Situated in Central America Guatemala touches borders with Mexico, El Salvador, Belize and Honduras and overlooks both the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean. With Guatemala City as its capital and Spanish as the official language, this country offers heavily forested and mountainous landscapes.
Guatemala is a volcanic country with numerous volcanoes along the southern highlands, three of which are still active; this is where the fertile land lies and where the higher concentration of the population lives. A large part of the country is covered by subtropical forests, scattered with sulphurous lakes and flowing with rivers, a paradise for wildlife and nature lovers.
The proliferating wilderness is not the only one amongst the riches of Guatemala, for the country boasts spectacular Mayan archaeological sites, relics of the ancient Mayan Civilization as well as monuments and buildings left by the Spanish conquistadors during the 17th century.
In the forests and hills of the highlands, known as the El Altopiano, Mayan communities still live in specific ethnic groups and speak 23 different languages; they have preserved the sacred rituals of their ancestors and still make their own clothing by weaving.
The Tikali National park is the perfect site for spotting tropical birds, jaguars, ocelots, howler monkeys amongst other rare species. While the ruins of Tikal is one of Guatemala’s major Mayan sites.
The climate varies depending on the altitude, the coastal areas are hot throughout the year and the rainy season goes from May to September.
