March 2, 2026: While living our year abroad in Costa Rica, I am called to visit Guatemala and Belize. At first, I was called simply by a map of Central America. I knew when we first came to live a year in Costa Rica, I would try to visit the rest of the Central American countries that I haven’t been to.
The only one I have no interest in visiting is Honduras because it doesn’t sound that appealing and there is supposedly a lot of violence there. According to the U.S. State Department: “Violent crime, such as homicide, armed robbery, and kidnapping, remains common. Violent gang activity, such as extortion, violent street crime, rape, narcotics, and human trafficking, is widespread.”
No, thank you.
I’ve been to Nicaragua five times because my son Adam lives there and has married a Nicaraguan woman; they have four children together (three girls of which were María’s when they married). We came to Costa Rica the first time in 2023, a trip tacked on to our first visit to Nicaragua, as it is right next door. In 2024, I went to El Salvador to visit my friend Mario, who I’d worked with in Nizwa, Oman ten years before; at that time we went to Nicaragua again. And during our year in Costa Rica, we have continued to explore Costa Rica, visited Nicaragua twice, and visited Panama in November of 2025 (Panama City and Bocas del Toro on the Caribbean side). Now, we will finally go to Guatemala and Belize.
As far as I am concerned, I will be done with Central America once we leave Costa Rica in May. Other than annual visits to our son and his family in Nicaragua, I won’t feel the need to return to Central America and its tropical climate.
The nice thing about traveling to these other Central American countries is that the flights are only one to one and a half hours long. Internal flights are less than an hour.
Though I didn’t know much about Guatemala when we first starting planning our trip, I’ve now done more research and am interested in exploring the Mayan culture, seeing Mayan ruins, and immersing myself into the colorful arts, crafts and clothing markets. Since I love textiles, I’m especially interested in those and will certainly buy some Huipil blouses!
Since one of the places we will visit is near Flores, in the northeast of Guatemala – a famous Mayan site called Tikal – we decided to make a land crossing into Belize to see another Mayan ruin called Xunantunich.
I am now excited about our trip, especially to Guatemala, which I’ve heard is amazing.
I’ve read some books about Guatemala and have others from both Guatemala and Belize that I’m currently reading or will read this year (I have read the ones with star ratings. The two I own and am currently reading or will read are in green):
- Guatemala ↓
- In the Midst of Winter by Isabel Allende (& Chile & Brazil) (Kindle) ****
- The President by Miguel Ángel Asturias
- Everyone Who Is Gone Is Here: The United States, Central America, and the Making of a Crisis by Jonathan Blitzer
- Homies and Hermanos by Robert Brenneman
- Jungle of Stone by William Carlson (also Belize & Honduras)
- Central America’s Forgotten History: Revolution, Violence, and the Roots of Migration by Aviva Chomsky
- The Art of Political Murder: Who Killed the Bishop by Francis Goldman
- The Long Night of White Chickens by Francisco Goldman
- Hummingbird House by Patricia Henley ****
- Tiemps Recios (Harsh Times) by Mario Vargas Llosa
- The Beast: Riding the Rails and Dodging Narcos on the Migrant Trail by Oscar Martinez
- I, Rigoberta Menchú by Rigoberta Menchú
- Love in a Fearful Land by Henri Nouwen
- Las Flores by Denise Phé-Funchal
- Bitter Fruit: The Untold Story of the American Coup in Guatemala by Stephen Shlesinger and Stephen Kinzer (Kindle)
- The Mayans Among Us: Mayan Women and Meatpacking on the Great Plains by Ann Sittig and Martha Gonzalez
- The Mastermind by David Unger
- Silence on the Mountain by Daniel Wilkinson
- Belize ↓
- The Last Flight of the Scarlett Macaw by Bruce Barcott (Kindle) (currently reading)
- Whiplash River by Lou Berney
- Tequila Midnight by Kathryn Dodson
- Beka Lamb by Zee Edgell
- On Heroes, Lizards and Passion: Seven Belizean Short Stories by Zola Ellis
- The Fallen Stones: Chasing Butterflies, Discovering Mayan Secrets, and Looking for Hope Along the Way by Diana Marcum
- The Ultimate Belize Bucket List by Larry Waight
- Time Among the Maya: Travels in Belize, Guatemala, and Mexico by Ronald Wright
Here is our itinerary:
- San José, Costa Rica (1 night). Drive to San José, Costa Rica, spend the night, and leave our car for two weeks there. Fly out the next day on Volaris (1 1/2 hours).
- Antigua, Guatemala (3 nights). Arrive in Guatemala City and immediately get a ride to Antigua, Guatemala.
- Wander aimlessly
- Mercado Central: official days M-Th-Sat
- Parque Central: Catedral de Santiago (ruins)
- East of Parque Central: Iglesia y Convento de Santo Domingo (ruins)
- La Antigua Galería de Arte
- Arco de Santa Catalina
- Church & Monastery of San Francisco El Grande
- Church and Convent of Mercy (Iglesia de la Merced) – yellow
- Convent of Las Capuchinas (ruins)
- Casa Santo Domingo Museums & spa*
- Take in view from Cerro de la Luz (Hill of the Cross)
- Food & coffee culture
- Artisan markets Nim Po’t – co-op
- Panajachel on Lago de Atlitlán, Guatemala (4 nights). Get transfer to Panajachel from Antigua.
- Sunday market at Chichicastenango
- Visit different villages by boat taxi or tuk-tuk around the lake
- San Juan La Laguna
- Santa Catarina Palopó
- San Marcos la Laguna & more
- Guatemala City (1 night). Transfer from Panajachel back to Guatemala City.
- Flores, Guatemala (2 nights). Early flight out on Avianca from Guatemala City to Flores, Guatemala (50 minutes).
- Visit Tikal, a famous Mayan site.
- Isla de Flores – historic old town
- Catedral Nuestra Señora de los Remedios y San Pablo Itzá (black figure of Jesus)
- San Ignacio, Belize (2 nights). Get a land transfer through Get Your Guide across the Belize border and arrive in San Ignacio, Belize.
- Visit the Mayan site Xunantunich, “Maiden of the Rock/Stone Woman.”
- Visit Cahal Pech site in the city.
- San Ignacio farmer’s market – best visited on Saturday.
- Eat at Ko-Ox Han-nah (Hannah’s), drink Belikins beer
- Guatemala City, Guatemala (2 nights). Get another land transfer through Get Your Guide back across the Guatemalan border to Flores. There, catch a late flight on Avianca back to Guatemala City.
- Popul Vuh Museum: Mayan art & artifacts
- Ixchel Museum: Textile heritage of Guatemala (even the building resembles at Mayan Huipil, a handwoven embroidered blouse)
- Kaminaljuyú: Mayan site (Precolumbian burial beneath pyramide) & Miraflores Museum
- Fly back to San José, Costa Rica early the next day.
I’ve created my journal to take along.
In the last couple of years, I’ve gotten away from my original intentions in this blog. On this journey, I’d like to spend more time in reflection and in writing more details about what I discover. I have four intentions for creating something meaningful from this trip:
- Write down some words or a phrase that inspires you. Freewrite using that word or phrase in relation to your journey and see what comes up.
- What do you find exotic? What delights you? What is the evidence that you are elsewhere?
- Write a “things I learned today” list. I wrote some of these during a trip to Niagara falls in 2018:
- Write a poem about “maps to where she’s been.”
- Since we’ll be moving a LOT on this trip, my goal is to write more engagingly about the journey. See: on journey: taking ourselves from here to there
I’m challenging myself to travel and write more mindfully on this journey. 🙂
~ wander.essence ~ 
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