Student Directed Travel begins at our new hostel called El Retiro. With a lovely bar restaurant right on the river, we go tubing, hot tub, sauna and have lots of good food. Including our Thanksgiving feast! We go on the most amazing candle lit cave dive filled with beautiful rock formations, waterfalls and cannonballs 🙂 Some of us go off this giant river swing into the water, followed by tubing and a breathtaking jump off the bridge into the brisk water.
We are soon off to Semuc Champey for the day where some take a mini hike to the top to get a view of all the pools. Others dive right into the clear emerald waters. With tiny fish nibbling at our toes, there is nothing more relaxing than seeing the group enjoy this picture perfect place.
A bright and early drive to Antigua requires a very long bus ride crammed with the 14 of us plus some extra travelers we picked up on the way. This historic city is full of good shopping and old architecture. Our second night in Antigua we students ventured off to a sports bar for a student dinner of yummy American bar food. The following morning a few wonderful members of our crew woke up at the crack of dawn and made a feast of a breakfast. There were three different types of scrambled eggs, a delicious fruit salad, a heaping pile of potatoes and bread and 14 stuffed bellies. Later on, we all got massages and/or manicures and pedicures at a beautiful, spa in town. Everyone left their session feeling way more relaxed. The next day people packed, finished up some shopping and mid afternoon we boarded a bus and drove to Guatemala City to catch the 5 o’clock showing of the Hunger Games, Catching Fire.
Soon, we are off the airport for a very early flight to the Caribbean island of Roatan, Honduras. We have a jam packed week of scuba diving ahead of us and everyone is pumped!
Seen everyone soon,
Mariah