Maximum Participants: 12 Minimum Participants: 10 Back to Trip Overview

Your sponsor for the entire trip is:
the nonprofit Community Cloud Forest Conservation (CCFC). Your leaders are Rob Cahill and, his wife, Tara Cahill, founders of CCFC. You may also have a chance to meet their adult son, John Cahill, who is one of Guatemala's most experienced and talented bird guides. 
www.cloudforestconservation.org 

Your primary contact for the trip will be:
Rob Cahill, Director rob@cloudforestconservation.org
Phone: 011-502-4010-0852 Coban Guatemala, Calling from the states:  +502 4010 0852
Note: there is no phone service in this region of the Mayan Highlands. Connect instead through WhatsApp. See below.
CCFC’s Address in the States: Community Cloud Forest Conservation, 4216 Zenith Ave South, Minneapolis MN 55410

The Arc of Appalachia & Community Cloud Forest Conservation (CCFC)
are two nonprofits connected informally through mutual friendship and educational exchanges. We think of it akin to “sister cities.” Because we think so highly of CCFC, the Arc of Appalachia has volunteered to oversee this trip’s registration in the States. Please know that the Arc is not the host or organizer of the trip, and we are not receiving any portion of the registration money nor any other direct or indirect benefit. Our desire is to pass the word to others that we found the trip to be an extraordinary experience, and that we think CCFC is a top-shelf nonprofit worth getting to know.

Cost of the Trip is $3000/person
Registration covers all meals, lodging, and curriculum in Guatemala, once you arrive in Guatemala City. Registrants will book flights at their own expense and fly independently to Guatemala City, where you will meet Rob and your fellow colleagues at the airport. Flights will be coordinated so that all registrants will arrive in Guatemala City on either the same flight or the same general time. Once you arrive in Guatemala City your needs will be completely cared for right up to your return to the airport two weeks later. 

Dates of Trip:
Participants will be arriving in Guatemala City on January 18, 2025 and flying back out from Guatemala City on Saturday, February 1, 2025.

Before You Register:

• Passport. Make sure your passport will be be valid for the dates of the trip.

• Read through the CDC health recommendations and make sure you are familiar and comfortable with CDC’s recommendations - see CDC website. The CDC bases its recommendations on the entirety of the country. Other than a short time spent in Guatemala City, this trip will be spent in the Mayan Highlands, where mosquito-borne diseases are much less prevalent than in the lowlands. See section below on water and food.

• Read through the US government’s travel advisory for Guatemala and be sure you are comfortable with traveling to Guatemala. If you have traveled to a third-world country before, nothing in Guatemala will feel unfamiliar. Cities are less safe than the rural countryside. Theft is more common in Guatemala than in the States, and is engrained to some degree in the culture as a survival skill (a fact that has led to its reputation of having so many corrupt government officials). If you leave stuff lying around unattended, chances are you’ll lose it while making somebody else in the world very, very happy. Theft is much less common in the rural countryside where you will be staying for most of your trip, and, so far, non-existent at the Community Cloud Forest campus. In the province where you will be staying, the Mayan people are known for being open, warm, and welcoming; which we suspect is true for much of rural Guatemala.

  Guatemala is a very impoverished country. When you are traveling out of Guatemala City, you will see this expressed in the older cars on the highways that people keep investing in to keep running, houses that tend to be simple and small and in some cases patched together, and people making use and re-use of the resources they do have. Guatemala has gone through extremely hard times as a country, and you may find it helpful to read up on the country’s history before arriving. If you wish to read further on the safety of traveling to Guatemala, click here to see a message from Rob Cahill addressing this topic.

How to Register:

• Trip Status. Make sure the trip’s status in the heading of this website says the trip openings are still available. If the trip is full you can write and request to be put on a backup list and will be notified if someone cancels. Registration is first come, first served. Final deadline is whenever the trip fills up, or November 15, 2024, whichever comes first.

• Register. Click the registration button at the top of the screen, fill out the form, and click ‘submit.’ We will hold your reservation for ten days while awaiting receipt of your check for half of the trip fee ($1500) and waiver. Both are needed for your registration to become official. We will confirm your status when the items are received.

