Adventurous Kate contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase through these links, I will earn a commission at no extra cost to you. Thanks!
When our trip to El Salvador and Guatemala sold out in just a week and the waiting list grew and grew, there was only one thing to do: add more tours!
Leif and I have decided to add two more tours this spring! Leif will be running one on his own and we’ll be running another together.
The Tour
Each tour lasts 15 nights. We start with four days of surfing and beach time in El Tunco, El Salvador. Next, we move on to Guatemala’s UNESCO-listed colonial city of Antigua for two days. Then it’s all about breathtaking Lake Atitlan: we’ll be staying in three very different places for a few days each (Panajachel, Jaibalito, San Pedro).
We include activities like surfing lessons, a volcano trek, kayaking on the lake, hiking to waterfalls, a Mayan sauna, and a day trip to Chichicastenango Market.
This is a chilled out, relaxed tour for backpackers. We won’t be on a bus every day and in a different hotel every night — we’ll be savoring five different locations and exploring them in depth at a leisurely pace. We’re keeping the group small — 12 people, plus guides.
We are keeping it cheap and basic with simple hostels and guesthouses, transportation like local chicken buses, and local food. That said, we’ve also included some splurges, like some really beautiful guesthouses and hostels and some high-end meals!
For more information on the itinerary and tour, see the original post.
Image: alq666
Run Away to Central America: The Details
March 26-April 10: Led by Leif only
April 16-May 1: Led by Leif and Kate
Cost: $1250 USD
Cost includes accommodation (mix of hostel dorms, simple guesthouses, and nicer hotels, all shared), transportation (mix of chicken buses, VIP minibuses, boats, pickup trucks), some activities (surf rentals and lessons, volcano hiking, jungle adventures) and some meals (3 breakfasts, 3 lunches, 2 dinners). Cost does not include airfare, visas ($10 on arrival by air in San Salvador), optional activities (zip-lining, paragliding, motorcycling), meals not specified, and travel insurance.
Participants are required to purchase travel insurance and present proof upon arrival. I use and recommend World Nomads.
How to Sign Up
To sign up, send an email to therunawayguide at yahoo dot com. People on our current waitlist get first dibs, then we’ll be opening it to everyone else on a first-come, first-serve basis.
A 50% deposit is required to hold your place. The balance is due two weeks prior to the start of the tour.
Ahh! I want to go so bad, but my boyfriend and I are moving in S. Korea in 3 weeks to teach for a year! Please do more trips like this in 2016! I’m dying to go to Guatemala!! 🙂 Best of luck to you!
I desperately want to go, but I’ve booked all my holiday allowance and travel money for this year (oops). I agree with Sarah above, please do this in 2016 too! :))
I hear you! Hope to see you in the future!
Oh Kate I would love to do this but the activities seem too physically demanding for me. Please plan a future tour for the older crowd!
Duly noted, Alicia. 🙂 And if you wanted to come but skip the surfing and volcano hiking, that would be totally fine as well!
I know you have no plans to do this full-time, but I’m hoping you’ll keep doing them in the future – I can’t do these dates due to studying commitment, but would love to travel with you soon! 🙂
Beanie
Ha, if I did these full-time, I’d have no time for anything else! I think I might do a few per year in the future.
This trip sounds amazing! Would love to do Central America at some point. Sadly cannot make this round. Enjoy!
Another time, for sure!
That’s awesome! I wish I had more vacation time because I would absolutely jump on that trip! I loved Guatemala for the two days I was there and would go back in a heartbeat!
We’d love to have you someday!
guetamala is wonderfull ya.. but i think from indonesia the cost would be higher
Hi Kate!
Just wanted to suggest an application process if you don’t already have one. I see that you are accepting “sign ups” through your friend’s email address, but am not sure if you have an application process after that. Just thought I’d recommend doing background checks to help protect yourself and your group.
Thanks, Jamie!
I’d love to come, but can’t make the first date. Why are these dates so much more expensive?
I was wondering the same thing. These trips are $300 more than the original trip. How come? (Still a good deal, but this might not be the year that I can swing it).
See my reply above — we’re charging more for future tours because we massively underpriced the first one.
Hi Herumtreiberin — We’re charging more because we massively underpriced the first one.
I can understand that. Still a shame for me, I guess with flights from Europe to El Salvador/Guatemala it’ll get too expensive for me. :/
Hi Kate. I would love to join but I am having a hard time using that email address provided above. Pls help. Thanks.
Are you? Just type [email protected].
Super fun…I would SO love to go on this Guatemala trip! I live in Belize (and blog there)…and I’ve seen almost ZERO of that country…sigh.
Sounds like a great reason, Rebecca!
This is awesome that you’re running two more. I can’t make these two, but I’m hoping there will be some this summer/fall that will work!
Not to Central America, but perhaps somewhere else in the future!
Ah so cool! I wish I could go. Dying to go to SA/CA… But it will have to wait another year or so…Australia is calling! 🙂
I have got to go on one of these tours. They look like so much fun.
We’d love to have you!
Hi Kate,
Thinking about the April 16th tour. How much on average would you say everyone spent for tours/meals etc. that was not covered by the tour price?
Most meals cost $5-10; occasionally girls spent more. You’ve also got to consider a drinking budget, and most of the time drinks cost $1-3, usually on the lower end (plus free ladies night drinks for girls almost everywhere we went).
HEllo Kate! Are you planning any other tour next winter ou spring in Central America ?
Thanks!
VERY possibly. Sign up for email updates to know for sure!