GUATEMALA

"Tuk-Tuk"

Lake Atitlan sunset

Hand made detailed fabrics

Lake Atitlan with two volcanoes

 GUATEMALA

         We’ve left the boats moored in El Salvador and rented a car with our friends Rick and Sue (New Yorkers) from the sailboat Moonshine. The rental car costs $35/day if you stay in El Salvador and $50 per day as we’re taking it to Guatemala.

ANTUGUA - Our trip began with taking the coastal route to Guatemala, and then to Antigua, a famous old European style city with many varieties of local artisan works.  We enjoyed the couple days in Antigua, the Central Market area, town square, the delicious foods, and the wonderful friendly people. Antigua is located high in the mountains where it was nice and cool – which felt very refreshing from the warm 85-90 degree days aboard Windfall.Our hotel was an old Colonial Spanish design, beautiful with it’s manicured gardens, and located within an easy 5 minute walk down a cobble stone street to the town square. Our room was simple, clean, and overlooked the beautiful gardens area below.
          We went to the Central market and bought beautifully detailed hand woven cloths made by the local women, of course the prices depend how well you barter – which these women selling their goods are masters at! The items are made at the nearby villages and brought to the market to sell, and just getting the items to market is quite a chore from the remote villages.We hired a guide for an afternoon to tour the city. He gave us the story of Antigua, the churches, Jade artisans, the major earthquakes and volcanoes, and it’s friendly people. We asked about where a good Spanish immersion school is located, Antigua is famous for it’s Spanish immersion classes with one-on-one teaching which we hope will improve our (my) Spanish skills.  Nancy and I signed up for a two week immersion class, beginning April 4^th, where we will live with a Guatemalan family (who only speak Spanish) and go to the school 4 hours a day for the two weeks. We already met our new “Madre” who will cook our meals.

 LAKE ATITLAN…oh, and along the way we were stopped by the “Policia” and politely asked for “Propina” (a tip)…which cost us $100 Quetzals ($13). It’s not looked upon kindly by the locals for tourists to pay this, but….what are you going to do but pay-even though they are not supposed to do any longer.
         We arrived at Lake Atitlan and begin our search for hotel rooms. We were directed by a great kid on a bicycle and his uncle (self appointed tour guides) of where to go, what the prices were, and that they can arrange a tour of the lake. We looked at two hotels, one completely booked, one with $20 rooms, and the last very near the lake which we got for $25/night. It was a great place, nice lawns with covered patio, views, and only a two minute walk to the lake shore.As the sun dipped behind the distant volcano mountains, people quietly lined the waterfront to admire the spectacular red-umber hues transform to complete darkness before our eyes making “postcard perfect” photos.
         The next morning we met at the nearby dock with our “self appointed tour guide” for the lake tour of two local villages, and we were not disappointed. Local fishermen in tiny wooden carved boats tossed baited lines as our panga driver took us close to the shore to view many beautiful waterfront homes, with terraced gardens to the shoreline, and shaded by palm trees perched on the waters edge. Colorfully dressed artisan women lined the streets weaving their beautiful cloths and inviting us into their shops and view their wonderful handmade goods. We learned some of their colorful, and highly detailed,  woven shirts take as long as 6 months to complete and each village has specific “colors” woven to distinguish their Mayan villages. The tiny details woven in the cloths are amazing to say the least.  You can’t imagine the time and patience it takes to produce such handmade works of art, but you quickly realize how spoiled we, as Americans, have become when viewing life from the other side of the world.
          Later that afternoon we went with Rick and Sue on a “Tuk-Tuk” tour. A Tuk-Tuk is a three wheeled vehicle, fun (and cheap) to ride, and we learned they have 165 Tuk-Tuks for the area! Our drivers charged $6 for an hour tour of the city, pointing out internet cafés, points of interest, great places to eat, then took us to a high overlook of the lake and volcanoes….on a scale of 1-10….this is a definite TEN
          Leaving Lake Atitlan to Guatemala City, we took a different route leading us to cross a river (ok, small stream) with the rental car! The bridge was washed out, and had been for quite some time, but Sue did a great job driving the car and fording the ravaging white water …ok, so it was 6” deep, but she still did a great job of getting us across without getting our feet wet.

         ATACO - Time to cross the border back into El Salvador with our next location Ataco, about 30 minutes out of our way, but highly recommended to visit.
          We stayed in a small posada (Inn), newly remodeled, and welcomed with friendly staff ($30/night). Soon, it was time to search for a restaurant for dinner. As many of you travelers know, this can be a scale of delicious foods…to well, not so great.I must say, we found a little café with great live music, tastefully decorated, and with a Filet Minion that was delicious as any we’ve ever had, served with rice, veggies, bread, and a wonderful pastry desert. Oh, and the price…an easy $9.00.

San Andres Ruins- The next morning we toured the ancient ruins of San Andres where we happened to arrive during a Mayan ceremony of Springtime and offerings of wisdom, forgiveness, and healing to the circled fire. Drums beat as conch shells were blow to welcome the Gods and bring those to the circle. Even a newscaster was on hand for the occasion as I heard mention of “President Obama”….What??? Yes, Mr. “Presidente de Americana” Barack Obama is to visit this very ruin in two days and they were excited with the news.We moved on to the next site.
Joya de Ceren Ruins - Also called the “Pampae of the Americas” and designated a World Heritage Site. What makes this area so special is this is the only area known to show where the common people lived who built the great temples and ruins. A volcano, 1/2 mile away, gave ample warning for the people to escape before it began erupting and completely covering the area with steam and ash.  This event happened 14 times and has buried the city with 4-6 meters of ash. The new site was found in 1976 when a backhoe was working and found a wall preserved deep in the layers. They have only dug 3% of what is believed to be buried as they have no way to preserve the artifacts (homes and personal items) once exposed to the weather and elements. So, for now, the city remains protected and well preserved buried deep within the layers of ash.

It was nice to get back aboard Windfall and back to “busy schedule”…..We’ve been invited to a nighttime beach bon fire, a chicken barbeque to benefit the local school, and of course make our presence at the pool for the afternoon “Cruisers Net” . Nancy has signed up for a drawing and painting class offered by one of the cruisers, and volunteers working with the English class at the local school. I have been working on a picture CD, our Blog, practicing my guitar and strangely enough keeping any “critters” away from the boat….Hmm, …..Nahhh….Couldn’t be…..It must be some strange coincidence.
 More Windfall Adventures when we get back from our Antigua Spanish classes….I feel sorry for my teacher already……