Listings
Banks and currency exchange For Visa cash advances try Banco Industrial (which has a 24hr ATM); for Mastercard transactions try Banco G&T Continental. You can also cash travellers' cheques at one of the recommended travel agents listed below. Bike rental Cahui, 30 de Junio, Flores, for US$1 per hour (daily 7am-7pm; tel & fax 926 0494). Car rental Several firms, including Budget, Hertz and Koka, have offices at the airport. All offer cars, minibuses and Jeeps, with prices from around US$65 a day for a Jeep. Doctor Centro Medico Maya, 4 Avenida near 3 Calle in Santa Elena, down the street by the Hotel Diplomatico (tel 926 0180), is helpful and professional, though no English is spoken. Language schools San Andres and San Jose, two very attractive villages on the north shore of the lake, both have good Spanish schools and, since few of the villagers speak English, are excellent places to learn and practise the language. The Eco-Escuela in San Andres (tel 928 8106, www.conservation.org/ecoescuela/about.htm ) is larger and has been established longer than the Escuela Bio-Itza in San Jose (tel 928 8142, www.conservation.org/ecoescuela/bioitza.htm ), but the instruction in the latter is just as good and San Jose is arguably the prettier village. Official rates (around US$170 a week for lessons, food and lodging) may seem more expensive than schools in Antigua or Quetzaltenango, but you may get a discount if you contact the school directly or ask one of the recommended travel agents (below) to call for you - they won't charge you extra for this. Lanchas for the villages leave regularly from Flores, and there are buses from Santa Elena. Laundry Lavanderia Amelia, behind CINCAP in Flores; Lavanderia Emanuel on 6 Avenida in Santa Elena. Post office Two doors away from the Inguat office in Flores; at 2 C and 7 Av, two blocks east of the Hotel San Juan , in Santa Elena (both offices Mon-Fri 8am-4.30pm). Telephones and email The Telgua office is in Santa Elena on 5 C, but you're better off using Tikal Net, at 4 C and 6 Av, for all phone, fax and Internet services; they also have another branch in Flores at Calle Centro America (both offices daily 8.30-10.30pm). Travel agents and tour operators Every hotel in Flores - and a good many in Santa Elena - seems to be offering tours, but most actually only sell minibus trips to Tikal or bus and plane tickets. The best travel agent in Flores is Martsam Travel (tel & fax 926 3225, martsam@guate.net ), at the western end of Calle Centro America; the owners speak English, run a daily trip to Yaxha and know Belize well. Avinsa (tel 929 0808, www.tikaltravel.com ), a few blocks east along Calle Principal in Santa Elena, arranges first-class tours throughout Guatemala and the entire Maya region, and is the only agent able to issue international airline tickets beyond Mexico or Belize; staff speak English and German. Evolution Adventures (tel 926 0633, evolution@internetdetelgua.com.gt ), off Calle Centro America, opposite Tikal Net, offers overnight backpacking trips to the more remote ruins of the Maya Biosphere Reserve, such as El Peru, Rio Azul and El Mirador, formerly very difficult to reach on your own; it's owned by a Canadian, David Jackaman. EcoMaya, at Calle 30 de Junio in Flores (tel 926 1363, www.ecomaya.com ), is also recommended for trips to remote ruins including El Zotz and Mirador and the Scarlet Macaw trail inside the Laguna del Tigre reserve. The Hotel San Juan travel agency in Santa Elena is not recommended.
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