Guatemala

It’s not like I woke up one morning with the burning desire to climb an active volcano, but in a country like Guatemala, with more than 30 volcanoes (many of them active), volcano climbing is the norm.

Antigua’s Central Park is home to a quite unusual fountain – four mermaids on each side of the fountain are spraying streams of water out of their breasts. The fountain, ‘Fuente de las Sirenas’ in Spanish, was built by Diego de Porres in 1738, who took his inspiration for the fountain from the Neptune Fountain in Bologna, Italy.

Semuc Champey is a series of natural ponds 300m (985ft) above the Cahabon river in the region of Verapaz in Guatemala. The natural limestone bridge above the rushing rapids below houses cascading pools connected by several mini-waterfalls.

Antigua, the former capital of Guatemala, has frequently been hit by earthquakes, but especially the earthquake in 1773 left severe damages, and up to today, dozens of ruins of churches and convents can be seen throughout the city.

No matter how well you know a place, there is always so much more to discover. Though Jess lived here for two years, the 10 wonderful weeks we spent in Guatemala in 2010 led to some of our most magnificent discoveries and experiences of our travels so far. Read on for a list of 33 things, in no particular order, we absolutely love about Guatemala.

300 days on the road… almost exactly 10 months of backpacking! Looking back on Day 1 arriving in Las Vegas back in April to where we are now, we still can not believe how much life, experience, adventure – and work! – we have been able to squeeze into these 300 days.

In 300 days of travel, we have had some amazing ups and disappointing downs, and share with you here our top & flop moments, travel mishaps, favorite experiences and travel recommendations.

Visiting one of Guatemala’s colorful cemeteries is a learning experience like no other.

This weekly series focuses on budget accommodation gems we discover while on the road. This week: Hotel El Amanecer Sak’cari in San Pedro La Laguna, Guatemala.

We had no idea about our three hour layover in Guatemala last Monday, but this incredible landscape made us realize that we need to come back for another visit.