Kayak T Rescue Seminar

In an effort to keep out guides trained up to keep you safe out there on the trail with us we headed to the pool for our yearly kayak T rescue day. All our guides have to pass a series of these sorts of seminars to be able to be included in the old Town family of guides. Its kind of like a Boy Scout earning their merit badges.

The T rescue is imperative to learn to keep out customers safe out there on our paddling trips. There is always that day when the wind picks up and we are forced to help one of our overturned guests get back into their boats in the middle of the lake.

We here at Old Town Outfitters strive to make sure that our guides are the best in the biz. In shop training days, team building activities and weekly group rides are how we do it. Looking for a fun new direction to take yourself in? Come hang with us at Old Town.
Ciao,
Mateo

A great ride for a great cause this weekend!

This upcoming Sunday we will be adding a special stop to our already great valley ride. Friends of ours at CasaSito are sponsoring a local music festival where various childrens choirs will be performing to raise awareness for various Guatemalan Non Governmental Organisations.

We will stop in to the neighboring village of Santiago Zamora and check out the festivities and childrens choirs. Also, all Old Town Outfitters profits for this trip will go to the Casasito Education fund so that schooling programs and projects like this may continue.

Another day on the River

The rainy season has been good to us here in Guate filling up all the local rivers. We took advantage of a dry spell to head out for a kayak run down the Maria Linda river down on the South Coast.

Its a fun fast run with pretty constant class III rapids one right after the next. . The river is only an hour and a half from Antigua making it a great option for a half day paddle. Myself, Guille the mad frenchman, and Greg, the man of river bounced, surfed and dropped our way downstream to the cold Gallos at the take out.

Guille about to enter the "rock drop"

We got there just in time for the damn release so the river was running at a good fun level which made the normal class III+ rapids a little more manageable this time around.

Yours truly dropping off the top of the "rock drop"

Its bigger than it looks i asssure you.

Old Town can help you arrange logistics for just about any kayak adventure in Guatemala. We have a competent set of world class paddle guides and the expedition class support to make any river trip a one of a kind experience.
Taker easy -

Ring O Fire Volcano Climbing Charity Trip

This November Old Town Outfitters is teaming up with the good lads at Global Vision International, or GVI to put together a charity volcano climbing trip to help raise funds for their local Guatemalan projects. The goal will be to raise enogh money through tour participation to increase the projects sustainabilty into the future.

The itinerary will be tough but super rewarding, cut from the cloth of one of Old Town's awarding winning Ring Of Fire treks. We will be climbing 4 of our favorite volcanoes in only 5 days!! This is your chance to spend the night on Acatenango Volcano with a front row seat to watch the spectacular Fuego volcano spew lava, and to look out over all of Guatemala from the top of Tajumulco, Central America's highest volcano, while at the same time supporting the hard work of a real "grass roots" development program in Guatemala.

The trip is already half full so reserve your spot soon and take part in a real adventure, one with a social conscience.

Hope to see you on the trail.

Mateo

Camping on Pacaya Volcano

This past weekend we packed up and headed out to Pacaya Volcano National Park for a classic Old Town Outfitters camping trip on the side of the active cone.  We left Antigua with enough time to get up on the mountain as the crowds were leaving to take in the sunset.  Its pretty surreal to be up there as the sun's going down, there is lava oozing out of the side of the mountain and you have it all to yourself.

Most people go to Pacaya as a day trip.  Old Town Outfitters, in a constant effort to go againist to grain and do things slightly different takes folks out there at night.  Dont get me wrong its still pretty cool to be there during the day, but a night time trip out to the lava fields on pacaya is something different all together. We like to be out there when no one else is to make sure that you have a one-of-a-kind experience!

After a gourmet camp cooked dinner by our seasoned guides, we head out to explore the glowing red lava flows where we hopefully will get a chance to toast some marshmallows for desert.  Its a pretty amazing experience to be up there at night.  Dont worry if you missed this weekend's trip.  We'll be going again, we go about each weekend.

Get in touch with us at the shop www.adventuregautemala.com to book a space on the next trip.

Hopefully we'll be seeing on the trail next weekend,

Mateo

Rio Cahabon Expedition

Guatemala's premier river experience can be found on the Cahabon River.   We run a two day float on the Cahabon River up in Alta Verapaz just out of the sleepy mountainside village of lanquin.  Its a class V + river so you better show up with yoru game face on.  The trip stages from the local backpacker stronghhold of El Retiro which conviently sits on the lanquin river which can also be paddled in a hard shell.   About a 2 hour paddle takes you to the confluence of the Lanquin and Cahabon rivers just above the big boy class V set of Rock 'n Roll and Entonces rapids.

                                               Entonces Rapid Class V

                                                  Greg paddling Entonces

The river is absolutely beautiful.  It's emerald water cuts an amazing canyon with calss III rapids stacking up one after the next.  There are a few scenic and tranquilo stretches in there to give you a break from the action. 

The end of day one comes just in time as you are starting to get tired.  We set up camp, get the camp fire going and cook up gourmet vittles while you relax at the campsite.  The sound of the river is the perfect thing to lull you to sleep for a big day tomorrow.  

Day 2 starts just after the Class VI portage of Chulack Falls from the campsite.  We kayaked down to the falls and somehow painstakingly dragged our boats around the rapid to get a view of her.  Impressive to say the least.  its been talked about for years who will be the first to run it.  I think the consensus is always the same...."not me!"

The fun contines downriver as we pass through "cork screw" a class III+ rapid which then funnels you into the Cahabon Canyon.

Chilling in the pools and waterfalls at the end of the run.  It truly is one of Gautemala's best 2 day River Runs.  Get in touch with us about water levels and availabilty and let us show you this amazing place!!

Old Town turns 10!

This year marks the 10th anniversary of Old Town Outfitters! We have been running adventure tours in Guatemala since the end of 1998. Its been a long but very fun road and we have come a long way in these past 10 years.


This past weekend we squirreled away a rare Saturday of no trips and headed up to Earth Lodge for the 10 year anniversary blow out.


There was a 75 pound pig on the spit and plenty of great food thanks to the lads at Earth Lodge, plenty, well almost plenty of beer to go around, and no shortage of debauchery to ring in the celebration.



Thanks to all of you who have made this possible, who have supported us in these past years and to those who have worked here at Old Town.

mateo