Xela to Lake Atitlan: a tale of courage, hope, and never ending dirtlines

Fuentes Georginas, a natural hot spring spa about 45 minutes outside of Xela

Fuentes Georginas, a natural hot spring spa about 45 minutes outside of Xela

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Larry, Katie S, Katie B, and Jonathan relaxing in one of Fuentes “cooler pools”

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Jonathan and Katie P taking in the view at Fuentes Georginas… What an artsy pic (photo creds to Katie S)

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A painfully bad attempt at salsa by our group… Gringos got no rhythm

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Russell, Becca G, and the 3 Katie’s soaking in some rays between spanish classes

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After volunteering and working hard with some children at a local after school program for about an hour, the group decided it was time for some games

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Becca G, Katie P, and Katie S at the groups favorite local bakery… Some of the best donuts I’ve ever tasted. Unfortunately the shop was only open on Tuesdays and Fridays, but that didn’t stop our group from stocking up with week long supplies.

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Our last day/class in Xela posing in a picture with the greatest teachers ever!

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6am wake up for the first morning of the hike. Do the 3 Katie’s and Becca G look ready to go or what?

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And so it began…

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Katie P and Becca G after a few hours of hiking up hill. We were pretty pumped about reaching our highest summit….

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… Until we sat an realized how much more we had to go.

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After a full day of trekking through all different kinds of terrain, we were bound to get dirty. Ally Mo just happened to find herself with a legitimate dirt stache.

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Like I said, after a day of hiking we were bound to get a little dirty…

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You know that saying “fall 7 times stand up 8”? Well Becca L put that guy to shame. She fell a whopping 16 times and got up 17! She even earned herself some war paint.

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Crossing a super sturdy bridge over a river… And by super study I mean no sturdy whatsoever.

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Katie P and Katie B enjoying our mid-morning river swim between trekking.

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Katie P, Katie B, and Becca G feeling unstoppable after climbing a grueling up hill.

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Don’t let the smiles fool you… The trek was not a smiley activity. We were just smiling because we were on break and just ate some tasty snacks.

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The “flat” parts of the trek

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Looking back on how far we’d trekked in a day. The top of the mountain in the far right corner is where we’d started our day, the little river you can barely see below that mountain is where we took a nice break. And the mountain in the left corner is what we’d walked right back up… And to top it all off, we still had another 2 hours to go.

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One of the most exciting things to see on a trek… Your destination.

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Annnd WE MADE IT! Finally in San Pedro, we all wolfed down a tasty lunch and enjoyed the veiw.

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Smiling because it’s over!

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One last picture before we set off from San Pedro to San Marcos! A huge thank you shout out to our AWESOME guides!