Through the Indigenous Villages and across the scenic Cuchumatanes Mountains.

Day 1
We meet the afternoon before at 4pm to hand out group gear, any personal gear that you may need and go over all of the trip details and logistics. After a hearty breakfast, we leave around 8 am on Tuesday to head up to the quiet little town of Nebaj in the northwestern part of the country. We spend the evening taking in the sights and relaxing over dinner and spending the night at Popi's Restaurant and Hostel (a self'sufficiency project of Mayan Hope), making sure to get plenty of rest for the journey ahead.

Day 2
We have a relaxing start having breakfast in town at 7am before starting out for 4 days of trekking to the beautiful and historic town of Todos Santos. We begin trekking out of town to the sacred sites on the outskirts and then tackling a 1 1/2 hour climb onto the ridge out of town. We pass through several small villages, getting our first taste of the rural highland culture. We will visit a local cheesefarm and, weather permitting, eat lunch along a river. After lunch we will continue on to stay and have dinner with a local family in a small village about 6 hours outside of Nebaj. Also, the family will provide us with their Temascal, a Mayan steam sauna.

Day 3
We rise early at 3:30 am, tackle the hardest part of the trek, with a break on our way up for coffee and breakfast, a 2.5 to 3 hours climb up to the top of an immense plateau. We reach the summit to cross into an open area strewn with huge limestone boulders originating from the ocean floor.  After some snacking, relaxation and a doze in the sunshine, we continue along the top of the plateau passing through several small settlements where the local people make their living by growing crops, herding sheep and making hand woven textiles. Later in the afternoon, we drop down into a beautiful deep valley and arrive in a small, rural school to have dinner and stay.

Day 4
We wake before 7am and go down the valley to have breakfast and a swim in the river. Afterwards, we head up out of the valley passing through some larger villages. After lunch on a beautiful hill with views of the plateau, we jump on a bus for the 1/2 hour ride to a small indigenous town on the east side of La Torre, the highest non-volcanic point in all of Central America. We spend the night with Geronimo and his family, with whom we have dinner in the small fire-warmed kitchen of their traditional home and finishing off the day with another Temascal.

Day 5
Geronimo comes with us to guide us to the top of La Torre and shares some of his experiences living in the highlands during the civil war that raged through the area for decades. We summit for a fine view to Volcan Tacana in Mexico, Volcan Tajumulco and the volcanoes around Antigua. From La Torre, we descend down through the beautiful Cuchumatanes Mountains, passing by an alpine lake and working our way down the steep hillside. At the road, Geronimo heads back home and we follow a trail along a beautiful river down the valley to Todos Santos.  Here we make ourselves feel at home at Hispanomaya Spanish School, a non-profit, cooperative language school that donates all it's proceeds towards scholarships for local school children.  We have plenty of free time to explore colorful Todos Santos before we enjoy a hearty meal at the school, celelebrating our accomplishment and discussing the highlights of the trip.

Day 6
Next and last morning, we get up around 5:30 am, hop on a bus that drives us to Huehuetenango, where we enjoy a good breakfast. After breakfast we get our last bus to Xela arriving to town around 12 noon.

Minimum Donation Q 1100.00

This hike leaves every other Tuesday morning, depending on demand.

Cost includes:

• All Transport
• Food
• Accomodations
• Water
• Guides
• Equipment, ie. Sleeping Bags, Roll Mats, Waterproofs, etc.

Cost does not include:

• Personal travel insurance
• Alcoholic beverages
• Costs incurred due to accident, illness or any other unforeseen circumstances
• Tips for the Guides