You will travel through the highland mountains to the famed Lake Atitlán (Aldous Huxley called it the “most beautiful lake in the world”), surrounded by majestic volcanoes and twelve Maya villages. Prepare yourself for the multitude of colors and the shopping, the likes of which you have never seen, in Chichicastenango, the world renowned Maya market. There will be lots of time to explore, shop, relax, and do art on this unique Guatemala experience. You will be enthralled by many other beautiful venues that await you on this magical journey. Just ask Bess.

“When you cultivate, balance and harmony within yourself, or in the world, that is Tai Chi”...Roger Jahnke

Join Mary Martha McNeel on a Tai Chi, Qigong Retreat in magical Guatemala as you explore the meaning of Chi. You will deepen and restore your spiritual practice amidst the beauty of the land of the Maya, while learning of the self-healing traditions of the their culture. Visit the naturistas as they practice herbal traditions. Walk in their medicinal herb gardens then visit their farmacias, where traditional herbal medicines are dispensed.

On this retreat you will discover how to focus on the inner and outer journey of healing and personal transformation while practicing the self-healing traditions of Qigong, Tai Chi, and meditation in magical and spiritual settings. Start your day with the gentle movements of Qigong in the lower gardens of the Hotel Atitlán, overlooking “the most beautiful lake in the world”. In Antigua you will let the Chi flow on the Upper Terrace of a 16th century monastery, the Casa Santo Domingo, with volcanoes Fuego, Agua, and Acatenango in the background. Previous experience in Qigong, Tai Chi, Yoga, or any martial art is not necessary.

You will travel through the highlands to the famed Lake Atitlán. Prepare yourself for the multitude of colors and the shopping, the likes of which you have never seen before, in the market of Chichicastenango. No other place has the appeal and charm of the time trapped Spanish colonial Antigua. From its colonial architecture to the bougainvillea draped ruins, this city is considered one of the most beautiful in Central America. It is like stepping back into time over 300 years. Come, join the adventure.

Explore Panama, its islands, and beaches with Sumrall & Associates, Inc. who is proud to reward their leading partners with this “experience of a lifetime” adventure. We will visit the ancient City of Panama La Vieja, the colonial city Casco Viejo, and one of the engineering wonders of the world, the Panama Canal, where we will observe ships passing through the Miraflores locks. Flying over the 365 islands of San Blas off the Caribbean coast of Panama, we will take a canoe to the private island of Mamitupo to spend the day snorkeling the pristine waters of the Caribbean. We will travel by canoe to an island populated by the Kuna Indians whose women continue to dress like their ancestors have for hundreds of years. We will dine on lobster caught by our hosts that same afternoon and sleep in a thatch cover beach bungalow.

Next we fly to the Pacific coast of Panama where “Survivor Panama” was filmed, the Perlas Islands. San Jose Island is a necklace of scalloped beaches ringing seventeen square miles of tropical rainforest. Be met in a jeep for a half –hour ride on an old road shared with iguanas, agoutis, and deer, finally arriving in paradise. For the next four days we will stay in private bungalows perched around the rim of a narrow promontory with the balconies suspended over the water. Do blissfully little or go deep sea fishing, tour the island on ATV 4 wheelers, go on a night safari, kayaks, snorkeling, or spend your time exploring the pristine, deserted beaches. See their web-site at www.haciendadelmar.net.

Semana Santa (Holy Week) In Antigua
As founders of EXPLORE GUATEMALA, L.L.C., we have been uncovering, experiencing, and sharing the best of Guatemala since 2000. We view life as an adventure. During our “down-time” we have spent the past five years traveling, sailing, and experiencing some of the most interesting events, cultures, oceans, and lands around the world. You have heard some of our amazing travel stories and many of you have lived vicariously through our e-mail travelogues. NOW, YOU CAN EXPERIENCE THESE ADVENTURES WITH US beginning with:

Semana Santa (Holy Week) in Antigua, Guatemala. Semana Santa refers to the week proceeding Easter Sunday, and is the most important holiday in Central America. It is a festive event, featuring religious processions and colorful carpets in the streets. The participants never forget what they are commemorating. As the week progresses, these magnificent processions become more and more solemn. These celebrations are perhaps the most extravagant and impressive in all Latin America, rivaled only by a similar event that takes place in Seville, Spain.

