First time traveling to Guatemala 2022

My first destination in #guatemala was #flores and funny enough, I thought I would need a taxi to get to my hostel, Los Amigos #hostel turns out it was walking distance (over a over the water walkway that lasts 15 minutes or so depending on how fast you are with luggage/backpack) so I definitely wish I would have researched that beforehand but oh well. Nevertheless, this small beautiful island truly is tiny but filled with great color as you see in the photos and a good amount of tourists in March. I managed to meet some people from my hostel and see a circus performance out there which was decent for adults but it was more entertaining for kids and the tricks they performed were cool so I would still say it is worth attending as long as one doesn’t get upset. One of my days I went to their zoo, Petencito zoo which is a nice experience and you can see the animals while walking along a beautiful nature path and some steps. Worth visiting also to help with funding the zoo and the cute animals. Other than that, I made sure to take a whole day to walk around to see what I could and crossed the bridge that I entered from to take a look at their mall and buy some bracelets from vendors and then I went kayaking which was definitely a highlight for me and really relaxing.

Truth be told, the best things to do in Flores are kayaking, visiting the zoo and from Flores - set up a trip to do a jungle tour or visit #tikal I fortunately found a tour guide named Reyes on Trip advisor and had a private tour where he poured his excitement and wealth of knowledge upon me and I am so grateful because it made my tour so much more enjoyable and I felt like I got my money’s worth :) Since I really enjoyed it, here is his link in case anyone wants a good tour guide out there:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attractio...

As my days in Flores were nearing the end I made friends with someone I had seen while on my tour and later saw again in my hostel, Jamo! He and I had a great last day because we chatted while staring at the moon in a hammock and then little did we know, there was a club in our hostel this entire time and the reason being because it was buried away past two rooms. Definitely would recommend staying at Los Amigos hostel for a few nights to experience everything I mentioned including the club. Other than that I did get to go out to a club outside of the hostel and that was fun too, I definitely met lots of drunk people but danced away with a really cool german girl, Roshana! who I later met again in Guatemala city!

My next stop on this 2.5 week long vacation was #antigua to do the #volcano #hikes! While waiting for a ride, I met Kit who I ended up befriending and convincing to go on the hikes which he did! We then met Lara who was so cool and funny! Sadly she was unable to join us on the hike but we stayed in touch. Let me tell ya, Antigua is beautiful and EXTREMELY safe! I went out late at night some nights and didn’t feel as though I was in danger despites the streets being empty and quiet.

There are incredible jewelry market shops where they can make customized requests for brass jewelry if you go to the market area but more on the inside towards the back left -- Facing the volcanos side where I took that picture of that couple walking towards the volcano. There's a jeweler named Franklin who made tons of beaded jewelry for me :D and Lara got me into getting cool brass jewelry and needless to say...I became hooked 🤣

Now onto the HIKE! I decided to go with OX expeditions and loved the experience from beginning to end despite getting sick in the end 😅. The hike itself was tough, I paid for a porter to carry my backup up and am glad I did because I definitely had a hard time on the incline since there was dust being blown in our faces and then a lot of inclines I was not prepared for especially at that time when I was not working out…I am just starting to now haha so I can better prepare myself for future hikes but that is for another time. All I remember on the way to Fuego was dealing with the changing temps and finally making it to the top and feeling like I was on an island with the way the smoke/fog surrounded us. I will admit, it was sorta scary being surrounded by the smoke/fog because I kept thinking to myself, had I done this hike on my own, I definitely would have fallen off the edge unintentionally, haha. Therefore, thank heavens I was with a tour especially when it got pitch black out there! Going back to base camp really did a number on my body, I felt exhausted and as if I had gone on a big run. However, the magic happened when we arrived back at the campsite and waited patiently for Fuego to erupt. Let me just say that I love a sky filled with stars and am a BIG fan of volcanos now and want to see all the active ones in the world--and I WILL!

Story time continues in the comments