Travel off the beaten track and experience

Entrance to Lanquin Caves I spent 4 hours exploring deep, dark, & dirty caves filled with bats. Spelunking through these caverns at Lanquin was a lot more fun than I expected it would be, and there were a few surprises along the way. I finally emerged from the earth, covered with mud & batshit. The Q’eqchi’ Maya town of Lanquin is surrounded by a large network of caves. The local Maya have used them for hundreds of years as sacred places of ceremony and worship. They believe the cave is the “Heart of Heaven”. Armed with my camera, water, and a powerful headlamp, I walked from my hostel for 25 minutes to go exploring in the Lanquin caves. The beginning of the cave system is lit with a few lightbulbs strung-up in the air, which helps show off how impressive they really are. Giant cathedral ceilings that must be at least 50 feet high, covered in amazing stalactite formations. I wanted to visit the caves without a guide to save money and really...

Climbing Volcano Santiaguito Xela, Guatemala Guatemala’s active volcano Santiaguito erupts with an explosion of hot ash & rocks every few hours. So of course we decided to hike up the crater and go camping nearby. UPDATE: Since writing this post, authorities have tightened restrictions in the area around the volcano after a massive explosion in 2016. First, let me tell you a little bit about the volcano. The Santiaguito Crater is a very active lava dome that is part of the much larger Santa Maria Volcano system. At 12,375 feet tall, Santa Maria Volcano violently exploded in 1902, blowing off the whole Southern side of the mountain, resulting in one of the biggest eruptions of the 20th century and killing over 10,000 people. Ash from this massive eruption was detected 2500 miles away in San Francisco. In my photo of Santa Maria below, you can see the results from that huge 1902 explosion. Half the mountain is gone. The Santiaguito lava dome was created in th...