Guatemala posts

by Aaron Hotfelder (RSS feed) (6 days ago)
Nov 4th, 2009 at 9:00AM: If you thought you could live a regret-free life without visiting Guatemala, think again. This diminutive Central American country, smaller than the state of Louisiana, packs in enough diversity to entertain you for months. And its low, low prices mean you don't need to visit your neighborhood payday lender to afford to stay a while.
From active volcanoes to immaculate colonial cities to quite ...

by Aaron Hotfelder (RSS feed) (2 months ago)
Aug 21st, 2009 at 11:00AM: One of the few places in the world where you can stand just inches away from blisteringly hot lava, Guatemala's Volcan Pacaya is the country's most popular and most accessible volcano. Just a ninety-minute drive from the tourist mecca of Antigua, Pacaya offers visitors the chance to roast marshmallows over glowing orange lava, witness the flowing of a long "river of lava" which was formed back in ...

by Kraig Becker (RSS feed) (7 months ago)
Mar 25th, 2009 at 8:00AM: Modern transportation has made it extremely easy for travelers to get to just about any place in the world. Each day there are international flights that can take us to the four corners of the globe and modern roads and trains will deliver us to the best sights and monuments to be found at our destination, before whisking us back to a comfy hotel, complete with hot and cold running water, room ...

by Kraig Becker (RSS feed) (9 months ago)
Feb 13th, 2009 at 10:00AM: The Coalition of National Park Services Retirees (yeah, I didn't know they existed either) put out a press release yesterday listing the organizations favorite national parks from around the globe. The list was compiled by the more than 700 members of the CNPSR, who voted on their favorite places to visit while traveling abroad. Each of those members is a former employee of the U.S. National Park ...

by Kraig Becker (RSS feed) (9 months ago)
Feb 11th, 2009 at 9:00AM: Environmental Graffiti, the same website that brought us those amazing views from the tops of the Seven Summits last week, returns with even more great images. The subject of their latest story is the 12 Most Incredible Crater Lakes on Earth. These amazing natural wonders are created not from the impact of a meteorite, but instead they are formed when the collapsed cone of a volcano fills up with ...

by Aaron Hotfelder (RSS feed) (10 months ago)
Dec 19th, 2008 at 11:00PM:
In my ideal world, we'd all live within walking distance of a beautiful blue lake surrounded by (hopefully dormant) volcanoes. This shot from flickr user Matt Coats illustrates just what I'm talking about. Visitors to Guatemala's Lago de Atitlán are richly rewarded with stunning views like this one (more here) and that's part of the reason why I'm spending my winter break backpacking ...

by Grant Martin (RSS feed) (1 year ago)
Apr 1st, 2008 at 10:00AM: UPDATE: This was an April Fool's post and bears no semblance to reality. In a small Guatemalan town one hundred miles north of Guatemala City, a mass grave lies just outside of the city square. A mass grave full of people. Dead people. The town is called La Estancia de Garcia, and it's population is now 7, down from 149 earlier this year. It all started with good will visit and donation from ...

by Kelly Amabile (RSS feed) (2 years ago)
Oct 24th, 2007 at 7:30AM: Dean Cycon is an activist and entrepreneur who has been working with indigenous communities in the coffeelands for over twenty years. His all-organic, all-Fair Trade, all-kosher coffee roaster company, Dean's Beans, follows sustainable business principals and is a recognized industry leader in its' commitment to Fair Trade. According to Cycon, 99 percent of people involved in the coffee economy ...

by Kelly Amabile (RSS feed) (2 years ago)
Oct 9th, 2007 at 11:10AM: Has Grant's alert about cheap fares to Guatemala got ya thinking about planning a spontaneous getaway? Or maybe you want to expand your travels beyond Guatemala City and the old capital of Antiqua and spend a week or more exploring the scenic wonders of this magical country? Consider picking up a copy of Moon's guide to Guatemala to throw in your pack. The second edition of this handy guide has ...

by Willy Volk (RSS feed) (2 years ago)
Mar 12th, 2007 at 3:40PM: Believe it or not, Guatemala is home to the world's only hot waterfall. Known as "Agua Caliente," the steaming waters from a thermal spring bubbling into the Rio Dulce pour over the falls into a cool pond below. Surrounded by foliage and ancient pocked rocks, Agua Caliente looks like a scene from a coming-of-age movie.
As if the anomaly of standing in cool waters as hot waters pour over you ...