Immersive Guatemalan Culture and Nature Adventure

You'll make your way to Antigua and we'll bring you to our first stop - the peaceful mountain guest house Casa Xicaya! It's a great place to soak in beautiful views, relax, and get to know your fellow travelers. Casa Xicaya is nestled in the community of San Cristobal el Alto and run by a local family with great pride for their guest house. Get ready for a spectacular first night as we enjoy a homemade buffet dinner and stare at the stars and surrounding volcanoes; if we're lucky we can witness lava coming from the volcano 'El Fuego.'

Enjoy a leisurely breakfast prepared by Veronica and then we will embark on a 4 hour hike through to a natural spring. After the hike we will enjoy a contemporary lunch at a beautiful community run restaurant overlooking the valley. The afternoon is free for relaxing or heading down to Antigua for an afternoon of sightseeing and shopping. We'll have a group dinner at a traditional restaurant in Antigua in the evening before heading back to Casa Xicaya for the night.

After breakfast at Casa Xicaya we'll drive 2.5 hrs to Lake Atitlan and the lakeside town of Panajachel where we'll catch a boat the community of San Juan La Laguna. We'll check in to our homestay, eat lunch with our host family, and head out for the afternoon to partake in a textile & weaving workshop. We'll end the night with dinner at our host family and an optional mayan sauna (temascal)!

Today is the day to enjoy the beautiful Lake Atitlan! In the morning you'll have the option of summiting the San Pedro volcano to take in the amazing lake views from up above (a challenging 5 hour hike with an elevation gain of 1,400 meters). If hiking isn't your thing you can join artisanal fishermen for a local fishing adventure. After lunch at a local restaurant we'll head by boat to the hippie town of San Marcos and visit the Cerro Tzankujil Nature Reserve where we can chill out and swim in the lake. Dinner with our host family in San Juan.

We'll get an early start and head out for a seven hour drive to Coban! Enjoy some beautiful scenery and take a good nap. We'll stop for meals and to stretch our legs at a locally-run reserve where we might just spot the national bird of Guatemala; a quetzal. Then we'll check into the beautiful Casa Kirva for the night.

It's another day of choose your own adventure! Choose from one or all of these activities - visit an organic tea plantation, tour a community coffee plantation where you can also go ziplining, visit an orchid reserve (which has over 25,000 orchids!) or just chill and read in the beautiful gardens of Casa Kirva. We will have dinner in Coban at a traditional and delicious restaurant before heading back to Casa Kirva for the night.

We'll wake up early and drive a couple hours to Mucbilha, a Q'eqchi community in the Alta Verapaz region. Mucbilha is located within the 'Cuevas de Candelaria' National Park and is known for it's massive caves and the varying formations that encompass them. We will spend the morning exploring multiple caves by foot, and learning about the community history. After a traditional Q'eqchi lunch we will float down the river 'San Simon' on inner-tubes. Most of the float is done inside of the caves, a truly once in a lifetime experience. Before leaving we will participate in a traditional Mayan ceremony inside a cave, a true honor to be a part of. After a full day at Mucbilha, we will drive an hour to the town of Chahal for dinner and sleep at locally run hotel Villa Santa Elena.

It's another day of exploring natural wonders! We'll put on headlamps and explore the compelling underground world of the Cuevas de S'etzol, a different set of caves with different formations. We will enjoy lunch in the community and then head to the spectacular Las Conchas waterfalls where we'll have the afternoon to swim and relax. We will drive late afternoon to Flores, where we'll get for a delicious dinner and rest in a comfy hotel.

We will have a leisurely morning in Flores before departing for the grand, ancient Mayan city of Tikal, about a 1 hour drive. A local guide will take us on a tour of the famous Tikal National Park to see some of the largest Mayan ruins ever discovered. Then we'll take you on a special trip through the park to the traditional Mayan community of Uaxactun. They still live and work amidst their ancestral ruins and will be happy to share their culture with you. We'll spend the night in their community-run lodge called Posada El Chiclero.

After breakfast and a morning tour in Uaxactun where we will learn about their traditional gum making and Xate industry, we'll depart for the Flores, a two hour drive from the community. We'll check in to a comfy, character-filled lodge, relax, and go out for a celebratory farewell dinner together.

The Mundo Maya International Airport (15 mins from Flores) offers easy flights back to Guatemala City or onward to other destinations.