May  11 -  June 1,  2004

This combined adventure trip was an animal lover's and naturalist's dream   ( as well as having a bit of culture thrown in ).

Let's start with Guatemala.

The sites & and areas we visited are indicated on the map.

For those of you who are interested in doing this trip ..... notice the dates.  It was the height of the "rainy season".  Don't let that stop you.  It was delightful.  It's amazing the fun you can have in the rain. .... and the photos you can get , shooting between raindrops.

This was our hotel in Antigua.       Just had to show you an example of the various "towel sculptures" the staff surprised us with every day. 

They served as a great reason for all of us to constantly visit each other's rooms

Antigua  - Santa Catalina Arch spans one of the streets in the business district.

Guatemala City - This is a sculpture on the grounds of the Ixchel Heritage Museum.     Don't ask ME  !!!   I didn't put it there.   It probably came from the same place as the "crop circles".

Antigua  -  Festival of The Madonna

Antigua - downtown residential section

Antigua - Lunch stop

Antigua -  Capuchin Convent  ......

and guess who's in the  "Repentance Alcove".

The  "ARTS" in every form, are alive and well ..... and very lucrative.

The caldera at Lake Atitlan is the result of eruptions of 3 of the 4 volcanoes shown in the diagram.

The 4th volcano is a new one .... and is still active. 

Sailing across the lake en route to San Antonio ...... not Texas, silly .....

we got some great views of smoke activity from the volcano.

And we stopped for lunch at one of the resorts along the lake.   Isn't this pretty ?.  It was almost a shame to disturb it.

Nope .......  not a new apartment complex.   It's a cemetery.

Our visits to 2 coffee plantations showed us the coffee process from A to Z .   LOVE  THOSE  "Taste Tests" !!!!  And we were really amazed at the size of those coffee bushes, too.