I ‘piled’ for a little over a month for this trip. Every time I thought of something, I threw it in the pile. We had decided not bring our rolling suitcases, but rather our  backpacking-style sacks and carry them on so an effective packing strategy was a must.

Packing list:

• Rain gear
• Med kit for adults + kids. (Very important given the remote location. There are pharmacies but we were unsure of that they had.)
• A week’s worth of clothes. Given the length of our trip we will be doing laundry regularly.
• Travel friendly games, puzzles and books. We packed: Smart Games IQ test, Do you Really Know your Family?, Flipside and a magnetic checker and tic-tac-toe set.
• iPad, computer and all necessary charging chords. Guatemala uses the same outlets as the US so we didn’t need an adapter.
• Camera and drone.
• Flashlight.
• ATM card and VISA card. AMEX is often not accepted.
• Daypack for the day to day essentials and adventures.

The trek to Guatemala

The trip here was long. We left Phoenix at 4:45pm and landed for a layover in LA, five hours total. We made the most of it by visiting a work colleague and her family who lived close to the airport. It was so lovely to pass the time away until our 12:25am flight to Guatemala City. We did our best to sleep on the plane, maybe 3ish hours. As we approached our destination, we realized we were not landing and had actually passed it. Weather had prevented our landing and we were on our way to El Salvador. I’ll spare you the panic we felt and the many texts shared about the possible outcomes and worst case scenarios of this diversion, but thankfully it only lasted three hours.

Finally underway after the delay we were back on track to Guatemala City. We landed after the short 30-minute flight, made our way through customs and immigration, and found our driver in a very chaotic airport. The airport was filled with families holding balloons and flowers. We weren’t quite sure of the tradition, but everyone there had a very special balloon filled with another balloon ready to greet the passengers debarking the plane.

From there we headed to a nearby hotel where our friends, the Riley’s, had been awaiting our arrival. Big hugs were shared and then we all loaded up in the van to head to the grocery store to provision before the three hour trek to the lake. Catherine and I made the best of super market sweep, whatever we could find and fit in the van with seven people + luggage. The dads kept the kids content in the car and visited the ATM. Two shopping carts later, we loaded up for the long car ride ahead. It was a tight squeeze, we slept off and on given our light sleep the night before. The road to the lake took us through a lot of the Guatemalan countryside. Many small towns, living simply. By our first-world standards very poor. Some of the motivation on taking this trip was to expose our 7-year-old to the ways others live in different parts of the world. To hopefully build a sense of appreciation and empathy. To maybe, just maybe, instill in him a worldly mindfulness and sense of exploration.

We arrived at our home, Pasajcap Rentals, to the most beautiful and lush property. It’s located between the two lake villages of San Marcos and Tzununa. Met by friendly staff who helped us unload our vehicle and get us settled into our two cottages for the next four weeks. My family is staying in the lower unit named Arequipa and the Riley’s directly above us in Potosi. We think of it as a two-story house, just divided by an outside staircase. Our cottage has two bedrooms, one of which being a loft style where Luca has been sleeping. One bedroom and a beautiful kitchen. There is natural wood everywhere in our homes and where there is not wood there are rock walls. All the homes have been hand built over the course of 25 years. Aska, Pierre, Diego, Santiago and the entire staff are so incredibly warm and welcoming. Unexpected challenges happen all the time here (24 hours into our stay, a transformer blew on the street outside the property and we were without power for 36 hours) but they are handled with such grace and care. The property itself is incredibly lush filled with fruit trees, beautiful and vibrant flowers and the most incredible view of the two volcanoes. 

That evening we walked to our local town, San Marcos La Laguna, about a 15-20 minute walk depending on the motivation and speed of the three boys. We causally walked the main street and landed on a co-op meal at Konojel. We’ve learned a lot about co-ops here in Guatemala and will share more on that later.  We ate upstairs, continued to catch up, play games and enjoyed a family meal all together. We headed back relatively early via Guatemalan tuk tuk and went to bed to get ready for an adventure to San Pedro in the morning.

Cheers!