Our first stop in Northern Guatemala was the island town of Flores. An eight-hour minivan ride took us from the Mexican border through flat, humid Belize to Guatemala. Our short stop in Belize City made us aware of the diverse population including Indians (from India) and those from Caribbean islands.

The entire island is Flores built-out from shore to shore.  Our first night in the island pueblo just happened to fall on Guatemala’s independence day. We arrived in late afternoon and as darkness fell we were greeted with a show of national pride. Several groups of 30-40 young men and boys carrying torches and flags were jogging and shouting “viva Guatemala” in ragtag parades. In addition, squads of Army personnel paraded in high stepping military cadence. The army personnel look so young carrying rifles bigger than they are. The parading groups and throngs of on lookers (it seemed like the whole town came out) converged at the church plaza in the central of the island to listen to patriotic speeches and music.

Because the temperature and humidity was lower and we enjoyed a nice lake breeze we stayed in Flores for a couple of days. On our second day we hired a local boatman who motored us around the lake viewing the postcard pretty villages that dot the shoreline of the lake.

The next morning we headed off on another jungle adventure. We were stuffed into a mini-van with fifteen Australians and Europeans (all twenty somethings) for an eight hour endurance testing ride to the very rural village of Lanquin.  The ride included an hour wait for a ferry crossing.  The final eleven kilometers of the ride involved a switch-back unpaved road down into the river valley. Much of the steep jungle hillsides had been cleared of the thick natural vegetation and planted with acres and acres of corn.

Upon arrival to the village we were met by a small throng of young men whose job was to collect the guests for each eco-lodge. Names of the lodges were shouted out until they had collected everyone into the back of a truck and off we went. The jungle landscape, river and thatched roofs of our lodge made a welcome sight. Our hammock strewn cabanas were long on jungle charm but short on wifi and hot water. The candle-lit family style dinners were shared with the twenty-five other guests from around the world. We came to this remote locale to see a natural mineral made bridge, waterfalls and caves located in the adjacent national park. Our first night at dinner we were informed that the park was closed due to the protesting indigenous people who had blocked the entrance. At issue was the unfair distribution of revenue generated by the national park. They did not know when the park would reopen (evidently it had been opening and closing randomly for several weeks) so we decided to stay just two nights.

While in Lanquin, Michael decided to get a haircut. As the barber worked, a group of a half dozen young boys gathered to watch the foreigner get his haircut. I tried to strike up a conversation in Spanish but soon realized they speak a local Mayan dialect not Spanish. They thought I was funny anyway.

Another long, crowded van ride (the days of big, comfortable Mexican buses are behind us) took us to the colonial city of Antigua.