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SPECIAL INTEREST

Special Interest Services Each section gives a brief idea of what Guatemala has to offer for those special travelers looking for new travel expeditions, yes this are true expeditions and are far away of being simple mass tours, Guatemala definitely is NOT a  massive tourist destination, only those with a clear view of the world will understand that seen nature and culture is something you can not do in tourism paradises where wildlife is used to interact with humans .

Bird Watching:

This country has some of the finest and most varied avian life of any county of similar size among the best is the big Quetzal. Where else in the world can you view tropical, cloud forest, coastal and mountain species ALL IN ONE DAY?. Needless to say we do not recommend this. We organize trips beginning with the birds of the Western Highlands, passing through Coastal Forest, Dry and Thorny Forests, Cloud Forests and finishing with Humid and Very Humid Forests, all together offering the opportunity to spot more than 660 species. Guatemala is an ecological corridor, where many species from North and South America have their meeting point with the local species. Following are some of the areas which will interest you: Pacific coast: mangrove reserves only accessible by water (Monterrico), fast flowing rivers cloaked with Tropical Dry Forest, Pacific cloud forest. Western Highlands: High mountain tundra and lakes, dry mountain river valleys Cloud Forest (YES the most extensive cloud forest reserves in Central America). Sierra de las Minas and the Quetzal Biotope, - Tropical Humid Rain Forest: Heavily forested Caribbean Coast (Cerro San Gil, considered the best bird spotting area on all the Caribbean Coastline) Sub Tropical Humid Rain Forest (Peten Area).
In Guatemala you an watch birds and discover fantastic Maya remains. 
Remarkably similar to the Amazon Rain Forest. 

Diving, Scuba/Snorkeling 

Guatemala does not claim to be the diving paradise of the world. In fact, Guatemala's Caribbean coast is so small, that our expeditions from the coastal hotels of Livingston and Puerto Barrios actually go the southern Belize Cays, unspoiled areas where there are no hotels, and we camp on pristine beaches. Yet this is still part of the world's second longest barrier reef. If you want to include a dive with one of our fascinating itineraries, yet do not want the difficulty and very expensive traveling to Belize, this will be a perfect option for you. See the Sailing section for an idea of prices. If you are a more serious diver, ask for our combination Belize/Guatemala packages. If you are up to your ears, and just can't take any more colorful tropical fish , how about high attitude diving in Lake Atitlán ? and discover the remains of ancient civilizations underwater You need a wet suit for this spectacular flooded volcanic caldera, but no doubt this is an unusual and memorable experience.

Fishing:

The superlatives keep coming! Guatemala is the prime destination in the world for sailfish. World records tumble regularly, both in quality and quantity of the catches. The fishing grounds are a mere hour and a half from Guatemala City, so you can experience as little as a day trip, or if you are serious about going for a new world record, stay up to a week in comfortable beach-side hotels or private homes. A day's deep-sea fishing will cost US$ 1000 for a boat with capacity for 4 fisher-men, with all equipment you may need. You can also go fishing for far less using a local panga, but you will need nerves of steel, as these are the basic local fishing boats, and the Pacific can get very un-pacific at times!

Golf:

Probably few people would come to Guatemala specifically for golf. None the less, if you enjoy golf, you will enjoy Guatemala City's spectacular golf courses. With the green mountains and volcanoes surrounding the city, the courses are truly a delight to experience. Top of the line is The Guatemala Golf Club, so exclusive that you must make arrangements prior to leaving home. The Mayan (overlooking Lake Amatitlan), Hacienda Nueva and Alta Vista are all challenging and scenic courses. The course at Hacienda Nueva was designed by experts and is PGA approved. Green fees can vary from an inexpensive US$ 20.00 on a weekday at Mayan, to close to US$100.00 at Hacienda Nueva on the weekend.

