cant seem to make a break from the place. 

We have been doing volunteer work for the past three weeks in a small town 15km to the west of Antigua called San Antonio.

Kate has been working in a low cost medical clinic doing general practice for the local Myan population.....so much Dengue.

Ian is working with the local government in an attempt to effect change to the processes of garbage disposal to reduce the load of rubbish entering local waterways.....a long up hill push.

We will be in Antigua for another 2 weeks until we are both happy our volunteer projects are complete.

Its been great to hang out with Saia and Curtis in Antigua.  Live music, rum and wine....