A view of the courtyard of our charming hotel, Posada de
Don Rodrigo a historic location in Antigua.
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Antigua is a charming colonial city with lovely shops and
stunning views of the volcano's. Here we are taking a walk
on one of the main streets of the city.
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This is the site of one of the many churches in Antigua.
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Another view of the same structure.
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Another view of the church ruins.
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I love the facade work on these churches. There are so many
of them around town you could spend all day photgraphing
them.
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The facades of these churches are so beautiful in Antigua.
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Millie looking at one of the many old church structures
in the city of Antigua.
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The Inglesia y Convento de Capuchinas.
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The Inglesia y Convento de Capuchinas.
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A different view of the facade above.
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Guatemala is a country of many volcano's. This is a perfect
view.
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Millie is taking a break at the half-way mark up the volcano
Pacaya. She is literally up in the clouds as the top of
the volcano is around 8000 feet.
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Here we are sitting at the very top of the volcano. We cannot
get near the actual edge because the heat and smell of sulfur
is so intense!
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No, Millie has never been on a horse before, but she is
taking one for the ride down from the volcano. Steve is
making sure all goes well.
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On the way up the volcano, Joanna meets a friend.
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From this view you can see black scree -- a tough walk as
we would take two steps forward on one step back. Mark is
walking with Toeclog on his shoulder.
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Taking a rest on the way down, Steve feels blessed and is
in a meditative mood with Toeclog on his head.
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The church in Esquipulas is a pilgrimage site, as thousands
of people every year travel to visit the black Christ in
this church.
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Another view of the church.
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This is the black Christ. People pray and ask for healing's
here. After they visit they back away from the statue so
that they never show their back to the Christ. It is a humbling
experience.
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Mark is making peace with the devil - but there is no justice!
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A view of the backyard of our charming hotel on Lake Atitlan.
The Hotel Atitlan is known for its beautiful gardens along
the lake. The hotel is in the town of Panajachel.
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Millie and Toeclog sit in the front of the boat to take
us to the town of Santiago Atitlan for our meeting with
Maximon, an important and revered saint of the local people.
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More of the gardens at the Hotel Atitlan.
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Another view of the lake from the hotel.
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A view of the town of Santiago from our boat in the water.
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Another view of the Santiago from the boat.
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Two traditionally dressed women from this area wearing the
special headdresses that unravel. It takes a while to put
this on properly. Curtis is enjoying these kind ladies.
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On the way to Tikal we stopped at the hot springs off the
River Dulce. The river water is ice cold and the waterfall
water is boiling hot. We felt like rubber by the time we
left here.
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The ruins of Copan in Honduras are beautiful. This is a
photo of the area around the ruins.
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These parrots guard the ruins site.
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Sheri and Mark are engaged in a dance of power at the ruins
of Copan.
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Karen our guide is enjoying the ruins as much as we are.
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I love these skulls at Copan. Look at the detail -- even
after all these years.
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Here is one of the main courtyards at Tikal. This courtyard
is flanked by two huge pyramids.
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The Maya use the Ceibal tree as part of their creation mythology.
It is truly an amazing tree.
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Steve investigates one of the many pyramid structures in
Tikal.
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More pyramids!
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Another tall one off the plaza in Tikal.
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One of our long boat rides in the rainy weather in the chilly
air on the hard seats that lasted for many many hours. Did
I mention that the trip was long, cold and the seats were
hard?
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Joanna is kept company on the boat by her companion Bear
who made friends with Toeclog.
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Mark is demonstrating how to be happy even when your physical
body is not. It is a great example of good spiritual teachings.
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Sheri and Jonathan are enjoying the boat ride with Toeclog.
It is a ride that is filled with incredible wild life of
all kinds.
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Mark is in dreaming at the remote site of Aguateca.
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This is some thick jungle here and we are thinking maybe
we are lost -- or maybe we are not.
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The Monkey Shaman guards over the site! Beware...
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Our beautiful lodge that we finally reached after the long
boat ride in the rain. The food was wonderful and the lodge
was amazing.
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Karen and Millie give Mark a hug during our last dinner
together at the end of our journey. Mark is definitely in
heaven.
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Steve feels as if he has gained new eyes on this spiritual
journey.
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Joanna looking gorgeous at dinner.
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Zack is relaxed and ready to recreate his home dream.
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Sheri is definitely experiencing some problems with her
hair and the humidity here.
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Kaen and Curtis enjoy a last good-by kiss. I imagine Karen
has not had a group quite like ours before!
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