• Send in your check and waiver. Send in your trip deposit of $1500.00 for each registrant asap. The check should be made out to Community Cloud Forest Conservation, and mailed to Arc of Appalachia at 7660 Cave Road, Bainbridge, OH 45612.

• Download the waiver here, sign it, and include it in the envelope with your check.

CCFC requests payment by check instead of credit card to avoid the loss of substantial processing fees. Such payment also allows the Arc to serve as a facilitator without handling the money. Given the above circumstances, please don’t worry if there is a delay in CCFC depositing your check.

Once the trip is confirmed it is going forward.

Once we know this trip is "a go" with sufficient registration, we will forward your checks to Community Cloud Forest Conservation where they will be processed. The final deadline for registration will be November 15, 2024, or sooner if the trip fills up. Naturally, if the trip doesn't attract at least 10 participants, we will let you know it is cancelled and we will document the voiding of your check. If the trip is moving forward, we will confirm with you that this is now the time to:

• Book your flight. We will coordinate the flight connection with you so that you and your colleagues will ideally arrive at Guatemala City on the same flight

• Complete your payment. On or before December 1, 2025, send your final $1500 payment for the trip made out to Community Cloud Forest Conservation and forward your check to the Arc of Appalachia, 7660 Cave Road, Bainbridge, OH 45612
  

Guatemala Entry Requirements

Guatemala is very easy to enter. The country does not issue visas and requires only an entry form. A QR-code will be prominently displayed when you get off the gate that will link you to the entry form. You’ll want to sit down to do it because it will take a few minutes to dig out your flight and passport information. To save time at the airport, you can alternatively fill out the form anytime during the three days preceding the trip by using either of the links below (they go to the same place). After filling out the form, take a screenshot of the completed application on your phone and save it in your photos. You can also fill out the form when waiting for your first flight out from the States. Note that the instructions will all be in Spanish but if you have even the most rudimentary knowledge of the language, you will be able to figure it out. If not, find a more bi-lingual buddy or put the words in a translator program. Link #1 to entry form Link #2 to entry form

When you depart your plane, first go to Passport Control, then to Baggage Claim and pick up your bag.
At Passport Control they will stamp your passport. Note that you have 90 days of free travel in Guatemala without a visa.  From there you will go through Customs, where you will show them your screen shot of the filled-in entry form. They will scan it for you and you’re done! Note that departing air passengers pay US$30.00 and US$3.00 airport security tax, which you can assume will be included in your ticket price. If you desire, you can arrange with the colleagues on our flight to meet up and travel through the airport as a group, which offers a bit more comfort for most folks.

Where to meet up at the Airport: Once you have exited Customs, you will enter a large room with one exit to the left and one to the right. Take the right exit which will take you to an area with restrooms and a couple of sandwich shops. Wait here and watch for a person WITH A BIG SMILE, holding a sign that says CCFC. That will be Rob.  

Contacting Rob. Rob responds promptly to WhatsApp texts and phone calls whenever he is in service. He responds to emails more slowly. You should have decent WI-FI at the airport which is necessary for WhatsApp to work. We will set up a WhatsApp group for our travelers well before you depart from the States so that you can begin chatting with each other. With Whatsapp you can text all of the others in your group, including Rob, with one single message. If you find you miss a flight or are delayed, be sure to leave the entire group a WhatsApp message and share your adjusted itinerary.

Things to do ahead:

• Prepare to pack an active debit card AND a credit card and have your pin available for getting cash from an ATM if you need it. Generally, debit cards are less expensive to use at overseas ATMs than cc cards and are thus recommended. Two cards are nice to carry because if one fails, you can switch to the other (see comments below on whether you will need to carry Quetzals, the Guatemalan currency).

• Tell your bank and cc provider the dates of your trip and where you are going.

• If you wish to bring gifts for the children, order ahead packs of colored pencils - no food or clothing, please.

• If you want a Guatemala bird book, be sure to order ahead from your preferred source so that it is in hand (see recommendations further down)

• If you like to use the Merlin app on your phone, download the Guatemala region before departing so you can activate it when you arrive. Rob also recommends EBird, and a free app for recording audio outdoors called Song Meter Touch by WildLife Acoustics.

