If I were superstitious, I might have seen the lion as a sign that in an hour-and-a-half I was going to be kidnapped or murdered. From the back of my motorcycle my roommate McKenzie pointed and exclaimed, “Dude, there is lion just sitting in a cage in that vacant lot. A [...]

“Come join us for yoga after work,” we would often ask them. We being gringos. They being Guatemalans. At the educational development organization I work for in Guatemala, we have both local Guatemalans and international volunteers on staff. Since one of our international volunteers was a yoga instructor in a [...]

Guatemalans love ice cream. Well, at least in Antigua they do. At every turn, the historic city’s cobblestone streets seem to be crawling with people licking drippy cones of sugary frozen cream topped with a dollop of syrupy strawberry goodness. And it made me want it — like really want [...]

Guatemala has a loud tradition of setting off firecrackers early in the morning to celebrate a birthday. Contributor Luke Maguire Armstrong has a tradition of sleeping in the early-morning hours. Dear Firecracker-Loving Guatemalans, Let me begin by assuring you that I am no hater of firecrackers. When I was a [...]

In all of Antigua, Guatemala, there is only one place in the city where two gas stations sit across the street from each other. Someone years ago decided that this is the spot where every December 7, people would gather to watch La Quema del Diablo: The Burning of The [...]

I will be honest: the sound of the word “lake” causes an instant yawn reflex. Mention “beach” or “miles of sand and sea,” and you’ve caught my attention for the next hour. As a seasoned traveler, it is slightly embarrassing to admit that I almost always search for the perfect [...]

Have you been following the exploits of the newly-installed Frugal Traveler, Seth Kugel, this summer as he’s been making his way from São Paulo to New York? This month alone he’s traipsed around Los Zorros, a seaside fishing village on the Pacific coast of Nicaragua, with his parents; shacked up [...]

Special thanks to The Expeditioner´s readers for support given to Guatemala when duel disasters struck May 2010. Though bound by the usual array of parental rules as a child, when I sat next to an ant hill, it was as if I were an omnipotent God. Gazing down from on high, [...]

As many of you know, TheExpeditioner.com contributor Luke Armstrong lives and works in Guatemala, and many of the people his organization works with have been directly affected by the recent storm. In response, Luke forwarded the following call for help. The eruption of Volcano Pacaya and the arrival of Tropical [...]

By Tyrel Nelson It was mid-January, but no snow was on the ground — an odd sight for Minnesotans. The 17 of us were actually in the verdant highlands of Panajachel, Sololá, Guatemala. Teammates on a Global Village trip, we were offering our time and sweat on behalf of Twin [...]