Guatemala

Travel Guatemala on your gap year. Ideas for gap year travel to Guatemala.

Guatemala gap year - Gap year programmes in Guatemala

Guatemala is one of Latin America's most beautiful countries and is the heartland of the ancient Mayan Empire. As well as possessing a fascinating history, Guatemala also boasts some superb scenery, fantastic beaches and a unique and diverse range of wildlife. Guatemala is a great place in which to learn Spanish during your time in Latin America, and there are also some excellent opportunities to get involved with some really worthwhile volunteer projects dedicated to conserving Guatemala's unique wildlife.

Guatemala's capital city, and home to its major international airport is Guatemala City. Guatemala City has few standout places of interest but is obviously an important transportation and service hub for the rest of Guatemala. Guatemala City was designed using a street grid system so it's an easy place to negotiate. Most of Guatemala City's interesting sights can be found in ‘Zona 1', including the central Plaza Mayor - which is a good place in which to take a stroll and soak in the local atmosphere.

Most gap year travellers, however, visit Guatemala for its unique wildlife. Guatemala has over 8000 plant species in 19 different ecosystems, ranging from high cloud forests to coastal mangrove swamps. Among Guatemala's huge range of plant species can be found approximately 600 species of orchid. Guatemala's abundant wildlife includes 600 bird species, 250 species of mammal, numerous butterflies and other insects, and 200 species of reptile and amphibian. Guatemala's national bird in the quetzal, which is often used to symbolise Central America as a whole.

If you want to get involved with some rewarding wildlife conservation work during your gap year then Real Gap's ‘Wildlife Rescue and Rehabilitation Volunteer' is an excellent option. As with Real Gap's wildlife volunteer projects in Africa and elsewhere, volunteers get to work ‘hands on' with the animals. This project is particularly diverse in that it focuses on the rehabilitation and treatment of the various types of animals native to Guatemala that are brought each day to the centre. Volunteers play a central role in the daily running of this vital Guatemala conservation project. As with most of Real Gap's volunteer projects in Latin America, volunteers also receive four hours a day Spanish tuition and stay with a local family - which really helps them to experience a side to life in Guatemala that just isn't possible when you visit as a tourist.  

Guatemala is also a fantastic country in which to simply laze around on a beach and the coastal resort of Monterrico - directly south from Guatemala City, is the venue for a unique race. The nearby Guatemala ‘tortugario' (turtle hatchery) releases newly hatched turtles in to the sea and - for the cost of a small donation to the hatchery - visitors can pick out the turtle they think will reach the sea first. On the count of three, participants release their own individually sponsored baby sea turtle and the baby turtles then frantically scramble towards the sea. The sponsor of the winning turtle receives a meal for two in a local restaurant as a prize. More importantly, of course, the money raised from this event is used to help the turtle hatchery continue its work to help protect one of Guatemala's most endangered species.

If you'd like to do even more to help Guatemala's endangered sea turtles then you should consider Real Gap's ‘Sea Turtle and Caiman Volunteer Guatemala' Volunteers play an important role in the everyday running of this project which is dedicated to the conservation of turtles and caiman native to Guatemala. As with Real Gap's other Guatemala programmes, participants receive four hours a day Spanish tuition and live with a local host family. 
 
Guatemala possesses a fascinating history. Guatemala is the centre of Mayan culture and contains important remnants of this important ancient civilisation. The Maya are among the three great ancient civilisations of the Americas, along with the Aztec of Mexico and the Inca of Peru. The history of the Maya can be traced back almost 4,000 years, reaching its pinnacle around the 6th to 8th centuries, before eventually succumbing to the Spanish conquistadors in the sixteenth century. The Mayan Empire stretched through parts of Guatemala, Belize, the Yucatan Peninsula and in to the western areas of present-day Honduras and El Salvador. Mayan architecture, agriculture, mathematics and astronomy was advanced and they left behind a writing system which has yet to be fully deciphered.    

Guatemala is an excellent gap year destination to learn Spanish, get involved in important volunteer work and travel South America. 

Guatemala gap year - Gap year programmes in Guatemala


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