Traveling in Guatemala

TRAVELING IN GUATEMALA

GETTING THERE

Continental, Delta, American, and United are the well-known airlines flying to and from Guatemala. H.O.L.A. currently uses Continental or American Airlines for most of its arrangements. A direct flight from Houston or Miami to Guatemala City is available and takes two and one-half hours airtime. Antigua, where Escuela Integrada is located, is about 45 minutes from Guatemala City by bus or taxi.

REQUIRED DOCUMENTS

A passport is required to enter/exit the country. No visa or tourist card is currently being required of U.S. citizens unless travelers plan to stay three months or longer. A VISA may be required for those volunteers with passports from a country other than the United States. IF YOU ARE NOT AN AMERICAN CITIZEN AND DO NOT HAVE A U.S. PASSPORT, IT IS YOUR RESPONSIBILITY TO CONTACT A GOVERNMENT OFFICIAL CONCERNING SPECIFIC REQUIREMENTS FOR ENTERING AND EXITING THE COUNTRY. (For further information you may contact the Embassy of Guatemala, 2220 R Street NW, Washington, DC 20008, telephone 202-745-4952/3/4 or one of the consulate offices in Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New York or San Francisco.)

H.O.L.A. REQUESTS YOU SEND A COPY OF YOUR PASSPORT WITH YOUR APPLICATION AND RECOMMENDS YOU CARRY A COPY WITH YOU, BUT SEPARATELY FROM YOUR ORIGINAL. This helps immensely in case there is a loss of the original.

U.S. citizens whose passports are lost or stolen in Guatemala may not be able to return with the team depending on date of disappearance. New U.S. security measures does not allow the issue of new passports outside of the U.S. All lost passports are processed through the U.S. Embassy in Guatemala and coordinated with the State Department in Washington, D.C. MESSAGE: DO NOT LOSE YOUR PASSPORT.

Currency

The airport banks have the best currency exchange rate in the country. Using the airport ATM machine can be an economical way to obtain quetzales. You may want to alert the bank that issued your ATM card that you will be in Guatemala so they will not put a fraud block on your card after the first transaction.

The banks close daily at 9pm. If you have a late arrival, take a small amount of U.S. small denomination currency. Most vendors will accept U.S. currency.

Most major credit cards and travelers’ checks are accepted by hotels, restaurants and shops in Antigua, Guatemala City and most of the tourism areas. However, VISA is the most widely accepted.

ELECTRIC CURRENT

The electric current is 110 V 60 – cycles — which means the hair dryer you use at home will work in the outlets at the hotel in Antigua. DO NOT PLUG TWO HAIR DRYERS, ETC., IN AT THE SAME TIME IN A ROOM.

TIME ZONE

Guatemala is in the Central Standard Time zone and does not observe daylight-savings time.