Rain, rain, stay out of guatemala??

July 18, 2007 8:31 AM

I need/want to go on an interesting & adventurous vacation at the end of august, and I'd gotten myself all excited about the possiblity of backpacking around Guatemala for two weeks. But.... it appears that its the rainy season.

I have two questions:

1) How serious is this here rainy season? I can easily deal with an hour of rain every afternoon, but would probably be pretty unhappy with rain that lasts half the day. Have any of you travelled in Guatemala (or its neighbouring countries) during the rainy season? How was it? Would you do it again?

2) Are there any alternate suggestions for an interesting backpacker-type vacation at the end of August? I want to avoid hurricanes, flights over $700-ish (flying from toronto), all-inclusive resorts, and boredom. Spending a day or three on a beach is appealing, spending the whole vacation on the beach is not. I'm also not so into the whole multi-day-hike focused trip, although a bit of physical adventure/exploring could be good.

Oh, and i'm a well-travelled 30 year old Canadian woman, who has travelled solo fairly extensively, and has plenty o' common sense.

Suggestions? (Or, re: guatemala - reassurances?)

posted by Kololo to travel & transportation (9 comments total)

A bit further south, but I was just in Costa Rica last week. The rain was pretty relentless when we were inland, especially up north near the Nicaraguan border. For three days straight we didn't see the sun. It was a little much, especially since I had heard the same thing about just a thunderstorm in the afternoon. Given that, I'm not sure how avoidable the rain is in any season — they're called rain forests for a reason.

OTOH, the beach was fine except for occasional rain showers and some cloudy skies.
posted by smackfu at 8:54 AM on July 18, 2007

I just came back from a trip to NE Georgia USA. The town is Clayton GA in Rabun County. There are tons of cool hiking trails with waterfalls, cliffs, etc. 2 beautiful lakes: Burton & Rabun and whitewater rafting. Check it out.
http://www.gamountains.com/
posted by monicaabc at 9:22 AM on July 18, 2007

I too was in Costa Rica at this time of year (in 2005) and the rain really wasn't bad ... it rained a bit most days, very heavily but not for long. We traveled all over, both sides, up and down and nowhere we went was the rain a major bother, though we were in a car not on foot. We had a couple of enjoyable hikes in the rain, too, though not carrying packs. I think that with a decent rain poncho you'd be fine.

Right now my niece is hiking/busing from Costa Rica through Nicaragua and on up north, so I'll email and ask her how the weather is.
posted by anadem at 10:15 AM on July 18, 2007

(But it may take a while to get a response...)
posted by anadem at 10:16 AM on July 18, 2007

Burning Man
posted by infinityjinx at 10:35 AM on July 18, 2007

Thanks anadem! I'm looking forward to (possibly) hearing what she has to say!

Smackfu - that's sort of what I was afraid of ;-(
posted by Kololo at 11:00 AM on July 18, 2007

Guatemala is a georgeous place, full of adventure. The rain does not last very long and when it does it is a beautiful warm rain. Try the hot springs above Zunil, they are my favorite place in the world, consisting of multiple pools on a mountain top in the middle of a rain forest. The coasts are special both the Caribbean and Pacific. Check the area around lake Atitlan. There is an active volcano near Antigua that people hike up to and slide down and the ruins in Tikal is special as well. Good luck
posted by iprintny at 5:29 PM on July 18, 2007 [1 favorite has favorites]

Gah! this is why i'm having problems! The conflicting accounts of the rainy-ness!

(help. more, i guess.)
posted by Kololo at 8:51 PM on July 18, 2007

My niece who's hiking right now writes:
" am in Honduras at the moment and the weather is great. as you said, it is in fact just the right temperature to be hiking, though can be incredibly humid in the mid mornign so it is a pleasure if and when it rains."
posted by anadem at 9:13 AM on July 23, 2007