Hiking/Trekking:

Here we can write pages! There are two principal areas in Guatemala that make a hiking trip truly outstanding, the jungle lowlands in the department of Peten, and the Cuchumatanes Mountains in the north. Both of these destinations can be a tough, or relaxed, as you want to make it. We can offer a strenuous 14-day expedition, down to a one-day hike into the Maya Biosphere, which is as similar to Amazon type jungle as you can find anywhere, with the added attraction of a cornucopia of virtually unexplored Maya remains. The Cuchumatanes are a range of non-volcanic mountains, the highest at 3,837. There is just one road that crosses this range, and some of Guatemala's most remote villages lay clustered along fine walking trails. Here folklore and tradition of the Mam people are little diluted by modern day conveniences. Again, hiking the Cuchumatanes can be a tough or relaxed, as you want to make it. Other than these two areas, other highland areas are worth considering due to the temperate climate and spectacular scenery, such as Lake Atitlán and the classic Pacaya Volcano and other routes between the volcanoes down to the coastal plains. Hiking trips will run around US$ 25 for 1/2 day in a group to the Pacaya to $300, with basic accommodations, guide, camping gear, meals and transportation to other high volcanoes some like the IPALA includes a lake with lots of fish in the crater. Or visit a meteorite made lake in the middle of the jungle of the Coban area.

Horseback Riding/Pony Trekking:

Everything that can be done hiking can generally be done on horseback, though obviously costs will increase. Mules or donkeys to carry belongings will accompany most hiking trips, and these animals can also be ridden off and on. None the less, for long trips, only horses or ponies should be use for riding, leaving the luggage to the mules. Horses are available for most regions of Guatemala. The jungle treks tend to be hard on horses due to the tropical lack of well kept trails or tophography in case of volcanoes, and after several hours you may feel you should have walked in the first place. The further away from civilization you go, generally the scrawnier the equine population tends to get with honorable exceptions. On the other hand, in Antigua, Lake Atitlan, Cucumatanes and other areas, there are now fine riding stables with healthy, happy horses only  willing to gallop off with you into the sunset, or to the Quetzal and monkeys inhabitant mountains on the shore of Atitlan volcanoes, green valleys or remote Indian villages that tourists very rarely visit. you may not need to be Indiana Jones, but there again, it will be a unique experience in spectacular scenery with an opportunity to encounter at first hand ancient traditions of the colorful indigenous people living their real life not performing acts for tourists.

Half-day rides around Antigua run around US$ 20, full-day US$ 50. Lake Atitlán around US$ 50 for a mountain ride, with breakfast. Here's an unusual one. Learn to ride English Style on magnificent horses in the stunning Antigua countryside for a pittance of the cost in Europe and North America. A week's one- on-one training that will made you a competent rider will set you back about US$ 250. 

Indian Arts & Crafts:

Together with Mexico and Peru, Guatemala has some of the richest traditional arts and crafts in the continent. Textiles are the most complex, and each community has its own designs and styles nested in millenarian symbols. On the whole it's the women who still wear traditional clothing. The blouses, of huipiles, are of incredible detail, and the skirts, or cortes are almost as elaborate. These articles of clothing take weeks or months to create, but will last the wearer for decades as fashions do not change every season in the highlands of Guatemala.

Those interested in studying or acquiring the native skills, especially weaving on back looms, can do so, with Indian artisans only too willing to demonstrate and teach their millenarian old skills.

Mountain Biking:

A more perfect scene for mountain biking would be difficult to find anywhere. We are not talking wine country tours on smooth roads with gourmet restaurants and country inns around every turn. We are talking about real mountain biking, not joy rides. We can offer easy rides on well surfaced downhill roads around Antigua, or we can send you down 12 mile 1/30 gradients where you will need to change your brake blocks every hour or so. If this is what you have been looking for!

We will get you off the main roads and onto mainly subsurface byways and single trails through remote native villages and a stunning mountainous countryside. Biking in the highlands is glorious, with temperatures averaging between 20/25 year round, the only difference in climate is between the rainy and dry season. You will get wet and muddy in the rainy season, but the countryside is at it's best. In the dry season you will get dusty, and the fields are dun colored, while the forested mountains remain green.

Combine biking with river rafting or horseback riding and hiking. Ride from the Pacific to the Caribbean coast. Pedal deep into the Cuchumatanes where many villages are still not yet connected to civilization by motor roads. Circle spectacular Lake Atitlán, with a one-week program, the lake looks as stunning on the last day as it did the first. Ride the cloud forest preserves and see how many bird species you can spot. A half-day biking trip is as little as US$ 25, full-day, US$ 50, with multi-day trips running around US$ 200 for the first two days, and about US$ 75 for additional days, which includes bike and technical support, very basic accommodation and some meals.

