site logosite logo
  • Home
  • Blog
  • Photo
  • Video
  • Panorama
  • About
    • About us
    • Statistics
    • Gear
    • Map
    • Vehicle
  • Contact
  • CURRENT BLOG »
SIDEBAR

Plus four legs

6 comments
  • Central America
  • Guatemala
  • Kaylee
  • Uncategorised
Jun 22 2017
Post's featued image.

We still had a few more days before we were due back in Antigua, but the weekends crowds had ruined the relaxing atmosphere of the beach side towns. It had only been a few days, but we already craved the cool tranquility of the mountains.

We had heard of a relaxing set of hot pools, Fuentes Georginas, near Xela (Quetzaltenango) a city we had wanted to explore, so we made our way there instead.

The cool mountain air was not met with a lot of enthusiasm by our new four-legged companion.

P1050400
P1050403

By the time we arrived at Fuentes Georginas as the crowds were leaving.

The guard on the gate informed us that the pools were being drained and cleaned overnight, so there would be no water in the main pools until morning.

No pools today

The good news? Tomorrow the pools would be filling with fresh, clear, thermal spring water. Straight from the mountain source.

Nice.

Even better, we were allowed to camp in the car park where there was one natural pool that was not being drained, so an evening dip in a hot pool was not out of the question.

The thermal pools are located in the mountains just out of Zunil. At an altitude of over 2,000m. That makes for some pretty cold night time temperatures. So warm water was exactly what was needed.

Both at night and in the morning we had the facilities mostly to ourselves. In the morning, we soaked in the main pool and watched as the level slowly rose around us, the steaming hot water was gently trickling down a sheer rock face, straight from the heart of the mountain.

P1040388
P1040387
P1050416
P1050407
P1050409
P1050413

We would have relaxed longer, but our new four-legged companion only wanted to wait around in a bundle of warm clothes snoozing for so long.

You know. It’s kinda cold here. What’s next?

She was ready for more adventure.

The sun was shining when we arrived in Xela. So we took our little pup out on an adventure in the big city.

Xela was a city where could have spent a lot more time exploring. Interesting buildings, layers of history, with a friendly and welcoming vibe. We were a bit disappointed we hadn’t spent time here during our earlier travels. Instead, we made the most of our short time in the city.

P1051573
P1051571
P1051604
P1051505
P1051508
P1051472
P1051496

We went in to one textile collective, the lady who was running the stall cooed and clucked over the little pup. But she was very disappointed when we said she had no name. That’s bad luck you know. You should give her a name. You could try Mono (Spanish for monkey) because she looks like a little bald monkey.

Honestly, we thought she looked a bit more like a piglet.

Little piglet.

But the textile vendor was right about one thing.

This little pup needed a name.

We pondered what we’d call her apart from “little pup” as we wandered around the scenic city of Xela.

P1051483
P1051484
P1051487
P1051494
P1051516
P1051511
P1051557
P1051559
P1051584
P1051579
P1051578
P1051577
P1051572
P1051560
P1051520
P1051524
P1051498
P1051499
P1051501
P1051503
P1051545
P1051540
P1051548
P1051555

When you are a tiny puppy with short legs walking around all afternoon can get to be a little much.

It was becoming clear that this little critter was pretty happy hanging out with us.

But it was getting all to close to the time to make a decision.

Were we going to drop her off with an animal rescue that the vet in Antigua had recommended?

He had said they cared for their animals well. She would likely find a happy home in the United States and be well fed, cared for and happy for the rest of her life.

On the other hand. It would be difficult travelling with a dog. As well as expensive to ultimately fly back to New Zealand with one. We could just continue to help out dogs in need as we travelled. We would make sure this one was sent to an animal rescue with a big donation to cover her expenses.

The decision was clear.

Some tears were shed. We prepared to say goodbye.

Nah.

Who am I kidding. Well, Emma really did shed a few tears at the thought of leaving her—But saying goodbye to this little pup was never going to happen.

