Antigua, Coffee Farm & Textiles, Bird Watching, Lake Atitlan, Chichi, Chiminos Lodge, Aguateca, Ceibal, Yaxha, Arcas Rescue Project, Tikal
13 days / 12 nights
From $4,425 per person, double occupancy for 2009

Day 1 (Sunday or Wednesday): Guatemala City – Antigua
Guatemala City Airport reception and transfer to Antigua. Overnight at an Antigua hotel (Casa Encantada or similar), breakfast included – 2 nights.

Day 2: Community Tours & Programs – Coffee Farms & Textile Coops
This morning you will enjoy an active and participating tour of small local coffee farms to learn about the coffee history and process and in the afternoon there will be a local, village traditional lunch followed by a community tour of a village textile and handicraft cooperative. As Green as it Gets (GAIG) is a charity working to support small independent coffee producers and promoting environmentally responsible agriculture in Guatemala. This tour takes guests to visit some of the families supported by this organization where they can work side-by-side with small coffee farmers in their daily coffee processing, pick, pulp, ferment, wash, dry, trilla, sort, and grade the coffee (depending on the season), roast coffee over an open fire and grind by hand on a grindstone before sampling their handiwork. Coffee Season is Nov to Mar. With the help of Casasito Association the handicraft center of Santiago Zamora began in 2006 offering both tours but also serving as an education center where workshops and courses are offered to the local women to help the protection and growth of traditional Guatemalan weaving in the village. During the tour guests visit the village itself and the handicraft center and learn about the local history, language and traditional way of life as well as the difficulties faced by today’s rural Guatemala. The tour includes a walk through the village, demonstrations of traditional weaving methods and a family-style lunch where you can learn how to make tortillas. 100% of the entrance fee here goes directly to the villages and to a special fund used for social purposes such as education, medicine and emergency help. (B,L)

Day 3: Birdwatching - Reserva Atitlan - Lake Atitlan
Early morning bird watching along with your specialized birding guide in the surroundings of Antigua. Afterward, you transfer to Reserva Atitlan. You will enjoy here an easy hike in the tropical forest with enchanting waterfalls and bridges. The reserve contains interesting plants and animals, including monkeys, the raccoon-like coatis and exotic birds, such as Guatemala's national bird, the quetzal. The Nature reserve as well has an enclosed butterfly preserve with a breeding laboratory with approximately 200 living specimens of nearly 20 species of native Guatemala butterflies. If you are in for a bit more adventure, you may end your hike with an exciting canopy tour. Overnight at a Lake Atitlan hotel (Hotel Atitlan or similar), breakfast included – 2 nights. (B)

Day 4: Lake Atitlan Tour (San Juan, Santiago)
This morning you will take a scenic boat ride across Lake Atitlan to the village of San Juan La Laguna where you can visit the women’s textile cooperative to see hand weaving and natural dye process. Also here visit the studios / homes of the celebrated naïf painters. From here you continue to the village of Santiago where you have lunch at a local hotel and tour the village visiting the Maya God Maximon and learn about the textiles, spiritualism and beliefs of the T’zutujil Maya. (B,L)

Day 5: Chichi Market – Guatemala City - Flores
Today guests transfer approx. 1 hour to the famous market at Chichicastenango (market days – Thursdays/Sundays). Time for shopping in this fabulous craft market and an opportunity to see Maya rituals being performed in the Catholic Church before transferring on to on to Guatemala City Airport (3 hours) in time to catch the afternoon flight to Flores. Airport reception and transfer to the El Remate Area. Overnight at Bahia Taitzá, breakfast included. (B,L)

Day 6: Ceibal Site & Petexbatun Lake
You will be met at your hotel by your wildlife guide and driver and transferred to Sayaxche. Here you will board a local boat for a picturesque river journey down the La Pasion river to the archaeological site at Ceibal. After a pretty steep climb up to the site through a Ceiba tree forest your guide will provide you with the latest findings and conclusions about this site which contains some of the most ornate and well preserved carved stelae. On route you will have many opportunities to see wildlife. When you are ready continue by river to your rainforest lodge on the shores of Lake Petexbatun – the Chiminos Lodge. Dinner served at the lodge. (B,L,D)

