The Globetrotter Guys

What to Do in Lake Atitlan, Guatemala – The Globetrotter Guys

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Lake Atitlan - The Globetrotter Guys

When we started our blog, we wanted to make sure that we documented the best in “adventure activities” in as many places as possible. Naturally, this means we have to try as many of these activities out ourselves as we can! One of our favourite places in Central America both in terms of beauty, but also for things to do, is Lake Atitlan. It’s the ideal location for outdoor enthusiasts, with so many activities to choose from. Here are our top picks for what to do in Lake Atitlan!

Where did we stay?

It’s worth us starting off by saying that we chose to stay in San Pedro la Laguna. We found a beautiful AirBnB (read here exactly why AirBnB can be the cheapest and best option!)

There are towns and villages spread out on all sides of the lake, but we had read that San Pedro has a little more to offer in terms of bars, restaurants, and shops. It is also a good place to base yourself whilst enjoying one of the many activities, as there are lots of travel agencies where you can book what you want to do.

What to do in Lake Atitlan?

1) Hike Volcan San Pedro: Volcan San Pedro is a dormant volcano, located off the shore of Lake Atitlan. It stands 3020 metres / just short of 10,000 ft looming above the village of San Pedro la Laguna which sits at its base. This was the first volcano we had ever attempted, so we opted to book through one of many agencies in San Pedro to include the round-trip transport, our national park entrance fee, and a guide all the way to the summit.

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Guatemala Gay Travel Resources

Gay Belize – The Globetrotter Guys

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Caye Caulker - The Globetrotter Guys

Gay Belize. Not two words we have ever heard put together. As for every destination, we do a quick Google search to see what is available for the LGBTQIA community in that country. Whether this be nightlife, beaches, accommodation or events. However, when we googled ‘gay Belize’, very little came up at all.

We knew there was a community, statistically there must be. We even found a Gay Belize Pride Page on Facebook which has 59k followers. Who knows better about the LGBTQIA community in Belize than an LGBTQIA local? We were lucky enough to find someone willing to answer the questions we had about gay Belize and they provided a very insightful picture.

Read our interview below with Rob*, a 23-year-old local gay male from the Cayo region of Belize.

TGG: What is the stereotypical view on the LGBTQIA community in Belize?

Rob: ”The normal stereotypical view is that many straight men assume that gay guys are feminine. I’ve heard people talk about guys who are not “masculine” enough. Those who embrace femininity are “labelled” gay (it’s just jokes nothing as in physical abuses and stuff like that, although it’s something to not joke about because you can never know if the person is gay and is having a rough time).

Even myself, sometimes I see a guy wearing a pink shirt and I go “ooo interesting”. But that doesn’t mean he’s gay. There are also many gay guys who aren’t feminine. You wouldn’t consider them gay because they are giving you some butch realness, but they are. The same concept and ideologies can be seen with lesbians I would say.”

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Gay Belize Travel Resources

Two Days in Cozumel – The Globetrotter Guys

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Cozumel - The Globetrotter Guys

Our friends recommended Cozumel to us, and we are glad they did! Cozumel is a popular stop for cruise ships, and its easy to see why. The island is home to beautiful beaches, dramatic coastlines, adventure activities (including some of the best scuba diving) and some amazing places to eat. Best of all, if time is tight, you can get around the entire island in less than a day! We spent 2 days in Cozumel and here is what we think you should do to make the most of your time! (You can see our short video of all the action here).

Scuba Diving

Home to the start of the second largest coral reef in the world, the great Mesoamerican Barrier Reef, Cozumel is a mecca for scuba diving.
It is well known that Cozumel has beautiful, bright coral, a diverse range of stunning marine life and crystal-clear waters. After our visit, we could not agree more.

Back in 2011 we completed our PADI Open Water qualification in Koa Tao. This meant we could do what is known as a fun dive (your equipment is set up and you just follow the dive master). We completed two dives during our stay and can definitely see why people make a special effort to come here instead of diving from Cancun or Playa del Carmen.