River Rafting/Kayaking:

We have only one year-round white water rafting river. But what a river it is! The Cahabón River flows from the cloud forest through dense sub-tropical growth, past fascinating caves once inhabited by Mayas, incredibly beautiful emerald pools actually suspended over the underground river, thermal tributaries, hundreds of tropical and sub-tropical bird species, including the elusive quetzal and up to class 4 rapids. You end at huge Lake Izabal, and you enjoy the thermal pools for a natural Jacuzzi to get the kinks out of your muscles before returning to Guatemala City or Antigua. This is at least a three-day/two-night excursion, which includes one full day on the river at around US$ 200 per person. The full five-day/four night, with three days on the river runs around US$ 500 per person.

There are also rafting form June to February on the jungle rivers in the lowlands around Tikal. The Chiquibul is a class II - II+ flowing through virgin forests and limestone canyons. A relaxing cool ride past lush vegetation. A one or two day expedition costs as little as US$ 100 per person a day.

Sailing:

Although Guatemala's Caribbean coastline is reduced, the options for sailing the reefs are not. The country's largest lake, Izabal lies in the tropical lowlands, and is connected to the ocean by the unique and spectacular Rio Dulce Canyon. Sailing and motor yachts are available for hire at rates that are hard to believe. Regular sailings cover the lake with its waterfalls and hot springs, the Manatee Biotope, the Canyon and the garifuna coastal town of Livingston. Longer cruises take you out to the unspoiled southern Belize Cays for scuba and snorkeling trips. Prices run from US$ 200 per person with all meals for a 4-day lake trip, to US$ 380 for the Belize 7 days dive trips. A 55' luxury cruising yacht runs at about US$ 150 per person daily.

Spanish Language Classes:

Want to learn Spanish in a month? It's not impossible at all. You can arrive in Guatemala with little more than Buenos Días, and leave talking about politics and art! Guatemala's language schools are famed for their one on one teaching in pure Spanish (you don't pick up that heavy Mexican or other South American accents here) for 25 hours weekly (five hours daily). Staying with local families, you learn by living the everyday life of the native speaker. You go shopping at the market, watch local TV, converse with the family members at meals, go to discos where Salsa and Merengue, not Rock and Rap, are the hot rhythms. At most language schools in the world, one on one instruction is impossibly expensive, yet here in Guatemala, where salaries are a fraction of those in Europe and North America, you get lessons, room and board in a family home for around US$ 130 a week. Schools are located in Antigua, Quetzaltenango, Huehuetenango and Cobán. The further away you go from the tourist attractions, the more you are going to learn.

Volcano climbing:

You do not need pitons to climb a volcano, just a lot of stamina and strong desire to get to the top of everything. Because volcanoes tend to be lonely peaks, not all clustered together blocking each other out, the views from the top are sweeping and impressive. Guatemala's highest mountain is a volcano, Tajumulco in the north near the Mexican border. It's a tough, two-day climb, but the views over the line of volcanoes down past Quetzaltenango, Lake Atitlán and Antigua are stunning and unique. The most popular volcanoes to climb are Tajumulco (4,210 Mts.), Santa Maria near Quetzaltenango (3,768 Mts.), San Pedro beside Lake Atitlán - one of the most spectacular for views over lake and Pacific Ocean (3,055 Mts.), Agua above Antigua (3,752 Mts.) and Pacaya, close to Guatemala City - the only active volcano of the group (2,552 Mts.). You can ascend Agua on foot or by horse, mountain bike or dirt bike. The others can only be done on foot. Pacaya is the easiest, as you can get to within a two-hour hike to the summit by motor road. Volcano climbs are usually included in adventure packages. Pacaya comes as low as US$ 25 for the ascent, San Pedro, US$ 45, including a good box lunch, Tajumulco is more of an expedition, which will run around US$ 150 each, including overnight camping 30 minutes below the summit.