I arrived
in Antigua a few days early to meet my friend Matt who's been
working a leader for the last 9 years or so. But he soon had
to leave and I had to begin the training.
So after
meeting and spending a few days with my trainer Leah and the
other leader in training Damian we set off on this fascinating
journey.
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Antigua
is a little colonial tourist town with stoned streets, filled
with great bars and restaurants and surrounded by tree volcanoes.
We began our trip with Damian and Leah from here. But we did not
get the time to go visit the amazing volcanoes around. It was
all about training so we put off the fun until later. |
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After
a few days in Antigua we left for Flores
and Tikal
in the north of Guatemala. Flores is a cute little island town
sitting on one of the biggest lakes of central america. People
are extremely friendly and on week ends you won't get back to
your hotel before the sun comes back up. |
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Only
30% of the Mayan cities and structures across the world have been
uncovered! Tikal is a Mayan city in the north of Guatemala. It
is amazing how advanced this civilization was and how it was abandoned.
In short, the population no longer trusted those in charge and
left the cities. |
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One
of the most important things for the Mayans was water and most
of their beliefs were built around the importance of water and
the gods who brought them rain. The picture here to the left is
of a mayan refrigerator built in the ground at specific cool spots. |
They
also had this tree which is called today the tarantula tree. It
was a very important tree for them and it is called as such for
the shape of its branches. |
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After
Tikal, we headed straight towards San
Ignacio in Belize, right across the border. Belize has much
more of a Caribbean and Rasta feel to it than the rest of central
america for what I have seen so far. One of the most amazing sites
there are the ATM caves where the Mayans use to come sacrifice
people to their gods. They believed the caves were entrances to
the underworld. |
After
that we headed to Playa
del Carmen in Mexico to rest on the beach for a few days before
heading to Chichen
Itza and finishing off in Merida,
which is the capital of the Yucatan peninsula in Mexico. |
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Chichen
Itza was an other amazing place to visit. Even tho touristy today,
it is still one of the most impressive cities of the Mayan world.
Their planetarium is today the structure characterizing every
existent planetarium in this world. |
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Their
famous ball game championships where the captain of the winning
team was sacrificed to the gods is still a mystery today to many.
Nonetheless, their world is still one of the most intriguing ones
of our times. |
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Mayan Adventure (