• Rob also recommends downloading iNaturalist and Seek before arriving. INaturalist does not have a lot of records for Guatemala, so even if you have no idea what you are loading up, you can always just call it a “frog” or a “vascular plant.” Miraculously, other iNaturalist followers around the world will very actively help you identify what you found in the weeks and months that follow, and together you will help put Guatemala on the map.

• Decide if you want to opt for overseas phone service. We don’t recommend it because there is so little service.

• Consider ordering and packing a paper map of the country to orient yourself the old-fashioned way. This is really quite nice to have as it will give you a much better sense of the big picture. At no time, however, will you be responsible for navigating.

• Read through the packing list and make sure you have everything.

• Download and become familiar with WhatsApp on your phone. 

• Update your vaccines if you choose to do so.
  

Packing List:

• Sunhat, skin protection

• Fleece jacket, hat of choice, and gloves

• see clothing and shoe recommendations below

• Poncho or small umbrella

• Phone and charger

• ATM card and PIN, passport, driver’s license (call your ATM, debit card, and cc institutions and tell them you are going out-of-country)

• Some American cash in your pocket with some small denominations represented.  

• Insect repellant (we recommend rose geranium oil 1:10 mixed with alcohol in a spray bottle) - it won’t be too buggy

• Guatemala or Central America bird book

• Rechargeable flashlight  - optional since you will have your phone but nice for night hikes.

• Binoculars

• Snacks are discouraged because you will be VERY, VERY well-fed with nutritious whole foods. But if you have a restricted diet and you want to supplement it, pack away.

• Back-up battery chargers for electronics if you so desire

Climate, Elevation & Clothing

CCFC. Our trip will require casual attire throughout. CCFC is at 4,700 feet above sea level.  Foggy mornings are typical.  January and February are not the height of the rainy season, but rain can come at any time and it can stay as long as a week. Anticipate that the weather will be like mid-spring in Ohio - with a frequent chance of rain or mist. This IS the cloud forest, after all, so we suggest you bring a poncho or small umbrella. Temperature depends totally on cloud cover. If you are socked in, it will be chilly and will not go above the sixties. If the sky is clear,temperatures could rise into the seventies. Nights are always cool, dipping into the forties and fifties, and mornings and evenings are dependably chilly.

We recommend packing 5 sets of long-sleeved shirts of various weights, 5 sets of long pants that dry easily, lots of socks, at least one sweater and a jacket (fleece is a great fabric), and light gloves. If you tend toward generally feeling cold, pack a light winter hat for good measure as it will warm you up fast.  In general, dress in layers so that you can shed them if the sun comes out. Likely you will never wear the shorts and thin t-shirts you may be tempted to pack. Pack sturdy walking shoes or hiking boots, as well as a pair of sandals or light sneakers. The latter are wonderful for being able to put on dry shoes for indoor comfort after hiking outdoors. Mud boots are supplied at the door to the lodge, and yes, you will probably use them. We will do a lot of walking, so if you are used to using a walking stick, bring it along. 

Because you will be traveling as a group with limited space for personal possessions, be sure to only pack one suitcase out of courtesy to the others. The cardinal rule to remember is this: nothing much is going to completely dry in this climate once it gets wet. Figure your hiking boots will be damp throughout the trip so packing lots of socks is wise. Keep your core dry and you’ll be fine. Trails will be muddy. We recommend you designate one or two sets of long pants aside solely for hiking and then wear them over and over, even if they are wet and muddy to start with. This will protect your other clothes for indoor and social purposes. The Swiss Lodge (Chelemha) that we will be visiting in our second week is at 6,800 feet in elevation so we will be 2,100 feet higher than CCFC. Chelemha will be cooler and potentially rainier.

You won’t likely be washing clothes except by hand. Because the climate is coolish, you won’t be sweating a lot. If you wash your socks and underwear, they will usually dry in 24 hours if you hang them above the wood stove on the second floor. We don’t recommend that you wash your outer clothes as they probably won’t dry fast enough to serve you. 

Altitude Sickness. Please note that we will be below 8,200 feet above sea level for nearly the entire trip. The increase in elevation is gradual during the trip and chances are the effects will be subtle. You may discern you are more out of breath climbing steep hills than you would be at home but most people adjust pretty quickly.

