Guatemala Explorer
ANTIGUA – COMALAPA – LAKE ATITLAN – CHICHI – COBAN AREA – SEMUC CHAMPEY – LANQUIN – YAXHA – TIKAL
11 Days and 10 nights
Day 1 Arrival – Antigua (Unguided)
Our team will greet you at La Aurora International Airport and will transfer you to the City Antigua Guatemala, (1 hr)
Day 2 Architecture & History Tour
After breakfast it is time for our journey to the ruins and museums that combined with the old cobbled streets keep the stories and legends of those colonial times.
Lodging in Antigua (B)
Day 3 Comalapa Market, Local Naif Painters & Transfer to Lake Atitlan
After breakfast you will visit the colorful authentic Comalapa market (1hr) which is a small, not so often visited town and market in the highlands near Antigua. During the transfer you will be able to see traditional farming life of the local mayan people and their crops. Once in Comalapa your guide will take you for a tour of the local market, to visit some of the famous local primitive painting galleries, and a stop at a local bakery to try out the “rosca” biscuits. Finally you will take a stop at the famous town mural which was painted by the local children to commemorate the signing of the peace accords. After lunch we will transfer you through the highlands to Lake Atitlan (2.5hr) and take a boat across the lake to hotel Posada Santiago (B).
Day 4 Lake Tour (San Juan, Santiago)
This morning you will take a scenic boat ride across Lake Atitlan (30min) to the village of San Juan La Laguna where you can visit the women’s textile cooperative to see hand weaving and the natural dye process. Visit the studios / homes of the celebrated naïf painters, and the then continue to the village of Santiago where you will have lunch in Hotel Posada Santiago. After lunch you will continue your tour to the village visiting the Maya God Maximon and learn about the textiles, spiritualism and beliefs of the T’zutujil Maya.
Lodging in Santiago Atitlan (B)
Day 5 Chichicastenango Market (Thursday and Sunday)
Today you will enjoy the multicolored market and their traditions (1 hr). The magic that surrounds the ancient, indigenous commercial process in a mixture of flower scents and incense turn the event into a magical moment. In the afternoon we will board our bus and head to Antigua Guatemala. (3 hrs)
Lodging in Antigua (B)
Day 6 Transfer to Coban & visit of Quetzal Reserve
This morning you will be met by your driver and guide for your transfer to the Coban area. On the way you will stop to visit the Biotopo El Quetzal, here you will have the opportunity to see the famous Quetzal bird among many other species.
Lodging at Coban (B)
Day 7 Semuc Champey & Lanquin Caves
Today you will visit Semuc Champey, a lime stone bridge on top of different size natural pools, filled with crystalline mountain spring water. Underneath the bridge is the Cahabón River, and at the end of the bridge, the water from the pools falls into the river, forming a waterfall. You can hike to the 2 overlooks for a fantastic view or just relax in the beautiful blue water pools. When you are ready you will be transferred to Lanquin where they will visit the caves of Lanquin. These caves are the home to thousands of bats which will fly out at dusk.
Lodging at Coban (B,L)
Day 8 Transfer to Tikal Area
This morning you will be transferred to your hotel in Flores Island (approx. 5 hours). On route you can visit the Ceibal Archaeological site. For the rest of the day you are free to explore the area or just to relax in your hotel.
Lodging in Flores Island (B)
Day 9 Yaxha Sunset
Enjoy your free morning and relax. After lunch we will leave to Yaxha National Park (approx 1hr) Here we will walk through their causeways under an exuberant tropical forest, where howling monkeys flood the atmosphere with their howls to impress the females or to move away an intruding male in their flock. We will climb some temples that are the photographers' accomplices, as they offer wonderful views. We will conclude the day in the high part of the temple 216, the highest structure in the place, where we will enjoy an unforgettable evening listening to the birds sing, and having a glass of wine accompanied by cheese and olives.
After sunset we will go back to our hotel (B)
Day 10 Tikal
After breakfast we will depart for Tikal National park where we will have a guided tour going through the most important city in the Mayan world, a mixture of nature and archaeology. Abundant wildlife, the Mayan forest, millennial temples silent witnesses of the birth and splendor as well as of the collapse of one of the most important civilizations in the planet, all this is in our visit to Tikal, The City of the Voices.
After the tour we will leave for the Mundo Maya International Airport, to take your flight to Guatemala City. Lodging in Guatemala City (B,L)
Day 11 Back home (Unguided)
Breakfast and transfer to the airport (approx 10mins) in plenty of time to catch your international flight.
