Guests will meet in Toronto, then fly from Toronto to Atlanta, Atlanta to Guatemala City, then Guatemala City to Flores. 

Guests will spend 2 nights at Las Lagunas Boutique Hotel, a beautiful spot in the heart of the Guatemalan jungle.

During the layover in Guatemala City, guests will visit the Roosevelt Hospital to get an introduction to our program.

After arriving in Flores, guests will relax at the hotel for evening. The next morning, guests will visit the Great Mayan ruins of Tikal. Estimated to have been established at around 900BC, Tikal is one of the largest archaeological sites of the pre-Columbian Maya civilization. The Tikal National Park encompasses 575 square kilometres of jungle and thousands of ruined structures from the ancient city.

Before heading to Antigua, guests will take a boat trip across the lagoon to visit the famous howling monkeys.

Guests will take an evening flight from Flores to Guatemala City on April 26^th and then drive to Antigua (roughly a 1 hour journey).

Aereo Guatemaltecos  5U131 Dep: 6:30PM Arr: 7:30PM 1h 00m FRS GUA

Guests will spend five nights at a beautiful luxury villa in the heart of the old city.

On April 26th, guests will spend the day touring Antigua, a beautiful city surrounded by volcanoes in southern Guatemala.

On April 27th, guests will visit Antigua's city hospital to learn more about public health care surrounding maternal and infant health.

On April 28th, guests will visit one of the communities supported by the Midwife Training Program in order to get a better idea of the inner workings of the project, as well as to get the chance to meet some of the community's doctors, midwives, mothers and children.

April 29th will be spent hiking the Pacaya Volcano. Pacaya Volcano is the most popular volcano trek in Antigua because of its accessibility, and the hike can be completed in half a day. Here, guests will hike (or ride horses) through the lovely pine forest to the tough volcanic ash and rock, then to the sulfur-smoking cone. When summited, guests will get to see the amazing views of the northern volcanoes, pacific lowlands, and El Salvador.

On the final day in Antigua, guests will stop at the Finca Filadelfia coffee farm for lunch and a tour. Finca Filadelfia has run for more than 15 years, and allows visitors to see the step-by-step process of coffee making.

Despite decades of international aid, maternal and child mortality is still at an unacceptable level throughout Guatemala, and at crisis levels in the rural regions. Midwives attend more than 90% of births in the rural areas, and it has been found that a significant number of infant deaths are connected to a lack of knowledge in handling high-risk pregnancies. The statistics are also greatly impacted by extreme poverty, which has remained relatively constant over the past 20 years.

International Needs Canada is working alongside a number of organizations to develop the Survive and Thrive Program, a program that targets high-risk pregnancies and transforms the overall state of maternal and newborn healthcare in Guatemala. The goal is to provide training to midwives so that they are able to detect risk factors early, refer the mother to a health care facility, and prevent the deaths of mothers and babies in the rural regions of Guatemala. This program will also provide research in the areas of maternal and neonatal care for the Guatemalan Health Ministry to use and improve upon.

Guests will drive from Antigua up to Lake Atitlan.

Guests will spend the next couple of days at a beautiful villa on the water in Lake Atitlan.

Guests will continue on the journey to reach Lake Atitlan. The next couple of days will be spent exploring Panajachel’s bustling markets, the Casa Cakchiquel Cultural Centre (initially a hotel enjoyed by notable figures such as Che Guevara and Ingrid Bergman), and taking a private boat tour. The Lake Atitlan village boat tours take guests on a journey around the lake to explore and visit the quiet and peaceful villages in the heart of Mayan culture.

After breakfast, the team will head to the airport in Guatemala City to catch flights back home. Sadly, the 2022 Guatemala Umoja Journey must come to an end, but we hope guests will cherish this trip for the rest of their lives, and join us on many more!