The Earth Lodge near Antigua

After leaving Antigua last Friday afternoon, we rode in the back of a pickup truck up to a place called the Earth Lodge, near a town called El Hato, on the outskirts of Antigua. The place was started up by a Canadian named Drew and an American named Brianna 6 years ago, and has gorgeous views of the surrounding valleys and city of Antigua. On our second day there, we hiked for a couple of hours out into the surrounding hills, and saw some amazing scenery- for miles in all directions, the villagers have planted corn fields, and the trails which they use to get to their fields, though minimal, are enough to get around on well enough. The weather, as might be expected during the rainy season, has been gorgeous in the morning and gloomy at night when the clouds seem to roll in at the same time every day. Since the temperature soars every time the sun is out, it's actually a very nice weather pattern. On our second night at the Earth Lodge, we celebrated Brianna's birthday with live music and a giant feast. If nothing else can be said about Guatemala, it's that the food here is amazing. Every night that we were there, Drew and Brianna cooked us family-style meals that sent us to bed fat and happy. Don't worry Mom, I still like your cooking better! The Earth Lodge is set up on an avocado farm, and it's obvious that one of the dogs, a black lab named Whitey, eats his share of these green goodies every day. Honestly, he has to be 120 pounds or so, and definitely the largest black lab that I've ever seen. It's a pretty awesome place, but way too laid-back for this stage in our journey. We stayed there for three days, and by the end of the second, Matt and I were getting pretty antsy. On Monday morning, we set out for the city of Quetzaltenango in the western highlands, intent on making our journey via the infamous chicken bus system...

---

---