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Published: April 30th 2011
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Welcome to Guatemala
So this is the view i get from my balcony :) Allrighty-o
So first things first: The story of the camera.
It kinda comes down to that when leaving home I didn't attach the little strap you get with the camera to it, thinking ' na I don't need such a silly thing, that's for clumsy people' …
So when I got to the Canyon back in the US and saw yet another gorgeous view and decided to whop out my camera... I pushed the button to let the lens come out and like a second later the little slippery devil escaped my firm grasp -.-' and landed lens down on a big rock.
I quickly picked it up, and figured it would be allright since, well, a new camera cant break this easily(atleast not in the land of Peter).
And the moment I saw the lens I had this feeling my little camera would never be the same again as the lens was basically as crooked as a banana.
But the handyman I am I was able to fix it quite easily(I kinda forced it back straight and back in) and well the more perceptive among you might have noticed that the picture quality has been slightly less since my visit
to the canyon.
And then on a fatal evening in Trinidad I was showing off my camera to Kate and well, it didn't seem to like that very much as it died completely in the process.
So yes, I killed my first digital camera ever two weeks into the trip I bought it for....
But anyway, off to more cheerful news, being: I bought a new camera, and I love it.
It has more MP, is easier to use and only costed me about half of my previous one :p
So now I am able to show pictures of the 'little' hike I did today.
Over dinner last night the other girl whom was staying(she left this afternoon) at the casa was talking about doing a bit of hiking the day after and invited me along and since I didn’t have any plans yet I accepted without wasting too much thought on it.
A little later she added we were going to hike up a volcano which was OK to me, since well you know, walking is walking, no matter where you do it.
We needed to head out at around six so the madre of the familia prepared
us some little containers full of fruit for along the way, and since we would be back at around 1pm I figured together with a half litre of water that should be enough to get me up and down the volcano.
While meeting up with the guide(who turned out to be much needed) and the rest of the posse I also learned that this particular volcano we were going to be hiking on to was the biggest one of the region... the volcanoes in this region must be rather small, right?
Basically the walk trough town and up to the park entrance already was killing me, I'm pretty sure that if Pantani would have attempted to cycle up these roads he would have had been pushing his bicycle up before halfway.
But anyway, well out of breath, I reached the park entrance... where the hike could start.
Here we were offered additional water, which I obviously declined since I still wasn't too impressed with the hike we were about to embark on.
So then we set forth walking trough relatively flat forest like scenery for about the first half an hour until we reached a little white arrow with
Luckily big parts of the trail had stairs
At the entrance of the park it said that there were pumas and boa constrictors in this jungle... blue letters pointing to a little trail to the right, it said 'Volcan'.
After 20 meters the trail started going uphill at a rather steep angle and basically it flattened out 4hours later, 1,6km higher at the top of the volcano.
I kid you not, there was not one, not even a little part of the trail that did not go uphill at a rate that scares away mountain goats.. (perhaps a bit of exaggerating is involved here, but it seriously never flattened out).
And apparently when walking up a volcano or mountain, the altitude does funky things to a body.
The first part of the trip was just hard cause I was walking up a steep hill... but the second part, when getting close to the summit...
Was a whole other thing, everything gradually becomes more and more difficult until you find yourself at a point where you need to stop every minute to catch your breath and stop your heart from popping out of your chest.
And then … reaching the summit and laying eyes upon 'the view'...
So the hike up here was probably, physically, the hardest thing I did in my life upto this point(partially
perhaps due to the fact that all I ate and drank was a bit of fruit and 300ml of water).
But seeing the view of the lake, all the mountains and villages down there.... I would have walked another two volcanoes for this view, honestly.
The day was perfect, no clouds, no nuttin so ye it was worth it.
We sat and rested at the summit for another hour before starting to head back down, which went much faster and easier than going up and thus found ourselves running in the first little store we found to buy their entire stash of coca-cola about 2hours later.
Hearing that 'spsshh' and chugging down the first can … that -was- a moment of happiness...
And then the best thing about the trip … arriving back in the casa and being called to table immediately and seeing it is …. homemade papas fritas con pollo and lotsa katsup(I might have let slip somewhere during the week I rlly rlly liked papas fritas xo ) and icecold homemade lemonade...
From hell to heaven in a matter of minutes... can life be much better than this..?
;P
And on that bombshell, I bid you goodnight.
Cheers,
Pieje.
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anonymous
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Physically the hardest thing you ever did
thanks for your honest report admitting that you have been clumsy with your camera. So what ? I have been clumsy all my life. There is nothing to be annoyed about Pedro. You are not alone in "clumsy land". It would appear that in San Pedro and in the neighbourhood, you will find enough interesting sites to visit. Even when being a student you can remain a traveller. Nice. I am one of your readers(admirers dad)who didn't notice that you had repaired your camera.Another girl in the " casa " invited you to accompany her visiting the highest volcano in the region. I think she is also a student and perhaps traveller. Did you or do you try to speak with her Spanish? You should try to do this whenever you can. You say that when you were at the entrance of the volcano you were already out of breath. Is that telling us something about your physical condition or was it really so extraordinary ? When describing your suffering during the climb, you didn't tell us anything about the suffering of the others. Was that girl in front of you ? Was she behind ? Were you together with the bunch ? Let's be positive. You were in front despite your exhaustive condition and despite your dry throat. I can imagine when being thirsty, it is one of the worst things which can happen to an human being. Luckily after all that inhuman stuff, there was "la madre de la casa" who waited with her meal and conquered your heart with those homemade papas fritas con pollo(kip) and homemade lemonade. Yes dad, I don't know what you think, but I wouldn't mind to have been at that table in San Pedro La Laguna. By the way are you doing the dishes together with la madre? Ideal opportunity to improve your Spanish. Are you aware that you are living a fascinating life ? Enjoy and be a good student. Hasta otra/Tot een volgende keer.