On to Atitlan and Beyond

After a month of being stationary, the restless urge to hit the road stirred heavily in my body and mind. We said good bye to our friends and families, packed our belongings in the truck and left our temporary home, but not before picking up an additional traveler to toss in the back seat. Her name is Terra and she's from Wisconsin. She asked if she could tag along with us for a few weeks, hitching a ride to Nicaragua. We were surprised that even after we told her that we sleep in the dirt and rarely shower that she was still excited to join our dirt bagging adventures. We've only known her a week, but she seems very laid back and easy going. We're not quite sure how here dad took the news that she decided to prolong her vacation traveling with a couple guys from California that she had only know for a few days. I think probably not well.

We left Xela with better Spanish, fond memories and an extra person to split gas with, heading to lago atitlan for the night. The sky was full of gray, rain filled clouds and we were frequented by showers. The recent rain had carved trenches in the dirt sections of the highway that were under construction, adding additional obstacles to our journey, but nothing the truck couldn't handle. Driving toward the lake we were surrounded by thick clouds, obscuring our vision, but upon arrival we were very surprised to be able to see across the lake, having descended below the cloud line. We obtained a lake side campsite at hotel Vision Azul with a great view of the volcanoes. Setting up a tent was an extra $7 charge, so we decided to try to brave the weather without one. There was a nice little shelter with a pick nick table that was pretty water resistant, and we always had the truck. It had stopped raining and we played cards, read books and ate dinner. Ominous clouds still loomed overhead, so Andy and I decided to set our cots up under the pick nick table with a tarp draped over the top and let Terra sleep in the back of the truck. The bugs were pretty bad while we were trying to go to sleep so Andy set up his tent but only loosely put up his rain tarp. My mosquito net didn't fit under the table so I buried my head in my sleeping bag despite the uncomfortable heat. Heavy rain and on shore winds hit us throughout the night and my feet were fairly damp in the morning. Andy emerged from his tent, wet, looking a little uncomfortable and the back of the truck got pretty wet because it was left open for ventalation. When the rain let up in the morning we partially dried out some of our stuff, relaxed and took in the beautiful view of the lake.

Around mid day, we packed up and headed toward Antigua, one of the major tourist destinations in Guatemala. Antigua used to be the capital of Guatemala before it was decimated by a large earth quake and the capital was moved to the current site of Guatemala city. It still has some old churches that were restored after the quake and lots of travelers wander its cobble stone streets. The weather was still poor due to the tropical storm hitting central America. We checked into a nice hostel with a communal kitchen and cooked a nice pasta dinner. When the rain broke, we walked around the city, visited a couple churches, parque central and got some coffee. After dinner we went out to a bar, played some pool and drank some mojitos. The next morning we woke up, ate some avocado, tomato omelets and walked around some more. We were planning on climbing Pacaya, an active volcano in the area, but the weather was still rainy, so we got some really good drip coffee (a nice change from Nescafe) at a nice cafe and took off for the coast.

The first part of the drive was on a well maintained road, but the last few miles to the port town of San Jose were on a pothole covered, partially flooded dirt road. This was also the road to Guatemala's main port, so we saw many semis slowly navigating through the water and potholes. We made it to San Jose then turned east toward Iztapa. The bridge was out so we asked directions and headed down some small, partially flooded dirt roads. We had to ask directions and backtrack a few times before returning to the main paved road toward Iztapa. The beach in Iztapa was dirty and uninviting, so we continued east.

Following a sign from the road we checked out a bungalow resort outside Monte Rico. No one was there, but a neighbor told us where the caretakers house was located and went on a small goose chase tracking him down. We ended up negotiating a bungalow for 200Q ($26) for the night and because no one else was staying there, it was like renting our own beautiful beach front resort with access to the kitchen, dinning area, pool and beach side gazebo. After settling in, we walked down to the beach to enjoy the sunset. We set a hearty vegetable soup to simmer over a real stove and played some cards. After filling our stomachs to capacity, we threw on our swim suits and headed out for a night swim. I had a decent buzz after drinking a few beers and it was a lot of fun body surfing some medium sized waves in the dark. Warm water makes night time dips much more enjoyable.

The next day we leisurely got up, ate breakfast and watched the waves. We saw some large fish breaching out of the water and Andy quickly grabbed his spear gun and fins and jumped into the ocean. He didn't catch anything but hit a large fish in the side. Due to the angle it didn't penetrate all the way through the fish, who got away but probably ended up dying out at sea. We played some more cards and swam in the pool before taking off toward Monte Rico.

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