Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
august 26
For the past ive days, I've been hugging Guatemala's south coast and
often coming close to the Pacific Ocean. Communications have been a
disaster: nothing has worked—no phones, emails, TV or radio crosses.
It's a small country. I've covered around 300 kilometres since crossing
the border, and already I'm only 17 kilometres from the border with
El Salvador. But this small land has given me big and lasting memo-
ries. With its lush, tropical forests, many rivers and rolling countryside,
Guatemala is probably the most beautiful country I've run through so
far on this trek, and that's saying something. It's a land of volcanoes.
It has 37, and four remain active. Today, on a detour inland to Guate-
mala City, I was 5 kilometres away from one called Pacaya, and smoke
was belching out. Pacaya erupted in May 2010, causing fatalities and
showering Guatemala City and the surrounding area with ash. Like so
many other potentially dangerous threats on this journey, however,
Pacaya left me alone.
Guatemala has a tragic history of political upheaval and civil
