After escaping the cats’ clutches, the four of us (two middle-aged moms and two 11-year old-daughters on an adventure) made our way to the Miami airport. Guatemala, here we come! This time flying standby went off without a hitch. Within a few hours we found ourselves in Guatemala City. We were super excited to visit Antigua – a place I, personally, think might be the perfect place to visit to expose younger children to [Read more…] about The unexpected parade: Mommy-daughter trip: Guatemala – Part II
Antigua..again!
After finding no suitable way (other than local bus) to get from Copan Ruins, Honduras to Santa Ana, El Salvador, Rhiannon and I found ourselves back in Antigua…again! We ended up staying three more nights. I took another Spanish language class with Gustavo. If you are looking for a fantastic, patient (fairly fluent in English) teacher find Gustavo or, better yet call him at 5100-6012 or email him at adagalindo@yahoo.com.
Border crossing by Bus
At 3:20 a.m. (Yes, A-freaking-M) the shuttle driver banged on the door of hostel Holistico. We are off to Copan Ruins, Honduras! The Hedman Alas shuttle (which was really comfy compared to the usual shuttles here in Antigua) took our new friends, Evelyn and Trent, and Rhiannon and me to Guatemala City. That’s when the trouble began.
Monterrico es muy bonito!
I heard Carrie’s alarm going off for about fifteen minutes so finally I dragged myself out of bed, gathered my shower items and clothes and stumbled into el bano. After a nice hot (finally) shower I nudged Carrie, “Wake up! The shuttle is coming within the hour.” Groggily, she replied,”what time is it?” It is 7:15 a.m., I said, as her hand swept the floor looking for her phone. “No it isn’t! It’s only 5:15 a.m.!”, she exclaimed. Oops! Her phone alarm woke us up at the right time….if we were catching a shuttle in New York!
Amigos en Antigua
We made it to Antigua!
Carrie and I flew in on different flights, but just 20 minutes apart. The Guatemala City airport was much smaller than I had expected. Just as we passed through customs we found a booth selling tickets for the shuttle (minivan) to Antigua. The ride is about 45 minutes and cost just $10 per person. The driver dropped us off right at our hotel, Hotel Casa Cristina. It is such an adorable place! Our room (#7) is perfect!
Just twelve rooms, each with its own bathroom and hot shower (or, at least hot if you know how to use it!) Unfortunately, the knobs are reversed and Carrie and I both ended up taking freezng cold showers the first morning. I later asked the front desk attendant, Jose, “porque no agua caliente?” [Read more…] about Amigos en Antigua
My map with squiggly lines is not proof of onward travel
It seems that there is this pesky thing that airlines require before they will take you to another country. It’s called “proof of onward travel.” And I ain’t got it. My beautiful map with my itinerary doesn’t count. The fact that people are trying to leave Guatemala, El Salvador or Nicaragua to go to where I am coming from, also isn’t proof that I wouldn’t try to stay. Apparently, I need a bona fide ticket out of Guatemala in order to get in. So, rather than play around with booking a “refundable” ticket home and then canceling it (and likely waiting weeks to get a refund) tonight I attempted to purchase an e-ticket from the well known Hedman Alas bus company. Rhi and I are leaving Guatemala on June 20 to begin our southward adventure in Honduras so it’s the perfect proof of onward travel! Unfortunately for me, the bus website is entirely in Spanish. Fortunately, I was able to figure out which ticket I needed, for which day, and even got to the section to fill out the e-form to buy it. But, I hit a snag when it said the passport expiration date that I entered was not valid. I know it is, so it has to be a glitch in their system. I found a “Contactenos” button and it gave me a bunch of phone numbers. But, then I found an email address to, I think, ask questions! Hooray!
I decided that it would be rude to email them in English since their website was entirely in Spanish. I really need someone to get back to me tomorrow a.m. so I made my first attempt at communicating in the very rudimentary Spanish that I’ve been trying to learn with the Duolingo app.
[Read more…] about My map with squiggly lines is not proof of onward travel