For most of this trip I've been traveling alone. "Well, duh," you might say. "We know that." But this has actually been a bit of a surprise. In Asia, I was always traveling from place to place with other people. However, here in Central America, my route seems to be different from most other travelers. So I'll usually find people to hang out with while I'm in a place, but then separate when I or they leave.
But after I left Flores, I realized that this was no longer the case. When I got to the Finca, I ran into some people I'd seen in Flores or at Tikal. And once I left the Finca, it was as if I was traveling in a big international caravan.
I actually left the Finca alone. My plan was to go to Rio Dulce, the next town south. A group of people I'd been hanging out with had left the day before for Rio Dulce, and there was another group leaving that afternoon after me, but I was craving a bit of independence.
I got it for about four hours, at which point I ran into all the people who had left the Finca the day before. They were staying at the same hostel in Rio Dulce, of course. It was a really good group of people - two Dutch guys named Jeroun (of course!), one Jeroun's girlfriend, Milen, an Austrian girl named Astrid (who works for Greenpeace at home! Small world!), an American guy named Jonathan (who's from DC, where I lived while working for Greenpeace), and a Swedish girl named Katrine. They had been joined that day by a Brit named Richard and a German named Johann. Um, small group. Needless to say, we kept the bar open very late.
As if that weren't enough, two other groups had left the Finca that day and ended up at the same hostel. It was the only hostel in Rio Dulce. But really, still. The whole thing was pretty funny.
And I'm not even using the Lonely Planet!