The cobblestone streets of Antigua are covered in alfombras (carpets) made up of colorfully dyed sawdust, pine needles, flowers, flower petals, corozo (yellow flowers pulled from giant pods), berries, fruits, and vegetables. The celebrations, thought to have been introduced by Pedro Alvarado in the early years of the Conquest, start with a procession on Palm Sunday, representing Christ’s entry into Jerusalem, and continue through to the really big processions and pageants on Good Friday. On Thursday night the streets are meticulously carpeted and on Friday morning a series of processions with teams of penitents wearing peaked hoods and accompanied by solemn dirges (melancholic music from local brass bands) and billowing clouds of copal incense accompany them as they carry the image of Christ and the Cross on andas or massive platforms.

Semana Santa in Antigua is a World-Class event that most people have only heard about. You may have been to Guatemala but you have never experienced anything like this. Join us for this amazing trip.

Steven Napper’s second annual workshop in Guatemala will be filled with venues and scenic art opportunities throughout the countryside. All artists, beginners to professional, will gain benefits and experiences to last a lifetime. This art workshop will provide an opportunity to exchange ideas with fellow artists and to have some “down time” for solitude or for making new friends. Steve’s workshop will include frequent demonstration of his pastel technique, and analyzing your own work.

This art workshop adventure will take you to scenic and colorful places throughout Guatemala. Encounter a world full of color and inspiration as you visit Maya villages, and colorful markets of the Guatemala highlands. Your “home base” studio will be at the beautiful Hotel Atitlán in a thatched roof ranchito, amidst botanical gardens overlooking Lake Atitlán. Surrounded by towering volcanoes, terraced mountainsides and colorful Maya Indian villages… it is a tranquil setting that lends itself to creative awakening and renewal.

Stay in a 16th Century Monastery in the colonial city of Antigua where you will step back into time over 300 years. Founded in 1543, Antigua was one the third most important Spanish colonies in the Americas, ruling over what are now Southern Mexico and all of Central America. More than 30 Monastic orders called Antigua home and built stunning monasteries, convents, and cathedrals in the town. The local markets, quiet courtyards with ornate gardens and the sights and sounds of colonial Spain permeate the atmosphere.

If you like immersing your self in the culture of a country, this will be the trip of a lifetime. An extraordinary odyssey; you will stay in some of Guatemala's most charming and distinctive hotels. You will go behind the scenes to grow in an understanding of both Guatemala's Maya and colonial history and see how people live by visiting their villages and cemeteries during celebration of one of their most important holidays, All Saint’s Day. Experience the colorful kite flying celebrations in the village of Sumpango, the family reunions in beautifully decorated cemetery of Pastores, and the Maya markets of Chichicastenango and Comalapa.

Award-winning artist Terry Gay Puckett will share her gesture sketching techniques, which are applicable to all forms of art. As a Certified Instructor, Terry Gay will offer T’ai Chi Chih each morning for those who want to participate. Painters, photographers, textile or fiber artists, travelers, friends...all are invited. Encounter a world of color and the mystical Maya culture as you travel through the highlands of Guatemala. There will be lots of time to explore villages, bargain hunt in the markets, photograph, relax, and do art on this trip of a lifetime.

This trip offers two exciting “add-ons”..... TIKAL… discover a world once inhabited by the ancient Maya over two thousand years ago. View palaces, ball courts, burial chambers, stalae, and temples atop mammoth pyramids; attesting to the skill, intelligence, and high civilization of these ancient people. Who were they? Why did they disappear? Their voices speak from the dust through the ruins they left behind, ruins that rival any Egyptian sites. You will not want to miss this. SAILFISHING, Fish the hottest of all the new “hot spots”, the world’s best bet for Pacific billfish Guatemala’s Pacific Coast. On board your private boat, this will be a day you will not forget as you head out to the sailfish grounds. THE hottest spot in the world for sailfish, including Marlin. Not a single guest has walked away without catching and releasing Pacific sailfish; in a three-day run last year, a father and son reeled in 134 big-water beasts.

There will be lots of time for visiting Maya markets and villages such as Chichicastenango and Comalapa, with opportunities for buying handicrafts and textiles known the world over for their beauty and quality. In Guatemala, beauty pursues the traveler, and you will find fascinating subject matter everywhere. Come participate in a creative feast for the heart and soul.