With inexpensive flights embarking from Miami, cheap holidays in Guatemala are very affordable. Right now, you can fly from Miami to Guatemala for less than $400, round trip!
Guatemala
The spot marked 1 is Lake Atitlan, a lake formed by volcano’s, not far from Guatemala City.This is the deepest lake in all of Central America.
Lake Atitlan
This area has hostels and hotels ranging in price from $6.00 up to $395 per night. Quite the spectrum of prices!
Sites around Lake Atitlan include an active volcano, boating, local villages, and coffee plantations. Local crafts are available within the small towns that surround Lake Atitlan.
The spot marked 2 is Flores, a tourist town that is usually used as a base for visits to Tikal, the large Mayan National Park. The town’s on Lake Peten Itza.
Prices here range from $7.00 for a hostel up to $65. The town of Flores is a small town with many restaurants and tourist shops for local crafts.
The main attraction for the area is the National Park of Tikal. This is a 225 sq. mile park that is rich in Mayan ruins and history.
One of 7 pyramids at Tikal
The town of Uaxactun in the Tikal National Park is where the Mayan calendar originated. This calendar was the one used to determine the “End of Times” that was so widely written about in the past few years. (It’s been determined now that interpretation of the calendar was wrong, and the “End of Times” in further into the future!)
The spot marked number 3 is Lake Izabal, the largest fresh water lake in Guatemala.
There are 2 towns that attract people on or near Lake Izabal.
The first one is Rio Dulce. This has been a haven for sailors for a safe refuge from hurricanes in the Caribbean Sea. The sailors go up the Dulce River for a spot to moor their sailboats to either visit Rio Dulce or seek refuge from storms.
The other town is El Estor, a small town that’s been inhabited for decades to service boats going east along the lake to Rio Dulce, and eventually to the Caribbean Sea.
Prices in this area range from $15. 00 to $155.oo.
This area has the Cerro San Gil National Park that the Dulce River flows through. This area is full of wild life and hiking areas. This is one of the last places in the Western Hemisphere that has fresh water manatees.
The town of El Elstor is on the shore of Lake Izabal, west of Rio Dulce. A new road has just been finished that leads from Rio Dulce to El Estor.
The town is not frequented by many tourists, which makes it an unspoiled example of how the average Guatemalan lives.
From the town, you can take boats out on the lake to see the fresh water manatees that live in Lake Artitlan. You might want to consider a quick visit, because over fishing and an increasing population has caused the herd to dwindle down to about 40 animals.
There is also a unique swimming hole east of town. A stream, that’s heated by lave flowing through the mountains, runs over rocks into a cool stream running along the mountains in a southerly direction. The hot and cold combination of waters while swimming is an exhilarating feeling!
The swimming "hole" close to El Estor
There are many other areas of Guatemala to see, and enjoy. The country is rich in Mayan history, has many active volcano’s and wide stretches of national parks.
With Thanksgiving just around the corner, and the Christmas Holiday season a little over a month away, a vacation that does not dent the wallet too much is available in Guatemala.
