Antigua

Rachel, Grace and me roard twoards Antigua through a dusty valley of nothing. After prooving my map skills we finally got an hostel - bedbugs included. Rage an I ordered a lot of Cuba Libre because it was Ladys Night. Next Day we found out that there is nothing you can do in Antigua so we decided that we might as well could get drunk. So we chilled in the parc during the afternoon and got drunk with Matt. In the evening we got another big bottle and 5 of us got wasted at the hostel "Black Cat". The next day we went to the volcano "Pacaya" where we witnessed lava and even ate some marshmellow, that we heated on the lava. "Frank the Tank" was drunk to begin with, climbed antennas without permission and got lost in the woods while the night settled in. The next day we split because I have already been to Lanquin. So I travelled by my own to Rio Dulce.

San Marcos/ San Pedro Laguna

After a ridiculouse 12 hours journey over Guatemala City and Antigua my boat finally arrived in San Marcos, where I wanted to study spanish. This place in famouse as a yoga retreat. You could take courses for a whole mooncycle and meditate in primitiv pyramids that are located according to some really mystical stars. During the last week you are not allowed to talk and you have to fast. Crazy shit. Since there were no partys in the evening and the lessons were expensive I switched to the other side of the lake.

San Pedro Laguna is the best party city in Guatemala. A lot of turists try their first hard drugs here and a lot of people stay here for years. So it's possible that you encounter dudes at 10 AM sitting on the side of the road first whispering and than yelling "Monkeytrousers".
I finally found my spanish school and signed up for the afternoon. Sitting in a nice garden on a small table. On the other side was this 20 year old mayan girl. After starting with a little chat we talked some more and more. Than finally I asked if this is the lesson and got an "of course" in return. There were no concepts, no modules, no books and she even didn't speack any English. So I had to step on the breaks and finish this rendez-vous style school. From then on I stack to my books and learned by myself. In the evenings I hung out with an austrian girl named Bianca until I crossed Matt's and Kalib's way. Naturally we got wasted. Young americans tend to consume hard drugs like candy. I was fine with the rum. The days past with learning in the afternoon and partying in the evening. Than Rachel and Grace came back from Mexico. I surprised them at the harbour with Matt. We were sitting in the bar at the lakeside for 4 hours becouse the girls were late. So we were in pretty drunken state. But sober enough for another beer. The next few days we went kayaking, eating nice food and enjoing the nightlife. Life got easy, very easy.

Lanquin/ Semuc

After an 8 hours trip from Flores to Lanquin I stayed in the nicely situated "El Retiro" hostel and took a hammock for 2.5 Dollar. At that point I travelled with William, who was born in England and than moved to Toulouse. He's now working on the black market. After hanging out at the hostel and the village I decided to walk to Semuc with the french guy. After 2.5 hours through the moutainouse midlands of Guatemala we came to this remote valley that was formed by a calme looking river. The locals there and on the whole way were very friendly and constantly tryed to sell us chocolate.

The parc of Semuc is a barage of waterfalls that were formed over millions of years. Nowadays the river flows beneath the "cascades". Only a little bit of the water manages to flow on top to make this already impressive site a gorgeous swimming oppurtinity. After enjoying a nice swim in several of the turquise pools we (the british chess lady joined us) hiked up to the "Mirador" from where you can estimate the scope of the whole place. The bumby road back was 2 dollars and took an half an hour. First thing in the morning I jumped on a bus to travel to Lago de Atitlan. Surprisingly Matt was on the bus.

Flores

After beeing scamed for 3 Dollars at the border Timmy took a bumby collectivo to Flores a.k.a. Gringo Island. While staying in "Los Amigos" and desparatly trying to get some money out of these ATM's he was able to get to know the atmosphere of Guatemala. The city looks like an african city with latinos. Tuk Tuks and dust make up 50 % of the experience. Burger King and beer were the evening program.
The following day Grace and Rachel joined me. Thats a good thing. That meant there will be more jokes with " fish and penetration" coming up. We wen't together to Tikal to see the ruins. Amazing structures in the middle of the jungle. With some cool wildlife.
In the evening we crashed in the cheap bar at the seashore anf finally listend to a live snorring concert in the dorm. The following day we chilled while canoeing on the lake. Since I missed the bus in the morning I'm down to crash for another day - nap in the afternoon and beers and loughs in the evening.

San Ignacio

To get to San Ignacio you have to take the boat to Belize City. Belize City is famous for two things: Crime and for not beeing famous. So I skipped "The big Ugly" and went to the western border to a nest called San Ignacio. People are still really cool but more activ than in Key Caulker. I took a view at some more ruins and they keep to amaze me. After almost 40 days of travelling I'm now the first time by myself. And this is good for a change. I obviously could catch up with some writing and reflect on my amazing trip I was able to enjoy. You meet wonderfull people in the worlds most beautifull places and have fun. No hidden agenda, just straight good time. If this is going to be like that for the next 23 months I'm going to come back as a rich man. By the way; I want to thank all the guys that I had the oppurtunity to meet. As soon we have the year 2011 - be sure that the swiss guy will allways welcome you at his home.

Key Caulker

Well, where to start? Key Caulker has a population of 1300. Most of them look like Bob Marley. All act like him and most of them smell like he probably did. We stayed at the hostel "La Bellas". The dude in charge is named "Mission" and thats porbably what he is on. Since he keeps it real all day long he wants to teach everybody else to do the same. He drinks and smokes all day long because it's focking betta. He took us to a fishing trip with some kayaks and caught some snappas.

He used to be a fisha so he knows all the tricks. In the evening he made a BBQ for everyone while keeping it focking real. And we are talking about really, really real. Next to whole lot of otha turists there was Fabrize. An Italien who spend a few years in French Polynesia and set up a business that sells pearls to "Cartier" or "Tiffanys". Since he left French Polynesia he can travel the world without loosing money, because business is doing good. He lived in Belize for three months and thinks about renting a house on Key Caulker. On Super Bowl Sunday the two english girls from the bus checked into the hostel.
Those two crazy girls like to hit the booze and party. Maybe thats why we got along from the early beginning. Maybe Nick and Grace a little more ;-) Me and Rachel, an interesting good looking girl spent a lot of time with each otha and I had the luck to get to know her holarious humor. Black, dry, dirty, spontanous, english jokes are her speciality. I hope to meet her in Flores again. Ted joined the islands speciality and smoked all day - well just about everybody was hitting the Mary J. Key Caulker is a must see and "La Bellas" the place to be. Then we're talking about the ingredients of happiness. Betta than otha

San Pedro

After a 4 hours bus and 2 hours speedboat trip we finally arrived in San Pedro - a key of the coast of Belize. Home of the biggest barrier reef next to the australien one. On the way we met two sympathic english girls. But they were going to Orange Walk before going to the keys. Key San Pedro is a pretty big village with an airstrip and a handfull of hotels. People are mostly african descent and have a carribean lifstyle. They love the USA, Barack Obama, US-Sports and the whole HipHop-thing. "Yo bro, Wasssup", "Keep it real" and stuff like that make up 50% of their sentences. Rastas all over, mostly golfkarts, bycicles and an extremly friendly attitude make Belize a must see. But the best was still to come: Key Caulker