Bienvenidos a Guatemala!

In case you were worried, we made it to Santo Tomas, Guatemala. We weren't affected at all by the earthquake in Haiti, even though it's just a bit away. I thought the boat was rockier (if that's a word) last night, but figured it was the beer I drank.

Speaking of beer, My BIGGEST Brother, St.Louis SIL and I headed off to San Felipe Fortress today. It's an old fortress the Spaniards built to protect the area. To get there we traveled about an hour and half through little villages and the lush, lush greenery of Santo Tomas. Absolutely beautiful. Although, you are forced to remember you're in a third world country where poverty is abundant. Made me a bit thankful to be on the bus, and not living the rough lives they must live.

The fortress was quite interesting, and I love all the history of it. REAL live pirates were captured and held there. If they died, they were buried there too. The grass area in the picture below with the canons are where they buried them.

It's a beautiful area. Our tour through the fortress was very informative. We had a good guide who took the time to explain almost everything. My BIGGEST Brother forced me to walk through this very dark, very dank hallway (I hate dark dank things) to the jail. It was so dark you could barely see the hand in front of your face. I didn't like it one bit, but was glad I braved the darkness to find the jail. It was spooky, but interesting.

From there we climbed all over the fortress and explored the rooms. The Spaniards must have been very short and very thin people. There were some hallways I wasn't too sure I was going to make it through.

The tour guide had mentioned to us about their "official" beer - which I felt obligated to try. I mean you've got to experience the culture, right? So my BIGGEST Brother bought me a beer. Gallo (pronounced GUY-YO) is their official beer. It's a light beer and quite good. Reminded me of Tecate. Notice on my brothers beer the top. They served it to us with a napkin wrapped and stuffed into the neck of the bottle. We could only assume it was to keep the bugs out.

Tomorrow we're in Belize. Sister In Law's and I are doing Al-Tun Ha (which we are affectionately calling Atuna The Hun) and then a Belize City tour. Should be quite fun...I hope I get to taste their national beer too.

The weather hasn't been overly cooperative. It hasn't been sunny. Warm, but not sunny. Which I keep saying I don't mind because I'm on vacation.