Always leave early...The motto for traveling

The joureny from Panajachel Guatemala to Charlotte, NC turned into yet another adventure.
Our shuttle time was 6:00AM. Kathryn and I decided to take the early shuttle rather than the 10:00 shuttle. Although we would arrive at the airport 5 hours ahead of schedule, it is always better to have room when traveling in another country. A friend of mine from CA actually was in Guatemala City and was going to meet us at the airport at 10:00.

Kathryn and I began the trek home at 5:20AM in Magda's house. We woke up this early to insure we would catch our shuttle to the GUA airport by way of Antigua. In Pana and Antigua, the shuttle companies drive around the town slowly gathering all the people who have reservations for the shuttle. Since at the time you buy your ticket, the company is not sure where else it has to go, they tell you to be waiting 20 minutes prior to the shuttle time. Don't be worried either, if you are not picked up until 20 minutes after the appointed time.

Kathryn, Magda, and I waited outside for the shuttle beginning at 5:40AM. 6:00AM, 6:15AM, 6:30 AM came and went. After figuring out that their fax and phone numbers were switched on their contact info, we called the travel agency's number and no one answered. At this point we are starting to wonder if the shuttle is coming. I stayed with the luggage at the appoint meeting spot while Kathyrn walked up the road to another potential meeting spot. At 7:00AM, an hour after the appointed shuttle time, we decided to go to travel agency and wait. We still had plenty of time to get to the airport. Always leave early!

When they arrived at 7:30AM they called the shuttle driver who stated that he was at the appointed spot at 6:35. This of course was a lie because at that point Kathyrn and I were at both potential stops. Anyways, they arranged for us to meet another shuttle from a different company in Solola about 20 minutes away.

When we arrived at the other shuttle, all the travelers were standing outside on the road. As we got closer, we noted a jack under one of the tires. It appeared they were simply rotating two of the tires. No one is sure why this needed to be done. Once again...always leave early.

Soon enough we were on our way to Antigua where we would catch the final shuttle to the airport. When we arrived, they had a car for just Kathryn and I. The skilled driver was making up for lost time. The travel agency did not know that we still had plenty of time before our flight. Anyways, the driver knew that traffic was worse than normal in GUA because the teachers were in strike. He therefore took us around the back way and through all these different subrubs of GUA. This way was very round about and took twice as long as the international highway, but it did not have traffic jams. Always leave early!

Once we arrived to the airport at 12:15PM, I had missed meeting my friend. We checked in only to find out that our plane was delayed 45 minutes. We said that was alright because we still had 1.5 hours to make it through customs and catch the next flight...tight, but doable.

We then go through security. In GUA everyone gets frisked. My bookbag then get pulled out for further inspection. I get in line behind a lady who is debating with security why she cannot bring animal parts out of Guatemala. I mean hearts, intestines, and not sure whatelse. She debates with them for about 15 minutes and they are actually holding the plane for her. My bookbag was search in order to find EKG reader (looks like tweezers) that was at the bottom of my pen and pencil case from gradschool. You never know what one can do with an EKG reader. Always leave early.

After waiting for about 2.5 to 3 hours in the airport we head back to the gate. When we arrive we find out that the plane has been delayed to 5:30PM. We decided to go ahead and arrange to stay in Miami for the night and catch the first flight to CLT the next morning (9:15). The plane was delayed for mechanical/ electrical reasons.

The plane does arrive. The boarding process begins. Here, thanks to the recent bombing attempt, everyone gets fisked again and your bags search again. You are not allowed to take water bottle, coffee, etc onto the plane even if you bought it inside security. We all board the plane and pull away from the gate. After about 5 minutes, the captian states over the loud speaker that the same electical/mechanical problem was present and that they were out of time to fly for the day.(Pilots can only fly for 16 hours a day). We were going to have to get off the plane. GUA airport is small enough that each carrier has 1 or 2 gates. Therefore, there was not another pilot that could fly.

We were notified that another plane would be coming from Miami that night and would arrive at 9:30PM. We were given the option to wait for that flight and spend the night in Miami or spend the night in GUA and take the first flight out the next morning. At that point it was already 6:30PM. Kathryn and I opted to stay in GUA for the night. We would fly out the next morning to Dallas/Fort Worth and the fly to CLT arriving around 6:00PM.

We were shuttled to a hotel in the nice part of the city, had dinner, hot shower, and went to bed. We were awaken at 5:00 AM by a rather long temblor...earthquake. Neither Kathryn nor I could return to sleep.

When we checked in at the airport, we heard that the plane to Miami the night before did not leave until 11:00PM. That means that we would have arrived around 1:30AM gone through customs and then waited in the airport for our 9:15 AM flight. Kathryn and I defintely chose the right option!

The rest of the journey was thankfully uneventful and we arrived to CLT 15 minutes ahead of schedule.

Always leave early:)