Salama Safari

Life on the road is much more fast paced than Xela- every day new adventures. After climbing Pacaya, we took off for Lago Atitlan a day early. Had a great ride through the country, down through a huge ravine filled with a Colorado type landscape. A few hours later we were in Panajachel, the gateway to the lake. Most of the twelve little pueblos, named for the 12 apostles, are accessible only by boat. Mariam haggled for all she was worth to get the shoeless, starving teen to drop the price of the boat by $.46, and off we went, to Jaibalito and our beautiful hotel. Casa del Mundo is pasted on to the side of a steep mountain, brimming with flowers and stone terraces and patios. And stairs. We definately burned more calories than we ate, even though the chef served these amazing, family style dinners that we ate the hell out of. From the patios, or the wood-heated hot tub that we reserved one night (and had to share for a while with a bunch of bitter Peace Corp vollies who left a bit of their funk in the water and atmosphere), you could look out over maybe the most gorgeous lake in the world. Supposedly Antoine St. Exupery wrote Le Petit Prince while staying here. Remember how the little Prince lived on a planet with three volcanos? Me neither, but I said yes when asked, and Lago Atitlan has 3 volcanos towering above it, giving it these wicked steep sides perfect for jumping off and putting posh hotels on (and Charlie Sheen´s vacation house, of which we had many theories). Also, remember that part when the little prince asks everyone what that funny shape is, and all the old people with no imagination say ´a hat´and really it´s a snake that swallowed an elephant? Me too. Well, there is this big formation/mountain that looks exactly like the picture in the book. The landscape is this mixture of tropical flowers and verdure with little farms and towns and a bit of drier vegetation, with the biggest, bluest lake smack in the middle. We had a great couple of days mellowing out at Casa del Mundo, jumping off balconies into the lake, lounging in hammocks, taking some sun, and developing bulging quads on the stairs. Next we went to another little luxury hotel in the half hippie enclave of San Marcos. More eating and swimming and chilling and running away from these horrid black scorpions that seemed to have their kingdom in Susannah and Angela´s patio. We also found some really high rocks to jump off, and some really deep water to drop Brielle´s goggles in and test Jake´s diving abilities in. Then back again to Antigua, where we attempted to have a nice dinner but were thwarted when I fell for the trick where the guy runs you down in the street and tells you how good his food is. That dinner may have single-handedly undone what 5 days of powerful antibiotics had done for my bowels. Not to ruin my streak for the night, I also found us a classy hotel for the evening, using the same technique of following randos into whatever building, just because they are yelling at me. This place cost about a buck apiece, and it was worth it. We got a discount, because, as Mariam and Brielle found in the morning when they were waiting in the lobby/garage as men walked in and out and were checked off on the dry erase board, it usually goes for a buck an hour. Susannah and Angela got on a shuttle for the airport while I pooed in a baby food jar. Two hours later, I had the report back from the lab that I have no parasites. The only other part of the report that I could understand was the color part, ´cafe,´ but already, knowing I didn´t have any wormies in me, I felt better. I did fart out my mouth all morning on the ride to Rio Dulce (Mars and Brielle still don´t believe those smells didn´t come from farther south, but why would I lie about this?), but that´s a little later story. After trying to find a bus to Rio Dulce that day, we finally realized the futility and got a (different) hotel, smoked some Cuban cigars, and managed to find an amazing restaurant to splurge at for Brielle´s and my birthday. We ate our weights in meat, drank wine, had chocolate cake for dessert. Awesome. Then, pleasantly full, we wandered over to the central park, where the Guatemalan Symphony Orchestra was playing a free concert. We hit it just right, as my father-in-law would probably appreciate (hi Uncle Beaver), just at the loud part. We sat down, and after about a minute of the soft, boring stuff, the cymbols guys started in and everyone started wailing away at whatever they had in their hands and it got real loud and fun. And then with a little flourish, it was over, and they thanked us for coming and we got to go home and sleep so we could get up at 3:30am for the Rio Dulce bus. Then the part where I fart our my mouth and no one believes me, but at least I don´t have parasites so I feel real good, and we arrive at the edge of the biggest lake in Guat, Lago Izabal. Rio Dulce is a funky, colorful little fishing town, also full of yachties on their way around the world. Very tropical and muggy and slow, and we stayed at an appropriate hostel between the jungle and the river. Actually, in a little hut on stilts right in the water. Ate a ferocious shrimp stew before it ate me (these shrimps had claws). In the morning Brielle and I kayaked over at 5am (pre dawn awakenings are now the norm) to see, and hear, the howler monkeys. Who knew? Hiked all over the jungle later, and saw creatures and plants I still can´t believe. Brielle heard about Susannah and Angela´s misadventures at the airport, so we decided to put her on the 3am bus so she´d have plenty of time at the airport. Checked and double checked to make sure that the kid with the boat would be there at 2:45am to take us across, and were assured. Then, at 2:50am, he still wasn´t there (notch another pre-dawn wake up), so we did what any sensible person would do. We stole a double kayak. Luckily the dude with the shotgun didn´t see us or didn´t care enough to kill us as we slipped across the harbor under the moon. On the other side, we had to try a couple different landing spots before we found one with a low enough fence to climb over. This time, the guy with the shotgun did see us, but held his fire. Brielle made the bus, and I paddled home. Even managed to get the 40Q back that we had prepaid for the boat trip (even though kayaks rent for 100Q/hr! ha!) later in the day, and I don´t even think the kid lost his job. We packed up at a reasonable hour and took a boat down the river to Livingston, where we are now. Livingston is an amazing little Garifuna community, reachable only by boat, of black Guatemalans decended from escaped slaves, shipwrecked sailors and Carib indians, with their own language and culture. Lots of African ties. Great seafood, too. I ate another vicious stew, this one with coconut milk, plaintains, a whole fish and lots of creatures with claws. Getting hungry again, too. It´s hot as all get out here. Tomorrow we´re heading to Tela, Honduras, for a few beach days while we celebrate my birthday, then hopefully on to the Bay Islands, where I might be able to talk Mariam into taking the world´s cheapest scuba diving course (now why would she even hesitate?) for a week or so.
Ain´t life grand?