Palacio's, Blue Hole, and Guatemala

My beautiful stream side campsite!
see all photos »

So much to say!  After the river trip we headed down to Palacio's, an ecotourist resort near Cocscomb, for our watershed ecology seminar.  My tent was literally on the banks of a stream which passed through camp!  We spent three days swimming in the stream looking at micro/macro invertebrates and fish, including a night snorkel which was pretty cool.  We also went to a nearby farm to see the different crops they grow and the techniques they use.  So basically we walked around watching this crazy El Salvadorian man chop up a bunch of crops with his giant machete and give them to us to eat!

Chopping up some sugar cane.
see all photos »

After Palacio's we had three free days.  Sonja, Emily, and I went hiking at the inland Blue Hole, which was about ten miles from Palacio's, on the first day.  And then we headed out to Flores, Guatemala for the rest of the days, before meeting up with the group in Tikal.  But we did not go alone, one of our instructor's son and his friend came with us.  But Flores was beautiful, it is a small island in the middle of this giant lake.  I did a lot of shopping, eating, and walking around.

Blue Hole
see all photos »

We met up with the rest of the group in Tikal.  Tikal is probably the most famous Mayan site in Central America, it is in Guatemala.  The group got to Tikal two hours late and we didn't get to stay very long, so I didn't get the full effect, but it was still amazing.  At first we saw some giant mounds of dirt and vegetation, and you would walk around to the other side and there was a huge monument (most of the monuments have not been fully excavated).  We walked around a lot, did a bunch of climbing on old ruins, and then left.