Iglesia y Convento de la Recoleccion

Today is Henrietta's birthday, thus I prepared a great salad and we all enjoyed lunch on the terrace upstairs. Afterwards we all went to the Isglesia y Convento de la Recoleccion ruins. I can just imagine what the church and convent looked like when it was built. It must have been very beautiful. Here are some photos. I hope you enjoy them.

Tortuga Liberacion

Here is a short video of me with my little turtle. I hope he makes it in that big ocean. Maybe one day he'll come back and visit me, or is it a she. lol There was a nice lot for sale on the beach. I found out a very large house there on the beach just sold for $150,000 US, so I'm sure just the lot would go for less. It wouldn't be such a bad place to run a small hotel or something.

Tortuga Liberacion

Even though I had to think about this, I still wanted to hold a little turtle in my hand and set him free. The event was something to question but it helps fund the sea turtle efforts. Each evening at 5:30 people gather to set a turtle free and watch them race to the sea. The winner received something but I'm not sure what, but for me the fun was in holding my little turtle and then watching him disappear into the sea when a big wave came and helped him along. Here are the photos of the incredible sunset, the turtle, and me.

Monterrico, Guatemala

Here are the photos of my hotel, the beach, and other other photos. Brisas del Mar is a wonderful place to visit and stay. It has a nice pool, outdoor showers, a great place to rest and see the sun set and beach. We stayed there for only $60 Quetzales per night. (less than $10)

That's me in the hammock and the beach is behind me. The room I stayed in was #24.

The middle photo is of the main area of Monterrico by the beach. It's been improved with a concrete walkway and covered walking areas. Monterrico is the vacation spot for the Guatemalticas and some of the more wealthier people have a vacation home here.

Black Sand Beaches

In Monterrico, Guatemala, they only have black sand beaches because of the volcanoes. The sand heats up quickly so most of the time you have to wear flip-flops or something in the afternoon, unless of course you're standing in the water. The current here is very strong and has a strong back draft. These creates some wonderful waves but makes it hard to swim out very far, or well to get back to the shore. But it was a fun

Monterrico, Guatemala

Well, here are the photos I took after our morning tour through the mangroves. These are the typical houses that people live in down here with concrete bases and thatch roofs. The other photos show the painted walls along the street and other buildings I liked.

Mangroves at 5:30 am.

The trip through the mangroves early in the morning was very relaxing. When we started it was very dark and very quiet. As the sun rose the air came alive with sounds of nature. Suddenly animals of all sorts were making sounds, flying, swimming, or jumping. Even the sight of other boats showed that the water way was an important means of transportation in the area of Monterrico, Guatemala. Our guide, Jorge, took us through this little area because I kept saying I wanted to go through the mangroves. The water was so low in this area that we had to help him pull the boat by grabbing onto branches. He said he didn't usually do this for people, but we all had fun. One photo is of Henrieta, Willamjkin and Jorge. The girls have been my travel buddies for a few weeks. The last photo is of some four eyed fish. They were very funny as they would almost skip across the water. They had two eyes that stayed above the water and two eyes under the water. I wish I could have gotten a better photo.

Mangroves at 5:30 am.

Yes, that is a truck on a boat cruising down the waterway. That's the same type of little boat our bus was on. The other photos are of water hyacinths and of the mangroves we went through. The one photo of all the birds is all pelicans.

Mangroves at 5:30 am.

Yes, not only was I awake at 4 am, but by 5:30 am I was cruising silently along the mangroves in a small wooden boat powered by Jorge with a long stick. (No, this Jorge isn't my best friend he's in Canada snow skiing.) The first photo is of us going through the mangroves in the dark. The other photos show the sunrise with the volcanoes in the distance, some birds, and other photos of the areas.