Healthcare & Water

There are modern, clean, and sanitary conditions and facilities in most of the country. That said, most tap water is not safe to drink in Guatemala unless it has been boiled, filtered, or treated. Almost everywhere in Guatemala you will see Ecofiltro units, which have charcoal filters that clean the water. This water is safe to drink and refill your bottles. That said, you won’t have to deal with looking for water on this trip. Rob will make sure you always have clean water to fill your water bottles when you are traveling, and clean drinking water is always provided at CCFC - probably even cleaner than what you are used to drinking at home. Please be sure to bring a refillable water bottle. You will not be provided individual bottles of water at CCFC to avoid plastic waste. 

A Word on Toilet Paper. When traveling in Guatemala, toilet paper is to be disposed of in the trash can, not in the toilet. However, this is not the case once you arrive at the CCFC Center. There you will receive full instructions on how to compost all your wastes including your toilet paper, the addition of which enhances CCFC’s simple but impressive composting system.

Food

The lodge you are staying in has rooms that wrap around the dining room and kitchen. All of your food will be prepared by the Mayan ladies who will be teaching the upcoming youth classes and were graduates of CCFC themselves. They are an impressive group of women. You will be served healthy and bountiful food, some of which is grown right on the campus, with meals dominated by fresh vegetables, beans, and the Mayan staple - handmade corn tortillas. The tortillas are made by hand each day on top of a large cast iron stove that dominates the center of the building and is the only heat for the building’s two floors of bedrooms. Meat is served but not in the quantities most Americans are accustomed to. We guarantee you will love the food which is served community-style. Because the climate is a bit on the chilly side and damp (but not downright cold), foreign visitors become poignantly aware of two things: one’s own core heat that helps keep you dry, and the radiant heat from the wood stove that supplies the basic necessities of warmth and food. Coffee is ground in mills motored by refurbished bicycles. Because the CCFC facility is rural and health-giving (think “Heidi of the Highlands”), and the water is sourced from running mountain water and then filtered before being served, food and water sickness has never been a problem for any of CCFC’s many previously-sponsored trips. Even experiencing light diarrhea is uncommon, but is always a possibility when humans are adjusting to diet changes.

Electricity

110-volt AC is provided in most of the country. If you are bringing electronics with the US standard 3 prongs, you should be fine, but it doesn’t hurt to bring a 2-prong adapter for when you visit places other than CCFC.  As we will have some long days in the field, optionally consider packing external battery chargers for electronics to extend your devices’ usefulness. You will always be able to recharge your phones at night.

The CCFC  Center is 100% off-the-grid. There are, however, outlets in each room, where you can charge phones, tablets, cameras, as well as outlets in the dining room day or night - barring any technological hiccup with the solar or hydro units. CCFC historically has had very dependable energy. Chelemha, the Swiss Lodge, does not have outlets in the rooms but it does in the common areas. Since we will have the entire Swiss Lodge to ourselves there won’t be a problem leaving items plugged in for charging. 

Communications

Most providers will activate your phones out of the country for a fee, or will charge something reasonable per minute. That said, you probably won’t have phone service at CCFC or anywhere else other than the airport, so you might want to think twice before spending money on your phone.

WhatsApp. CCFC has good WI-FI service which you can make modest use of. Please don’t stream movies! Because phone service is limited in Guatemala, WhatsApp is the most common tool for phone communication in the country (and in most other developing nations). It is very important that you download WhatsApp on your phone before the trip. If you aren’t familiar with it, WhatsApp is a free texting and voice app that will work wherever you have a Wi-Fi connection. It does not use phone service to operate, just internet connection provided through WI-FI.   

To call Rob, add him as a contact in your phone, and be sure to type the + sign before the country code. Your entry will look like this: +502 4010 0852. And then add him to your WhatsApp contacts. He is an incredibly busy man, so you feel free to direct general questions to Nancy at the Arc at 937-365-1489, nancyoftheforest@gmail.com. Nancy has taken the trip and can, at least, speak from experience. Specific trip questions that only the sponsor and organizer would know should be directed to Rob.


