Hey everybody! We made it to Guatemala safely and so far it has been great. We were nervous that we might have a problem with our bags but luckily they came through just fine. We spentfour nights in Antigua at the Jungle Party Hostel. We had a lot of fun walking around town, seeing the sights, and enjoying the weather. Today we got to hike a live volcano that sits just outside the city. The bus ride was a little unpleasant because of the many turns and bumps. Mindy especially hated it because she gets carsick easily, but inthe end it was worth it. When we stepped off the bus we were a bit disappointed because it looked like every other mountain we have climbed. We were expecting Mount Doom from Lord of the Rings but what we got was a big hill in the shire. Then after about an hour of strenuous hiking we rounded a bend and our jaws dropped. Behold, Mount Doom! Or Pacaya as the locals call it. It was everything we hoped for and we even got to roast marshmallows over volcanic rock. Tomorrow we leave Antigua for San Pedro on Lake Atitlan. Sorry no pictures but we haven't found a way to load pictures without a laptop. We will keep you updated.

The Great Begining

Tomorrow we set off for Guatemala.  We will be traveling around for four weeks.  We will start by spending a week in Antigua.  Then we will spend several days around Lake Atitlan.  Next we will be going to the big market at Chichicastenango.  From there we will make our way to Lake Izabal where we plan on discovering secret hot waterfalls.  Finally, we will spend a day climbing the ruins at Tikal.  After Tikal we will be meeting up with Kallie and Shane for two weeks.  Then its off to Peru.