KIDS & CULTURE in GUATEMALA - Summer 2027

Early days on the planning here, but maybe this can be a starting point.

The heart of the trip will be on Lake Atitlán, but the order we put things depends in part on flight times. Sometimes an overnight in Guatemala City is called for. My favorite little bed and breakfast hotel there is Villa Toscana (reviews), 2 minutes from the airport in a gated residential neighborhood. 

I think we'd like to visit Tikal in the north. I stay at the Tikal Inn (reviews), one of the three hotels in the jungle by the Maya site. The family of my archaeologist friend Roxy Ortiz owns it.

Tikal is one of the largest archaeological sites and urban centers of the pre-Columbian Maya civilization. It is located in the the Petén Basin of northern Guatemala and was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1979. There are traces of early agriculture dating as far back as 1000 BC; the majority of the building took place in the 4th through 8th centuries AD and by 950 AD it was deserted. The setting is very jungly - lots of wildlife including ocellated turkeys, lots of tropical birds, coatis, and several kinds of monkeys; big cats live there but few are lucky enough to spot them.

Marlon Díaz (reviews) is a great driver, guide, and wildlife expert. 

My feet in this photo are proof I watched the sunrise from the top of Temple 4 - jungle as far as I could see in every direction with just the tops of other temples rising above the canopy. Here's a clip from a Star Wars movie that was filmed there.

Antigua is a beautiful colonial city and United Nations World Heritage site. 

My favorite midrange hotel there ($65ish/double including breakfast, rooms with more beds available) is Posada La Merced (reviews) and our favorite spot for coffee and breakfast is just down the block, Fernando's Kaffee (reviews).

Exploring colonial ruin sites, the market, and people watching in the parque central are favorite activities.

Sometimes from the rooftop of the hotel I can see Volcán Fuego erupting at night. 

Another stop we could consider is Chichicastenango. It's out of our way a bit so we'd have to look at our schedule to see if it fits. On Thursdays and Sundays there's a massive market there with interesting activities on the church steps, a huge produce market, and lots of folk art.

Always for me, Lake Atitlán is the highlight of my time in Guatemala. It's really beautiful - ringed with volcanos as well as towns and villages, each with its own style, traditions, and traditional dress. The town you can see at the base of the volcano on the right is San Pedro.

There are hikes along the lake, peak hikes, kayaking, soccer games, coffee tours, and visits to neighboring villages. One that springs to mind is Santiago Atitlán which is known for the Catholic martyr Stanley Rother, groups that worship Maximón, and gorgeous huipiles (women's blouses).

The town of San Pedro where our apartment (Ti Wachooch) is has a vibrant market and is a good jumping off point for all of the activities listed above. 

Mynor and Josefa and their sons Antonio and Manuel are dear friends and up for adventure. 

In addition to the gorgeous textiles...

...there's a vibrant folk art community in San Pedro. 

I have several friends who have made names for themselves in the US, too - Marlon Puac who exhibits internationally

and José and Henry Mendez who have illustrated children's books. 

When others join me I often set up cooking classes and weaving demonstrations.

I'll be researching schools with good kid programs during a vist earlier in 2027. I'm leaning toward the Community Spanish School. Generally people study with a 1-on-1 tutor 3-4 hours/day (morning or afternoon) and have the rest of the day to explore.

I always try to make time for birding - there are some great areas around the lake and the big prize is Guatemala's national bird, the resplendent quetzal. Partly I just like hiking in beautiful cloud forest environments. My favorite guide, Rolando Tol Gonzalez, might be working in Canada again next summer but we still should be able to put a trip together.

Another thing I love about San Pedro is Beca Project - visiting students and their families and seeing them around town. If you're with me you're likely to get hugged, too.

We might be able to stay on the lake in one of Mynor and Josefa's apartments - when we have our dates picked out we can check. Otherwise there are lots of hotel and Airbnb options. 

~ SO ~

That's the current state of my trip dreaming! I look forward to hearing the ideas and opinions of everyone else. HAPPY TRAILS!

DREAMING OF SCOTLAND

Eric, Kathy, Mike, and I are dreaming up a trip to Scotland for May 2025. Here's our draft itinerary! The rest of you sibs and spouses are invited but will need to decide soon. Please note that some might want more or less time away - we don't all need to do everything together. 

Weather in Scotland is variable and tough to predict but May generally has a little less rain, average daily highs in the 60s, and a relative lack of midges which can become annoying in June. It's a shoulder season so prices tend to be lower and there are fewer visitors than during the summer months. Scotland's latitude is similar to SW Alaska's so we can expect more than 16 hours of daylight per day in May.

Here's the current dream - live links to more information are pink: 

We'll plan to fly into Edinburgh or Glasgow (likely through London) and take the train to Fort William. We might purchase Brit Rail passes to save on rail travel.

From Fort William we'll take a train along the stunning West Highland Line to Mallaig. We might take the Jacobite steam train that they feature in the Harry Potter movies, although it's not currently running so stay tuned on that.

From Mallaig we'll take a ferry to the Isle of Skye and stay 3 nights for hiking and castles and (at Mike's request) whiskey.

Then we'll retrace our steps to Fort William for the start of our trek on The Great Glen Way, a 79 mile path along the massive Great Glen fault to Inverness, hiking to the north east, coast-to-coast across Scotland. We'll hike unguided but hire the Gemini Walks agency to help us with reservations, to provide maps and support, and to arrange for our luggage to be transferred to the next stop. We'll hike with small packs that include the layers, first aid stuff, snacks, and water we'll want for the day. 

We've decided on a hiking plan that will include 7 days of hiking with a day of rest after the 3rd day; the legs are 7.5 to 14 miles long. I think we could figure out an option if anyone wants in but doesn't want to hike or only on some days.

The hike starts along the Caledonian Canal...

...and runs alongside Loch Lochy, Loch Oich, and the whole length of Loch Ness.

There are lots of youtube videos about this hike but here's a nice short one to give you an idea of the trail and scenery. 

We plan to spend 2 nights in Inverness because of the wonderful culture of live music - you can check it out a bit here. 

There are lots of distilleries there, too...

...and one of the most amazing bookstores anywhere.

From Inverness we'd like to head north by train to Thurso and take the ferry across to the Orkney Islands or we'll fly there from Inverness (leaning toward the latter). This area is very unique, in part because it's so far north and so rarely visited and also because of early ties to Norway and the vikings. There are incredible neolithic sites, a 900-year-old church, stunning scenery, amazing coastal walks, and - of course - more distilleries. We plan 3 nights there which will include the start of a wonderful folk music festival; here's the program from the 2024 version.

From Orkney we'll head south again by flight and/or by train, to Edinburgh and neighboring Linlithgow. There is so much to love about Scotland and, for me, one of the very best things is my host family from my late 70s student exchange - Ruth and Norman Middleton and their daughter Val's family.

While we spend time with the Middletons and Davidsons, there's a lot in the area to keep you busy. Linlithgow has the amazing Linlithgow Palace where Mary Queen of Scots was born and many of the Outlander shows were filmed. It sits next to St. Michael's Parish Church, built in 1242, alongside a beautiful loch.

About 10 miles away, the Falkirk Wheel rotates to lift boats to the next level of the east end of the Caledonian Canal and there are the giant Kelpies sculptures.

Edinburgh is amazing - we'll spend at least a day there but some of you might want more.

And then home! This will take about 3 weeks and you can see a calendar version of our proposed itinerary HERE.

We're happy to answer questions and look forward to hearing what you think. 😊 ❤️