The monster of Atitlan

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We all know the monster of Lochness, right? Well, the monster of Atitlan is different. Big, for what it is, but definitely not as huge as the Scottish version. More colourful though! I encountered it during my walk up and down Volcan San Pedro on the Lago de Atitlan. But let’s start at the beginning;
I’d left Antigua and had to change buses three times due to the holiday of Semana Santa and it’s less frequent bus service. I first changed in Chimaltenango on a bus to Chichicastenango, the route I had taken before. I knew where to get off, and hop on a bus to Panajchel. Or so I though, because that one stopped in Solola, on the ridge of the volcanic slope leading down to the lake. The last 20minutes into Panajchel were quite spectacular with good views of the lake, but with the speed of the bus it was impossible to capture anything on a memory card. I had lunch at a ladino-run Chinese restaurant before walking down to the shore where I got on a lancha (Q25) to San Pedro La laguna, on the lakes' southwest shore. The water was rough, with wind and rain causing the lancha to bounce and the passengers who sat in front got absolutely soaked. I was one of these passengers who sat in front, and didn’t feel like getting cold and soaked, so I took my chance in between two waves and jumped in the front of the boat, and kept low. The bow protected me from the splashing water from the lake, but not from the much colder rain when that started coming down…
I checked in at the Casa Elena where prices were really low. In fact, I soon found out, the town was cheap everywhere. I had huge breakfasts at the Pana dock each morning I was there the 3+ days for just Q20 (€2) consisting of; a cup of coffee, 3 eggs with salsa, plantain, bread, 3 strips of bacon, a slice of cream cheese, a big squirt of re-fried beans with two taco chips and a big bowl of fresh fruit!
That Saturday the weather was cloudy and so I decided to hang low. I had a new book (The unnamed) which was fantastic and I finished reading it in just two days. It was about this guy who had an unknown disease which made him suddenly get up and start walking, and then couldn’t stop walking until his body shut down and fell asleep somewhere. Really great book! So I read it hanging in my hammock overlooking the lake.
Which by the way is a huge volcanic crater in itself! Lago de Atitlan is surrounded by 4 volcano’s, of which Volcan Atitlan is the most active.
That Sunday the weather hadn’t cleared up much, so I just took a stroll west towards other villages nearby. You could clearly make out The Indians nose but Volcan San Pedro, which I was planning to climb, was shrouded in clouds all the time.
At the guesthouse I was staying I kept seeing this little sparrow that was apparently very found of itself. It would fly in from the trees to the accomodations where a big mirror hung on a wall between two rooms. It would positions itself on a table in front of that mirror, and then continuously fly up to it, sit on the bottom ledge where it then sat for a while looking at itself before giving the mirror a few ticks with its beak, almost out of appreciation of itself, to then fly back to the table and repeat the whole process again and again. Funny little bird!
I met up with a group of Japanese, French and a Korean guy who had lived in China for 4 years, with whom I was practicing my Chinese a bit. One of the Japanese girls, remarkably, had been on the road for 10 months with 2 more months to go. In those 12 months of traveling for which she saved up for 7(!) years she had a total of 38 countries in 6 continents planned! Wow, that's one heck of a trip!

That Monday morning the weather had cleared up pretty well and so I decided if I was going to do the volcano, it had to be that day. I took a tuctuc to the entrance of the hike for Q10, but then was forced to pay Q100 for the entrance to the park. If I had wanted a guide, somebody would have walked with me, but I was convinced I could do the well maintained path myself. A guy walked with me the first 15 minutes or so, and then I was on my way. First through some plantations, crossing a large boulder stream and then climbing up steeply via cleared hillsides with working farmers to the viewpoint, El Mirador. It was a tough climb for sure, and with my shitty condition, I went through my 1.5 liters of water quickly. Sweating profusely, I made my way through beautiful lush forest, slowly climbing and taking frequent rests. Nearing the top, clouds started gathering and gave the volcano a mystical appearance. Quite eerie really. I wasn't on the top a long time, as it was getting kinda cold at 2995 meters above sea level. With the steepness of some parts of the walk, I ran down which was a stupid thing to do, as I found out the days after the climb. As I was walking through the town it started raining, just in time for me to get back to Elena's and have a nice hot shower.
That evening I joined up with Asians and French with whom I had dinner and a few beers. We had some interesting discussions on Chinese and American foreign policy about which we couldn't entirely agree but that didn't matter.

The day after I had a long lie in as I couldn't get up. My legs were incredibly sore, especially walking down hill or walking down stairs. After breakfast I met up with the Japanese girls, and Korean and French guys again. I was able to change a few American dollars I still had, which meant I could go kayaking with them. I was running kinda low on money, so. It was a perfect day for it, clear and sunny, good for climbing volcano's too....
Not thinking about how deep the lake really was, we peddled our way around volcano San Pedro to 'Golden beach' which was actually a black volcanic beach. A local family was having a picnic, barbecuing meat on a open fire. We had a swim, but with a time frame of just 3 hours, and clouds gathering in, I was getting quite apprehensive. I waited for them nonetheless, but in the end kayaked ahead, as they were all very slow. I didn't want to pay the extra money for being laid, but more so, I was afraid of the weather change. Waves picked up by the wind were rolling over my kayak (I am afraid of deep water btw) and the sun had trouble braking through the clouds. Not my favorite past time, I can tell you. Especially the last bit, rounding the headland of San Pedro town, the wind caught my kayak full on, and it was a real job steering the kayak into the waves, so as not to capsize, while at the same time gaining distance into town. I was happy I was back, believe me, and with just 10 minutes late I fortunately wasn't charged any extra fee...

I left the next morning with just a few Quetzales left in my pocket to Guatemala City by bus. Again, a few bus changes had to be made. From the bus station I hailed a taxi to the airport where I changed some of my Honduran Lempiras for an incredibly bad exchange rate. I just needed enough to sustain myself for a few days in Ciudad de Guatemala.

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Photos

The monster of Atitlan
Fantastic centipede n the walk down from Volcan San pedro

Looking over San Pedro La Laguna...
...towards San Pedro volcano, with its top hidden in the clouds

'The Indians nose'
Tilt your head to the left, and you'll see what I mean

Entrance to the San pedro volcano park
Are those bullet holes in the sign??

Jungle flower
on Volcan San Pedro

That's me!
In a kayak on Lago de Atitlan

San Pedro la Laguna in the foreground...
... and San Marcos la Laguna in the background

At the top of Volcan San pedro
In the clouds!!!

'Pavo de Cacho' on Volcan san Pedro
In English known as a horned Guan

Volcano's from left to right:
Cero de Oro (the small one), Volcan Toliman & Volcan Atitlan