The water truly was crystal clear, you could see straight down to the bottom (about 22m) from the boat. We saw multiple loggerhead turtles, lionfish, beautifully coloured parrot fish, and most exciting of all, 3 eagle rays.

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Yucatan Gay Travel Resources

Gay Nicaragua – The Globetrotter Guys

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Gay Nicaragua

Gay Nicaragua? Again, like most countries we have visited in Central America, we knew very little about gay Nicaragua. During March we took a 9 day tour through Central America with STFLY. It was incredible, made our lives a lot easier and during the tour we were taken to some beautiful places including Laguna Beach Club which sat by the side of a volcanic crater lake.

Outside of the beach club we noticed the rainbow flag! We had to investigate further and managed to track down the owner for an interview to learn about gay Nicaragua.

Please introduce yourself to our readers:

My name is Stefan, I run a LGBTQ friendly hostel near a beautiful crystal clear freshwater lake in Nicaragua, my home country. I’ve lived in my workplace for around 2 years now and have greeted hundreds of visitors each day. The place is called “Laguna Beach Club”.

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Nicaragua Gay Travel Resources

Gay Guatemala – The Globetrotter Guys

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Gay Guatemala - The Globetrotter Guys

Gay Guatemala? We had not been able to find much about ‘gay Guatemala’ at all on Google. However, when we were in Flores, Guatemala, we received an Instagram message from a gay couple living in Guatemala City, Maikel and Jorge. They invited us to take a guided tour of the city and then offered to drive us to Antigua. At first, we were slightly wary as your parents tell you not to meet strangers off the Internet! However, we are very glad we did, and as a result we gained two new friends!

Maikel and Jorge were a lovely couple and we had a great day with them. We learnt a lot about Guatemala City and had a fun tour of the bars with them once we arrived in Antigua. We are very glad that they messaged us! During our day out we asked Maikel and Jorge if we could interview them to learn about being LGBT in Guatemala, here is what they had to say:

Firstly, would you like to introduce yourselves?

We are Jorge and Maikel. We are a gay couple and got married 10 months ago in México City. The marriage ceremony was great and we had all our friends and family there. We have been together for 2.5 years and it has been great so far!

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Guatemala Gay Travel Resources

Gay El Salvador – The Globetrotter Guys

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Gay El Salvador - The Globetrotter Guys

Gay El Salvador. We had never heard anything about being LGBT in this part of the world. What we found out was very surprising, in a very positive way! We recently took a 9 day organised tour called ‘Guatemala and Beyond’ which we booked through ST FLY. This took us from Antigua in Guatemala, through Honduras, El Salvador and finished in Nicaragua.

We spent 4 nights in El Salvador and were lucky enough to meet a local gay couple called Pascal and Joaquin who run a successful (and beautiful) hotel called Los Almendros De San Lorenzo in Suchitoto. Pascal and Joaquin have been together for 35 years and have been running Los Almendros for 13. They got married 3 years ago in France as same sex marriage is not legal in El Salvador.

Pascal is originally from France and Joaquin from El Salvador. Joaquin was also the Ambassador for El Salvador in Europe. We found Joaquin and Pascal by typing ‘gay El Salvador’ into google and then ‘gay Suchitoto’. The results showed their hotel being listed on Spartacus and when we looked on the map it was 30 seconds walk from our hotel! We went across to the hotel and found Joaquin who made us feel very welcome. He invited us back later that evening to learn more about gay El Salvador.

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El Salvador Gay Travel Resources

Skeletons and Xunantunich in San Ignacio – Globetrotter Guys

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San Ignacio - The Globetrotter Guys

After leaving Caye Caulker, we didn’t really know what to do in San Ignacio, our next destination. We knew it was an up and coming place in Belize for backpackers, and somewhere full of activities. But we never expected to see a 1,400 year old skeleton fully intact deep in an underwater cave!

San Ignacio is definitely an adventure activity hot-spot, and many travellers find themselves getting ‘stuck’ here for longer than intended! You could spend the day horse riding through the stunning hills, tubing the crystal clear rivers or swimming through caves to find lost civilisations.

