Guatemala (zombie survival)

GUATEMALA: 41/70

Guatemala is a country in Central America with a bigger population of a few million, but mostly because of Guatemala City (which has most of the population in it.) The rest of Guatemala is “suburb” type of city where there is a lot of agriculture, farm, dirt roads, and Maya ruins.

LOCATION:  7/10

I was near the city of Flores, which is a mystical part of the country, but definitely lower populated. The elevation wasn’t overly high or low, but the temperatures were pretty moderate. Even though it was the wet season, it was fairly dry this year.

WATER: 2/10

The water supplies were awful where I was. Our drinkable water was delivered. Apparently, a lot of farmers pour chemicals on their crops and the run-off gets into the water supply, which pollutes the spring. However, it does rain a lot during the wet-season, so rain-water could be an option for at least 5 months out of the year.

LODGING:  8/10

A lot of people build a fortress/compounds and have their whole garden in their “yard”. Banana trees, goats, pigs, chickens, herbs, tomatos, onions are all cultivated in yards already. Also, some houses are fortified with cinder-bliock or stone with the house part on the inside.

FOOD: 6/10

See above in yard and water supply. A lot of things grow, but if you are the type that NEEDS TWINKIES! Guatemala may not be the place for you.

SUPPLIES: 7/10

We went to the market several times and it always seemed stock full of anything/everything that you could possibly ever need to survive. There are a few things that are difficult to find in Central America (in general) like quick-dry items (or an REI/camping type store). But everything to set up base somewhere and live for a while can be found with ease.

Oh! Also worth mentioning is that all banks have their own security guards with guns. So finding one won’t be an issue, but finding ammo may be.

NON-DEAD DANGERS: 6/10

In the place I was (not a farm- but a little neighborhood), the only dangers we faced  (in the “compound”) were scorpions, fer de lances, bed bugs, and tarantulas. There were very few fire-ants. The rest of Guatemala, however, is on a fault line and has had earthquakes in the past (which could be terrible, seeing that the construction of buildings isn’t really set to any standard that I know of.)

LOCALS/CULTURE: 5/10

Besides the food (which is tasty and simple!) Mayan culture is also abundant and pretty awesome to dive into. I didn’t hear any music during my time there, but I did see a movie (Twilight) in Spanish—which was just as terrible as the English version.

I shall note that if you don’t speak spanish, you will have a difficult time getting around. People are friendly enough- but I’m assuming that all that politeness will go out the window once they are zombies.

Also note: If you hear someone moan “sesos”– run. rapido.