Grand Guatemala Adventure

El Mirador was incredible.  Our first helicopter ride was exciting and fun.  What I’d say about El Mirador is that you’ve got to use your imagination about the place because it’s not excavated like Tikal.  It’s so vast – 39 acropolises as compared to Tikal’s 3.  Lunch at the top of La Danta was unbelievable.  Las Lagunas has become one of our very favorite resorts in the world.  The service is impeccable.  There’s a server, who may be one of the most hospitable people we’ve met in the industry.  They have a spa which (daughter) visited on Monday…she was blown away.  And having the 3 free days was just what the doctor ordered.  The three of us don’t need to go-go-go.  Spa time, pool time, and hanging out in the incredible cabin are all up our alley. We went into Flores twice, and we super dig that town.  Remember that we requested a specific guide for El Mirador?  Well as serendipity would have it, he was at our restaurant in Flores on Monday night!  You’ll see a picture of the 3 of us with his wife and daughter.  You can’t make this up!  How does this happen in a vast country of 17 million people?

The Uaxactun experience was maybe my favorite (close to the upcoming description of the graffiti tour).  Not sure if you’ve been there…but after a ride of 25 km of terrible road conditions, you arrive in the most hospitable, wonderful village.  The ruins are awesome.  (We) enjoyed climbing the numerous accessible temples.  Our guide was knowledgeable and engaging.  We had an incredible lunch served by the matriarch of the city.  Her story is incredible.  Her husband was a business leader in the 80s, with a significant gum (as in chewing gum from the trees in Uaxatun) business…he died and this incredible woman took over.  Long story short, she took over, grew the business, and invested in Mayan art (through the black market), and has a priceless collection which we got to see!  In Guatemala City, our guide was our guide up to Lake Atitlan last year.  We became friends in our two days with her, and friendship grew in GC this year.

We’re so glad you suggested the graffiti art tour.  Our guide, who is a world-renowned professional graffiti artist, was the one of the most incredible people we’ve met in Guatemala.  His passion, creativity, and genuine love for not only his work, but Guatemala is inspiring.  The dude spent all morning with us and wouldn’t accept a tip.  I can’t tell you what an amazing experience we had on Friday. We think (daughter) got stung by a scorpion on the way home.  It traveled with us all the way back to Ohio! I wanted you to know that we were taken so very great care of the entire trip.  It was flawless.  Everyone was where he/she was supposed to be at the correct times.

April 5, 2018