Day 7: Aguateca – Flores
After breakfast, transfer with your guide by boat to the lesser visited yet unique site at Aguateca. This site is unusual in that it contains the only known bridge formed in Maya civilization and is surrounded by a natural moat fortification formed by a fault line. You can explore the natural fault as well as a small selection of restored monuments and some intricate carvings. There are many opportunities to see wildlife today both on the water transfer and while walking around the site. Lunch at the lodge. After lunch transfer back to Flores by boat and land. Overnight at the Nitun Lodge, breakfast included – 2 nights. (B,L)

Day 8: Ixpanpajul & Yaxha Sunset
You will be picked up at your hotel and transferred to the Ixpanpajul Nature Park in the rainforest near the town of Flores. At the park you can choose between a Canopy walkway or an exciting zip line adventure through the canopy. Either way you will be able to appreciate the local flora and fauna and hopefully see a variety of tropical wildlife. After lunch you transfer to Yaxha National Park to explore this atmospheric lakeside site ending with refreshments and wonderful views at sunset over the rainforest canopy from atop the main temples. After sunset you will walk back to the vehicle and have an opportunity to spot more nocturnal wildlife. (B,L)

Day 9: ARCAS Rescue project
Guests transfer this morning to the ARCAS Wildlife Rehabilitation Center on the shores of Lake Petenitza for a half-day guided tour. ARCAS is a non-profit Guatemalan NGO formed in 1989 by a group of Guatemalan citizens who became concerned as they saw their precious natural heritage - especially their wildlife - rapidly disappearing before their eyes. It was originally created for a very specific and urgent purpose: to build a rescue center to care for and rehabilitate wild animals that were being confiscated on the black market by the Guatemalan government. Since its establishment, the ARCAS Rescue Center has grown into one of the largest and most complex rescue centers in the world, receiving between 300 and 600 animals of more than 40 species per year. The ARCAS Wild Animal Rescue and Rehabilitation Center is comprised of a quarantine area, a veterinary hospital, three large rehabilitation enclosures, a large flight cage, kitchen, dining and workshop area, volunteer house, employee housing and a large floating dock. The animal cages and enclosures are scattered throughout the jungle in order to reduce stress to the animals. Guests will take a guided tour of the centre with a member of the ARCAS team so that they can learn about the work of ARCAS and the programs they undertake as well as specifics about how they manage to rehabilitate wild animals back into the rainforest environment. A portion of the cost of this tour will be donated to the ARCAS charity. Overnight at the Jungle Lodge in Tikal, breakfast included. (B)

Day 10: Uaxactun Archaeology & Community Tour
You will transfer deep into the Peten rainforest to the community and archaeology site at Uaxactun. Here you will be guided by our expert guide as well as a community guide who will be able to explain about the various development programs ongoing in this community aimed at decreasing deforestation and finding alternative sources of income. The Wildlife Conservation Society has helped to develop this tour and your guide will be able to inform you about the work that WCS is doing in this community and in Guatemala in general. You will also receive a tour of the wonderful Maya archaeology site of Uaxactun and a local lunch in the community restaurant. The price of this tour includes the community guide fee and a donation to the Uaxactun community – administered by WCS. Overnight at the Jungle Lodge, located adjacent to Tikal National Park. Daily breakfast included – 2 nights. (B) *Uaxactun visit subject to availability.

Day 11: Tikal – the Wild Side!
Today you will have an early morning tour of Tikal to explore this amazing UNESCO protected Mayan Temple site where huge Mayan temples rise above the jungle canopy and monkeys and tropical birds are abundant in the surrounding rainforest. Your guide is a wildlife expert so as well as seeing the main areas of the archaeology you’re your guide will look for tropical wildlife in the area to give guests some wildlife interaction. After lunch and time to relax and refresh you will be able to get back into the park and enjoy the sunset from one of the temples. (B,L)

Day 12: Flores – Guatemala City
This morning you will transfer to Flores airport for your flight to Guatemala City. (B)