We had a new travel companion. She wasn’t going anywhere. Well. Except south. But she was going there with us.

You didn’t think we’d really leave her, did you?

So, just like that we found ourselves up one dog. Freshly vaccinated and provided with a health certificate she would be allowed to cross the border with us. It was almost time to leave.

We were back at the same place we had been headed when we found her. A comfy bed and breakfast with a spectacular view of Acatenango and Fuego volcanoes.

The owners of this bed and breakfast. even had some dogs of their own.

Little Sparky, the same age as our wee puppy, but with a bit more fur.

And patient Galia and older dog who kept both young puppies in line when they started acting up.

Sparky
Sparky
Galia
Galia

On this second visit our shy little pup really started to come to life.

On the previous visit, our little pup had been far too timid to even say hello to either of these dogs.

This time it was a different story.

When she wasn’t bothering Galia, or running around with Sparky, she was stealing his food.

Or simply playing with her new toys and exploring.

Nope. She hasn't suddenly grown, this is one of those miniature tennis balls for cats…
Nope. She hasn’t suddenly grown, this is one of those miniature tennis balls for cats…
What?
What?
IMG_4663
So this is my toy?
So this is my toy?
Is this my toy?
Is this my toy?
Not my toy then?
Not my toy then?
IMG_4741
IMG_4761
IMG_4767

And we finally had a name for her.

Meet Kaylee. The four-legged, Guatemalan Flightless Kiwi. Expert scavenger, chicken chaser, bone thief and roller in all things stinky.

Quite a bit later than we first intended, we finally packed up the 4Runner and left Antigua, one dog richer.

It was finally time to cross the border to El Salvador.

Kaylee’s adventure begins.

Central AmericacitydogdogsGuatemalaKayleeXela
« Can we keep her?
  1. Barbara Mason 

    Hey where are you 3 ??? Did El Salvador eat you up? My husband and I lived in Guatemala in the early ’80s and had to leave the country for 3 days every 6 mos with our vehicle and drive south. Then the Guate gov’t would have to allow us entry again as we are Americans and they couldn’t block us from our homeland…another 6 mos and El Salvador though a bit iffy back then was our go to on the beach!!!

    August 7, 2017 at 5:36 pm Reply
    • Emma 

      We made it all the way to Ushuaia but didn’t manage to keep the blog up to date as well as the instagram and Facebook posts 🙂 We do have a lot of stories (and wrote some of the details up on Facebook) so we do feel like we should finish the stories here, and maybe share some details about our New Zealand adventures too!

      April 28, 2019 at 7:26 am Reply
  2. Pat 

    How are you?

    June 6, 2018 at 2:21 am Reply
    • Emma 

      Thanks for asking 🙂 we weren’t getting our updates, so we did a terrible job of replying!

      April 28, 2019 at 7:24 am Reply
  3. Patricia Hoechst 

    Where are you?….I’ve been wondering for a while. I hope all is well….

    March 31, 2019 at 1:46 am Reply
    • Emma 

      Hi! We’re actually back in New Zealand, we struggled to keep up with the blog as well as the stories on Facebook and Instagram after we started working while we travelled, but, spoiler alert: we did make it all the way to Ushuaia and we have a lot of photos from our travels. We’ve been back in New Zealand and exploring here (more photos! Of course!) but I keep thinking I should collect the details and photos from our Facebook and Instagram and finish the story on this blog (even though it would be very belated!)

      April 28, 2019 at 7:22 am Reply

Submit a Comment Cancel Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

SUBSCRIBE

Stay up to date with our latest blog posts:

SEARCH

RECENT POSTS

  • Plus four legs
  • Can we keep her?
  • And try again

POSTS BY Category

  • Vehicle
  • Planning
  • New Zealand
  • Australia
  • North America
  • Central America
  • Photo Friday
  • South East Asia
  • Resources
  • South America

ARCHIVES

© 2020 Flightless Kiwis

X
This is our archived blog from our Pan American road trip, if you want to see what we're up to now, visit our current blog.
FLIGHTLESS KIWIS »