Search Results For : Lake-Atitlan

221011 GiliT Beach Large Bintang IDR50k
OCTOBER - NOVEMBER 2022: OVERVIEW: Due to COVID-19, I have spent the last 2 years in either ‘lockdown’ or ‘hiding from restrictions’. From March to July 2020, I was in ‘lockdown’ on Phuket Island, Thailand: Patong Posts From July to September 2020, I was ‘keeping my head down’ on the Red Sea in Egypt: Hurghada Posts. From September 2020 to January 2021, I did the same in Dalyan, Turkey: Dalyan Posts. I made 3 attempts to leave Turkey for Central America: The first 2 attempts via the USA failed through COVID related ‘Acts of God’ … I got no refund […]

Gili Trawangan – Indonesia – Getting There

MAY 2021: OVERVIEW: I stayed in San Pedro La Laguna (SPLL), Lake Atitlan, Guatemala for 4 months during COVID-19. Generally speaking, SPLL is pretty safe with bars and restaurants closing at 9pm. Alas, only about 50% of people there wear masks… and we had a COVID outbreak that came out of one of the young, party bars near the main Boat Dock. This resulted in the town being closed down for 2 weeks followed by bars closing at 6pm for a further 2 weeks. It was time to move on to Roatan Island, Honduras. I decided to take on the […]

Lake Atitlan (Guatemala) to Bay Islands (Honduras) – Journey (COVID-19)

GENERIC: Why not read our Retirement Reviews. OVERVIEW: For detailed information about how costs are constructed, please read About – GRANDPAcking Costs. For more detail about what we are looking for, please read About – My Plan and about My Retirement Reviews. These GRANDPAcking Retirement Locations have a Cost Of Existence (COE) of between US$35 and US$39 per day for 2 people: Malaysia – Langkawi – US$35 (2015) ♥ Ecuador – Vilcabamba – US$35 (2018) ♥ Vietnam – Phu Quoc – US$35 (2015) Indonesia – Gili Air – US$35 (2014) ♥ Cambodia – Kampot – US$35 (2016) ♥ Vietnam – Da Nang – US$36 […]

US$35 – US$39 / day

NOVEMBER 2016 - JUNE 2018: Why not read our Retirement Reviews. OVERVIEW: For the Central American leg of my GRANDPAcking world trip I targeted several Caribbean Islands off the coast from Belize down to Colombia. I was searching for that ‘idyllic’ GRANDPAcking Standard retirement location. I visited several isands: Ambergris Caye, Belize Caye Caulker, Belize Utila, Honduras Roatan, Honduras Big Corn, Nicaragua Little Corn, Nicaragua Isla Bastimentos, Panama Bocas Del Toro, Panama San Andres, Colombia Providencia, Colombia One of the main attractions of these islands is that they all have an historical link back to the British Empire and, therefore, […]

Coastal Caribbean Islands – Central America – The Ultimate Guide

MARCH 2018: Why not read our Retirement Reviews. OVERVIEW: PLEASE NOTE: The official exchange rate at time of writing was US$1 = P$1 (Panama Balboa). Panama uses US$s and only uses Balboa as coins for small change. I made my way from Puerto Viejo, Costa Rica to Isla Bastimentos, Panama by Shuttle Bus(es) and Boat(s). On Isla Bastimentos, I booked a GRANDPAcking Double Room for 4 nights at US$31 / night (Bubba’s House). The room was expensive, basic and ‘tired’. The shared kitchen was small and almost unusable. I needed to get my costs down and find somewhere with a […]

Bocas Town – Panama – Information

OCTOBER 2017: Read our Retirement Reviews to find good places to retire on a budget. BACKDROP: Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua are known as the CA4 (Central American 4) countries. In June 2017, I left Palenque (Mexico) and cut across northern Guatemala to the Honduran Bay Islands. I stayed nearly 3 months in Utila and Roatan before needing to get out of the CA-4 (again) to renew my visa. I bought a Shuttle / Boat Ticket from Roatan to Punta Gorda, Belize. As I describe in my Roatan to San Pedro post, I ‘struck lucky’ at the Honduras-Guatemala border […]

San Pedro LL – Guatemala – To – Santa Ana – El Salvador

APRIL 2017: Click here to read our Guatemala Retirement Reviews. Click here to read our Mexico Retirement Reviews. OVERVIEW: I stayed in Zipolite, Oaxaca, Mexico for 6 weeks … I initially planned to stay only 3 weeks … but, it was such a nice ‘vibe’ that I decided to stay longer. Read this post for a detailed break-down of costs in Zipolite. In Zipolite, I stayed at the Brisa Marina; this hotel is not listed in BOOKING.COM nor AGODA.COM. I paid MXP150 / night (US$8.25) for a Double Room with Cold Water Private Bathroom (no Breakfast included). This was a very good price … many locals told me that I was […]

Tapachula – Mexico – to – Lake Atitlan – Guatemala

MARCH 2017: Why not read our Retirement Reviews. For a detailed breakdown of Holiday and Retirement Costs, read about Zipolite GRANDPAcking Costs. OVERVIEW: I made my way from Lake Atitlan, Guatemala to Zipolite, Mexico by Lancha, Shuttle, and long distance ADO bus. In Lake Atitlan, I stayed in a GRANDPAcking Standard hotel: the Jarachi’k. I booked a Double Room with Cable TV and Private (hot water) Bathroom for GTQ100 (US$14.50) / night including Breakfast. I got this rate down from GTQ240 / night by booking 7 nights and paying up-front. I ended up staying there for 1 month. The Jarachi’k room was small but […]

Zipolite – Mexico – Information

JANUARY 2017: OVERVIEW: My costs start in Panajachel, Lake Atitlan and include: A lancha (boat) from Panajachel to San Pedro 38 nights in GRANDPAcking Standard accommodation Food & Drink Mobile Data / Communications 21 Days of Spanish Classes CROSS REFERENCES: For more detail, read about San Pedro. Click here to read about Retirement Locations in this country. Click here for detailed Travel Information and more Travel Budgets in this country. Read About – GRANDPAcking Costs if you don’t know how to interpret my figures. SPREADSHEET SUMMARY: MY ACTUAL 1 PERSON GRANDPAcking COSTS: Cost Of Existence (COE): My costs are purely provided for information purposes. I do not always follow ‘GRANDPAcking Standards’. […]

San Pedro LL – Guatemala – GRANDPAcking Costs

  JANUARY 2017:   OVERVIEW: For more detail, read San Pedro – Guatemala – Information and Panajachel – Guatemala – Information. For more detail about GRANDPAcking Vacation costs, read San Pedro – Guatemala – GRANDPAcking Costs. Lake Atitlan is in the South West of Guatemala. I will not duplicate previous information here. On this page, I will focus on Lake Atitlan as a Retirement Location. Unless stated otherwise, all prices are High Season prices. GUATEMALA FACTS & FIGURES Population 15 million (July 2015 est.) GDP Per Capita US$7,700 (2015 est.) Inflation Rate 2.4% (2015 est.) Currency Quetzales Exchange Rate About 7.5 quetzales (GTQ) to […]

LAKE ATITLAN