Clark-Peterek Belize

Earthquake Update

Last night a 7.1 magnitude earthquake struck at 2:24 a.m. off the coast of Honduras sending shock waves throughout Central America.  We awoke to the house violently shaking. Not knowing what was happening we vacated the premises.  There was minimal damage to homes in Punta Gorda, while several coastal communities to the north received significant damage.  We were pretty shaken up, having experienced our first earthquake.  We are safe, and Peace Corps is taking every precaution to ensure our health and safety.  For the most part things have returned to normal here in PG.  Thank you for your prayers and concerns. 

You can read more about the earthquake here.  

Antigua, Guatemala

After some time in San Salvador, it was time to begin the journey back to Belize.  After a day of   touring the capital city, we boarded the King Quality bus bound for Guatemala City early the next morning.  The ride across the country was quite pleasant.  The seats reclined and had foot rests.  We were even served a meal and refreshments.  We crossed the border into Guatemala with no problems a few hours after leaving San Salvador.  After a five hour trip, we arrived at the bus station in Guatemala City. 

 

We have been to Guatemala City before, and we feel pretty comfortable in and around the city.  We took a taxi to different bus station, and we boarded a bus headed for Antigua.  After a trip through the streets of Guatemala City picking up passengers also bound for Antigua, we were off to last stop in our trip around Central America.

We visited Antigua last March during Semana Santa, and we highly recommend that you visit this beautiful colonial city!  The capital of the Department of Sacatepequez, in the highlands, Antigua has a population around 35,000 .  Founded in 1543, La Antigua, which  means “Old Guatemala,” and was the third capital city of the country.  After several earthquakes, the capital city was relocated to its present day location, Guatemala City.

The weather in Antigua was beautiful, and we spent our time touring the city, relaxing in the park, browsing shops, taking pictures in the market, and enjoying some delicious food.  We said goodbye to this great city and continued our trip back to Belize.  We had a wonderful time on our return trip to Antigua, and we look forward to future visits. 

We took a shuttle back to Guatemala City and loaded the Litegua bus to Puerto Barrios.  Once in Puerto Barrios, we stopped by Immigration and loaded a boat headed across the Gulf of Honduras back to Punta Gorda.

After 5 border crossings, 9 buses, 5 taxis, 3 collectivos, and 2 boat rides later,we are home.  Now it is back to work.  We have lots of exciting things happening with our projects, we look forward sharing them with you. 

Our trip around Central America was so much fun, and we truly enjoyed ourselves.  Thanks so much to Ginnie and Anthony and Bryan for the great travel trips and info! 

La Palma

We woke up early Friday morning and loaded Transportes Casasola, an express bus headed for La Entrada.  Once in La Entrada we boarded Transportes Sultan Express and made our way towards the border of Honduras and El Salvador.  A few hours later we stepped off the bus in the colorful town of La Palma.

Surrounded by mountains, 10 km south of Honduras, lies this artist community in northern El Salvador in the department of Chalatenango.  Well known Salvadorian artist Fernando Llort moved to La Palma in the early 70´s for inspiration.  He started an artisan's co-op, La Semilla de Dios, working with the residents of La Palma to create his bright simple images, and developed an art movement that represents El Salvador around the world. Today 75% of the population in La Palma is involved in producing this unique art, on everything from wooden tables and chairs, crosses, bowls, boxes, seed bracelets, key chains, napkin holders, and clothingg.  Art is everywhere in La Palma.  Storefronts are brightly painted, murals adorn walls, and even the telephone poles and park benches display the art this community is so well known for. 

We have spent our time in La Palma walking around the town, taking pictures, eating pupusas, enjoying the beautiful weather in the park, and browsing the many artisan shops.  We visited La Semillo de Dios as well as the gallery of another famous Salvadorian artist Alfredo Linares.  Our visit to La Palma has been wonderful, and we are so glad that we decided to stop here.

Next we are headed south towards the Pacific for some time on the black sand beaches of El Salvador´s coast. 

Happy New Year!

After a few days at home in Punta Gorda, we packed our bags again and headed south.  We boarded Requena´s Charter across the Gulf of Honduras to Puerto Barrios, Guatemala.  From Puerto Barrios we headed towards Honduras on the Litegua Bus.  After a bus stop, a border crossing, and a few taxis later, we finally arrived in Copan Ruinas, Honduras.  

Copan Ruinas is located in western Honduras near the Guatemala Border.  Copan Ruinas is a beautiful little town with cobblestone streets and very backpacker friendly.  We stayed at the Iguana Azul, a very affordable and clean hostel with hot water.  The staff was friendly and happy to help.  We celebrated the New Year on the streets of Copan Ruinas with the crowds, popping fireworks, singing, and cheering.  Residents of Copan Ruinas love fireworks and New Years was like no other.  The celebrating went on through the night and into the morning.  

On New Year's Day we hiked to the Copan Ruinas Archaeological Park, about 1 km outside of the town.  The weather was beautiful and the walk alongside the road was very pleasant.  Declared a heritage humanity site by UNESCOin 1980, Copan has been referred to as one of the most artistically advanced and elaborate of all of the ancient Maya Cities.  We spent the day touring the site and museum.  The main plaza was quite remarkable and the many carved stelae and altars were impressive. The Hieroglyphic Stairway was amazing, displaying original ancient carvings.   The Museum houses original sculptures and carvings and was definitely one of the highlights of the day.  We had a great time exploring the Ruins. 

We spent the rest of the day walking around Copan Ruinas, enjoying the wonderful weather and good food.  Copan Ruinas was a great way to begin our trip through Central America.  We are now hanging out in the artist community, La Palma, in Northern El Salvador.