Centro Explorativo Book Drive

One of the ways Ethan spent his time this summer was as a volunteer teaching English to 4-6 year old kids at the Centro Explorativo in Nebaj every afternoon at 4 PM.  Hopefully he will tell you more about this experience later.  Our friend Chris, a Peace Corps volunteer in Nebaj, has set up an [...]

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La Ferria Nebaj

This is my last week in Nebaj, and coincidentally the most fabulous week of the year – la ferria!  It would have been smart to cancel all my work for this week, as there is way too much fun to be had.
The biggest deal in town, or at least the tallest thing in town right [...]

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Photos from our Nebaj – Cotzol – Salquil hike

A while back we convinced our friend Chris (almost done with his 2 years of Peace Corps service here) to come out with us for a weekend long hike.  We had a topo map, GPS, Chris’ knowledge of the area and a general idea of where we wanted to go.  Heading out towards Cotzol, we [...]

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Hiking from Nebaj to Acul: Routes II and III

(For those of you uninterested in trail descriptions, photos are at the end of the post.)
Acul II
Distance: 7.25 km
Total Elevation Gained: 520 m
Total Elevation Lost: 520 m
I’ve already described the most direct route into Acul. This is definitely not the most direct, but it is a good hike with nice views (and it is [...]

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Hiking to Cocop

Note: I give distances where possible in the trail descriptions below. All distances and notes on elevation lost/gained are cumulative from the beginning of the trail. Photos are at the end of the post for those of you want to skip the text!

Cocop is a small village nestled in a high valley east [...]

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Pulay to Pexla

We hiked in along the road and out on the trail. The trail was much nicer and slightly more difficult to find from the Pulay side so that’s mostly what I’ve described. If I did this over I’d hike in along the trail and then loop through Cocop to Rio Azul. That [...]

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Nebaj photos I

I am more than halfway through my time here in Guatemala, and Ethan leaves in only a few weeks. Kay and Kevin (Ethan’s parents) are visiting us this week after spending two weeks at language school in Xela (they should have their own blog, Kevin takes much more photos than we do!)  The three of [...]

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Nebaj to Acul

This is the most direct rout to walk from Nebaj to Acul. Jennie and did it our first weekend in town, then stopped by Hacienda Mil Amores for a snack before catching a ride in a micro back to Nebaj. There are pleasant views from either side of the pass down into [...]

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Hiking Around Nebaj

The country around Nebaj is spectacular; rugged mountains surround small villages tucked in the valleys. It’s a working landscape with corn fields and pastures that creep up from the villages into the mountains onto surprisingly steep terrain. As a result there are paths that crisscross the landscape connecting the cornfields and pastures to the [...]

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Sunday June 8 – Settling In

A lot has happened in the last week or so – a weekend in Antigua, our first chicken bus rides, getting stuck in Guatemala City due to heavy rains making the highways dangerous. We have more photos to share, coming soon.
I am writing this in our kitchen in Nebaj. We are preparing dinner [...]

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