Lake Atitlan

Sorry faithful blog followers life has been a bit loco these days. I have been avidly searching and applying for jobs in hopes that I might be able to make some “real” money when I get back to the States. But between job applications and attempting to teach University students English (when they actually show up) I have been busy travelling! Yup that’s right! Semana Santa granted us 10 childfree days to do as we please in Central America. Ah what to do with such free time you may ask, naturally the response is to go to the biggest Semana Santa Festival in all of Central America. So the 5 of us gringas made plans to spend some time relaxing at beautiful lago Atitlan. We rushed home from school on Friday (3/30/12) to pile into a truck, 7 of us to be exact, and we jetted off to spend the night in Copan. After a brief stop in La Entrada as we pondered whether to attempt the chicken bus or pay extra for the driver to take us all the way to Copan. After a few minutes of waiting and watching as the herd for the bus grew bigger and bigger it was decided the driver would be best. Again we piled into the truck this time I took the risk of riding Honduran style in the back. It was a beautiful drive and we watched as the sun set over the beautiful mountains and the wind whipped at our hair.  We had a great meal and called it an early night seeing as our bus was to leave at 6:00 am in the next morning.

Sleepy eyed but ready for our adventure we again piled into a shuttle van, yes I realize I use the word piled quite often but you must understand we literally pile on top of each other in most circumstances.  No surprise at all but there were not enough seats for the number of people travelling.  Unfortunately I was the one to bear the brunt of this one, he was definitely in my personal bubble and I prepared myself for the next 6-7 hours of travelling. The trip was mostly uneventful minus the ridiculous traffic jam that occurred and our driver’s hour long detour. Then came Guatemala City….. imagine any  large city with smog and a bit of stop and go traffic, factor in a terrible headache, hot sweatiness, and brute force of break s followed by rapid acceleration, I couldn’t keep my watermelon licuado down, fortunately I have become a bit of a bag lady and had a spare bag on hand.  We made it to Antigua where we needed to catch another bus to the lake. My saving grace Kate had Dramamine on hand meaning most of the last bus ride was a groggy haze for me, that is until the impromptu band begin jamming in the back of the bus. I mean who doesn’t bring a guitar along on a bus ride. I couldn’t help but smile sleepily as the band rocked the bus in both English and Spanish. Finally, we arrived at the lake and my stomach was settled enough to eat Greek food, yup, Greek food. I ate possibly the most delicious Falafel ever, maybe it was because it was something different than chicken and veggies that made it so yummy, or maybe it was truly great cooking, we may never really know.

Sunday we set off to explore the adorable town of San Marcos La Laguna. We may have gone a bit shopping crazy but we had a good time. Then there was the brilliant idea of kayaking across the lake. This was definitely one of those instances where judge of distance was lacking as was the wind and pending  stormish weather accounted for. The trip across was a bit of a challenge but Kate and I entertained ourselves with notions of trying out for Amazing Race.  Once across, an hour later, we were told that we would have to pay to park our kayaks. None of us fancied the idea of paying children ranging from probably 7-12 to watch our kayaks as we meandered around town. We decided to row back across the lake, this time against the wind and waves. Another hour later we found ourselves arguing with the man in charge of the kayaks. You see, we had paid for 3 hours but only used up 2 hours of kayaking time. Things began to get a bit heated and we had to search out the man who initially rented us the kayaks. After much debating, we reached a happy medium and settled on him paying us back half an hours worth. With dead arms and soggy clothes we headed back to our hostel for some nourishment. 

Monday was spent lounging around reading and of course more shopping.  A much needed uneventful day.

Continuing along the lines of brilliant ideas, Tuesday morning we had scheduled a sun rise volcano hike. What they failed to tell you is that it takes 4 hours to hike up the volcano, the tour guides estimated a mere 2 and a half hour hike. Even leaving at 3 am we missed the sun rise, and my stomach issues continued to cause me quite some pain. I was having a major case of indigestion despite the 6 tums and 2 pepto previously taken. In between stops for breathing and water intake, I was shoving my finger down my throat in attempts that I would feel better if I could get it out. Thanks to our adorable little tour guide man who wouldn’t take no for an answer, I reached the top with the rest of the girls. The view was amazing and I was so happy to say I made it. Then began the 3 hour trek back down. When we got back we ate some breakfast, showered, and took a siesta.

Wednesday was time to head off to Antigua to check out what else Guatemala had to offer.