Currency

You won’t need a lot of cash for this trip since all your meals and lodging services will be pre-paid.  The center sells soft drinks, wine, and beer. Rob will ask that you keep track of your own tab as you go and either pay at the end of your stay with cash (Quetzals preferred), online on the CCFC website (picking up the CC fee, please), or by check when you get home - sending the money to CCFC’s headquarter office in the states.  You may want some cash in your pocket for local artisan crafts for sale at CCFC where you can pick up local jams and honey, gorgeous homemade Mayan tapestries, and other crafts. Or you can also just pay for them as described above.

If you would like to purchase adult beverages at the various places we are eating other than at CCFC (such beverages are not covered under your reservation fee), we recommend you withdraw some Quetzals from the ATM at one of the highway stops during your drive north out of Guatemala City. Rob will point them out to you.

On your last day in Guatemala City, you will be visiting the downtown market. Most people spend quite a bit of money at the market, as it is quite a wonderful experience. The clothing and weavings are exceptional. You can also pick up Guatemalan-made foods that are acceptable to carry through customs. It’s a very cool shopping environment. ATMs are available in the city.

The local currency is the “Quetzal”, named for the national bird. U.S. dollars are more and more accepted as legal currency, but using Quetzal is highly preferred. You will probably receive change in Quetzales (plural for Questzal), regardless. It’s good to memorize the exchange rate so you can discern an item’s value.  The current 2024 September exchange rate was roughly US $1 = Q 7.73 - just to give you an idea.

Taxes & Tipping. Since all of your food and lodging has been prepaid and includes a tip, you probably won’t feel the need to tip unless you add beverages to the bill, If you do tip, tipping in local currency is preferred.  
                                                                             

Time Zone

Guatemala is 6 hours behind Greenwich Meridian Time (-6 GMT) - the same as US Central Time (one hour behind Eastern Standard Time). Note that Guatemala does not observe daylight-saving time.

Population & Language

The common language for Guatemala throughout our trip will be Spanish. There are approximately 12 million inhabitants in Guatemala. The population is a mixture of Indigenous and Spanish descendants, with smaller numbers of foreign residents. Spanish is the official language but more than 20 Maya languages are spoken throughout the country.  The Cahills and their students all speak Q’eqchi’ Mayan at CCCF, in addition to Spanish and English as needed. Rob and Tara will translate for you throughout the trip. No one on this trip will make you feel uncomfortable or isolated if you do not know Spanish.

Natural History Links:

Salamander Diversity Article

If you like bats, check out  this site. Remember we will be in coolish, high-elevation landscapes, whereas the world’s highest bat diversity is more associated with tropical climates. There will be bats in the highlands, but not as many as in the lowlands.

Birding Guide Options. Guatemala belongs to a larger region of bird endemism that extends into southern Mexico and Nicaragua, with species unique from the more southern region of endemism in Costa Rica and Panama. Thus it isn’t wise to buy a book just for Panama or Costa Rica.

Birds of Central America: Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Panama (Princeton Field Guides), Costa Rica, and Panama (Princeton Field Guides, 136) This is probably the most popular of the readily available field-guide-sized books that cover the area.  

Peterson Field Guide To Birds Of Northern Central America (Peterson Field Guides) Paperback – Illustrated, November 1, 2016, by Jesse Fagan (Author), Oliver Komar (Author). Rob recommends this book and notes his son, John, helped out on this book project and that the authors held their book inauguration party for Guatemala at CCFC!

Birds of Guatemala Hardcover – January 1, 1970, by Hugh Land. A book just on Guatemalan birds but is 50+ years old   

A Guide to the Birds of Mexico and Northern Central America, by Steve N.G. Howell and Sophie Webb | Apr 27, 1995 A big, hefty serious birders book that is bulky and weighs 3 pounds

AVITOPIA - Birds of Guatemala Hardcover – September 20, 2023, by Wolfgang Daunicht (Author) The author seems to have self-published a number of these guides for various Central American countries but this book has not been reviewed.

Lodges we will be likely to be staying at:

La Posada de la Montana del Quetzal - overnight accommodations for the first two nights. Days spent in Los Ranchistos del Quetzal -

CCFC - Community Cloud Forest Conservation’s campus

Chelemha - literally translated as “tree mirror water”  - Our last three nights before returning to Guatemala City: Chelemha’s lodge elevation is at 2100 m. We will be hiking up into the cloud forests above the lodge. The highest elevation is 2640 m.