Here is a few fun statistics of our first week of travels in Guatemala.
Miles traveled: 250 miles
Hours in a bus: 21
Unidentified Criter #1 found in our bathroom
Number of hostels stayed in: 4—The hostels we’ve stayed in have been quite nice and comfortable. El Portal in Semuc Champey was the most picturesque, but the walls of the bungalows are not sealed from the outside so you are guaranteed to sleep with a few critters.
Things lost: 3—Clothes liner, carabineer and pillow case. We forgot them in Semuc Champey.
Mosquito bites: Aracely 13; Jason 0—I came to the conclusion that mosquitoes don’t bother Jason because he’s got hairy legs.
Cold showers: 2—I have been pleasantly surprised with shower water temperature. Shower water pressure on the other hand, has been very low most of the time.
Stomach problems: 1—We’ve been eating almost anything and Jason has been using the Steri-pen to purify the water. We both have been successful in staying fairly healthy so far.
Jason's Gigantic Blister
Blisters: 3—Jason has a really bad blister on his left heel and a smaller one on his right, he got them both climbing Volcano San Pedro. I got one on my right hand from holding a tight grip of my hiking stick during the same hike.
Number of falls: Aracely 4.5, Jason 9. Our hike to Volcano San Pedro was not only a very difficult one but a very slippery one too. Everyone in our group slipped and sat on their bottoms at least twice. Jason took the record with 9 total falls, 4 on the way up, 5 on the way down. The only person who didn’t fall during that hike was our guide. I took 3.5 spills on Volcano San Pedro (the .5 is for a slip that I was able to save and not sit on my bottom) and 1 at Semuc Champey.
Pictures Taken: Over 300. Guatemala is a beautiful country and we can’t help ourselves but to take pictures of everything. However, we have been going back and only keeping the good ones. We don’t need 10 shots of the same mountain, just one great one.
Hi guys- this is Rob’s girlfriend, Melissa. He recommended that I read about your adventures so I’ve subscribed to your RSS feed. Just wanted to say that I really enjoyed the layout of this post, you should keep this going. Can’t wait to see some pictures from Guatemala.
Enjoy, we look forward to following your travels (albeit with jealousy)!!
Welcome to the website and the adventure Melissa! I’m glad you like the post. Pictures are coming very soon I promise.
I agree with Melissa – cool to have a regular wrap-up at whatever interval seems best for you. That is a very icky looking unidentified creature!
Jason saw the critter just before going to bed, he didn’t get much sleep that night.
Showers- Hot and powerful
Critters-none
Blisters-none
dinner-filet was a little overdone!!!!
Ha Ha
Glad you are having a great time! Wonderful photos1
That was just evil. Very brilliant, but evil. XOXOXOX
Wow….. wat a life change in jus a week already! It’s good to read your updates… man, those critters! ironically, that’s the hardest thing for me to deal with i think… eeh…. good luck with those, & way to go aracely with saving yourself from a 5th fall
luv you guys!
The critters are an issue for me, but surprisingly, I’m getting used to them, except when I feel them in my shirt! LOL.
I love these stats posts — they instantly give a flavour of what a trip is like! Water pressure is the bane of the guesthouse though! It’s almost worth checking yourself into an upscale place periodically to just benefit from hot showers with great pressure!
We’ve been doing great with our budget so far (after only 12-days, LOL), so it’s a little tempting to indulge in a nice place for one night. But we know that there will be countries where things will get more expensive. I think we are going to take advantage when friends join us for a short time during our trip.
12 days on budget – so disciplined! lol
One regret I had was waiting 9 months into my trip to really splurge on an accommodation of the “boutique” hotel level. It was in Vientiane, Laos, which made it a great deal ($40/night). I felt like a King and wondered why I had been so hard on myself up until then. I guess hindsight is 20/20.
The new Google Map looks great.
Love the stats post!! Stay safe and continue having fun!!! You and Jason are more brave than Brij and I!
Thanks Anita, you guys should consider visiting for a few days!
Hey, guys! Sounds (and looks) like you’re having a great time. Hey Jason, were those boots broken in?? Blisters can slow you down real quick. You’ll heal up fine. Have fun! FYI: the unidentified critter is a whipscorpion.
You rock for knowing what the heck that was, that’s awesome! Thanks. And no, his boots were not broken in. His boots are wides and just not wide enough across the bridge of his toe knuckles. We are not sure what to do. He can’t keep using those boots on the trip. The blister was not associated with the width though.
Nice post guys! I love reading these statistical roundups, alsways interesting. I have to say that that photo through me off at first! I couldn’t work out what part of the body that was. Looks sore. Happy trails! Kirsty
Thanks Kristy, It was a pretty bad blister but it actually healed fast so that’s good.
If the boots are leather, they should eventually mold to his feet better. Getting them wet should accelerate the process a bit. Even if they’re not leather, the fit should improve with use. Boots actually widen and shorten a bit over time. Good luck, you two! I like the music vid.
Thanks for the tip Brendan, they are leather so I’m sure he’ll give that a shot.
If I’m correct I believe the unidentified creature is called a whip scorpion. I ran into a few of them in Honduras & Guatemala when i was down there. Harmless but creepy none the less. You should take a tour of Honduras on your way back through. There is a national park called Cusuco in the northern part that is just amazing and home to a beetle that is only indigenous to that mountain. Great blog happy travels.
Thanks art. We did have someone else tell us it was a whip scorpion too. Very strange looking and lots of them. We had planned to spend time in Honduras, but at the time, the borders were closing with the political upheaval.