Sure to be a great experience if you go in with the right mindset

My partner and I spent a total of 8 weeks with Maximo in Antigua, and we had a fantastic time. We took one-on-one spanish lessons through their school (myself with Evelyn and my partner with Willy) and we highly recommend both of them to anyone who is thinking of taking lessons. I went from basically no spanish to being able to hold my own in conversation fairly well.

The staff at Maximo are absolutely superb. We had so much help from Madeline, Lori, Victor and Nancy in our time there, they were always professional, friendly and willing to help answer any questions we had. The facilities are great too, it's a very nice place to hang out if you don't have much going on during the day. The social scene around Maximo is very active and it's easy to make great friends.

Maximo set us up to volunteer with a partner organisation called As Green As It Gets doing eco agricultural work in nearby San Miguel Escobar, and through them we had a really fantastic volunteering experience. I feel like if you want to make as positive an impact as possible while in Guatemala, ask the staff at Maximo to set you up with As Green As It Gets.

We were involved in all sorts of interesting work with AGAIG - from going with the farmers during harvest and picking coffee cherries and caring for their crops, to construction of renewable energy biodigestors for the farmers, to the production and marketing process of the coffee and even external fundraising. We worked hard and really felt like part of the AGAIG family and the San Miguel Escobar coffee coop.

I will say this though, do not expect to slack off. It is very hard work - lots of early morning treks up Volcan Agua to the farmers' individual farms, lots of shovelling and machete-ing and hauling cement and block for construction. You will get tired, sore and sweaty, and you will get blisters and cuts and bruises. If you are the kind of person that rocks up to things late, this is not the program for you - because if you are dragging your feet then you are adversely affecting the farmer's productivity and not helping anybody. Expect to work hard and be on time. Give it your all and I guarantee it will be a mutually beneficial experience for you, and the people you are there to help.

We stayed in a homestay organised by Maximo with a Guatemalan lady named Claudia - it was really fantastic. We really felt like part of the family, and were included in all of the festive holidays and birthdays that went on while we were there. The food was great and Claudia and her family were very accomodating and flexible with our coming and going.

While in our homestay there was a minimum of 4 volunteers total and a maximum of 7, so it's a fairly cosy low-key place to stay compared to some of the other Maximo places which housed up to 20 volunteers. If you're less into partying and more the quiet type, ask Maximo to put you somewhere like Claudia's. It's quieter for sure, but still social - we made plenty of good friends in our two months there.