The town itself is relatively small and very colourful. Most hostels/hostels are in the same area, which is where you can also find restaurants, markets and places to book your trips. Read on to find out what we did and how we got there, and take a look at our YouTube video to see what we saw whilst in San Ignacio.

Getting to San Ignacio

You can get here easily by a transfer bus from Belize City which takes 3-4 hours. We booked through Mundo Maya travels for $20. Alternatively, for those on a tighter budget, you could go to the local bus station (taxi drivers will know where this is) and look for a bus whose final destination is Benque. This would cost up to $4 instead but takes much longer, with more stops, no A/C, and you may have to keep a closer eye on your belongings!

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Belize Gay Travel Resources

Going Slow in Caye Caulker – The Globetrotter Guys

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Caye Caulker - The Globetrotter Guys

Ask any backpacker travelling through Central America about Belize and they will tell you Caye Caulker is on their list. Google it for yourself and you will see why. Bright blue skies, clear blue sea, palm trees lining the waters edge and colourful houses dotting the street give the island its iconic Caribbean feel. Stepping foot on the island you’ll immediately see the famous signs advising you to “Go Slow”. In fact, you’ll also hear the local villagers saying this numerous times a day as the answer to many questions asked. It’s the local way of saying “don’t worry, just chill out.”

But is life on Caye Caulker all about just going slow, or is there enough to fill your time there? Whilst we love a stunning Caribbean island as much as the next person, it doesn’t take long before we get itchy feet and need to do something! Here’s a snapshot of our 4 days in this tropical paradise.

Getting to Caye Caulker

Belize is bordered by Mexico to the North, and Guatemala to the West. It is easily accessible from both countries overland if flying is out of budget. Getting to Caye Caulker from either country will involve bus travel to either Chetumal, Mexico, or Belize City if coming from Guatemala. Then you will take a water taxi to Caye Caulker.

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Belize Gay Travel Resources

Two Days in Gay Cozumel – The Globetrotter Guys

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gay Cozumel - the Globetrotter Guys

Our friends recommended Cozumel to us, and we are glad they did! Cozumel is a popular stop for cruise ships, and its easy to see why. The island is home to beautiful beaches, dramatic coastlines, adventure activities (including some of the best scuba diving) and some amazing places to eat. Best of all, if time is tight, you can get around the entire island in less than a day!

We spent 2 days in Cozumel and here is what we think you should do to make the most of your time! (You can see our short video of all the action here).

Scuba Diving

Home to the start of the second largest coral reef in the world, the great Mesoamerican Barrier Reef, Cozumel is a mecca for scuba diving.
It is well known that Cozumel has beautiful, bright coral, a diverse range of stunning marine life and crystal-clear waters. After our visit, we could not agree more.

Back in 2011 we completed our PADI Open Water qualification in Koa Tao. This meant we could do what is known as a fun dive (your equipment is set up and you just follow the dive master). We completed two dives during our stay and can definitely see why people make a special effort to come here instead of diving from Cancun or Playa del Carmen.

Full Story at The Globetrotter Guys

Cozumel Gay Travel Resources

Adventures in Tulum – The Globetrotter Guys

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Tulum - The Globetrotter Guys

There are many exciting adventures in Tulum, it’s just a case of looking! Cycling around Tulum is the best way to find these adventures and see as much of this beautiful town as possible. Take a look at our short video on what we saw in Tulum here. We recently spent 4 days in Tulum and here are some of the things we did.

Cycling around Tulum – Just explore!

Tulum is quite small. Equip yourself with a map, a bike, plenty of water and set off on an adventure. Our hostel included free bikes, however there are plenty of places to hire them. We saw on the map a section where there was a thin strip of land separating the sea and a lagoon. This looked like it would be spectacular to see so off we went!

Our route

We cycled 15km along the coast and back. This was away from the main roads so was very easy and safe. Along the way there are many beautiful hotels, boutiques and restaurants. There seemed to be a bit of an “LA vibe” around as there were many health-conscious places to eat, yoga retreats and bikini boot camp resorts! Or if you just wanted to break up your cycle, plenty of boutique cafes and super food smoothie bars.

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Quintana Roo Gay Travel Resources