Blogs from Lago de Atitlán, Western Highlands, Guatemala, Central America Caribbean - page 19

Noin, vihdoinkin paasin Lago de Atitlanin rannalle San Pedroon, alkuperainen suunnitelma oli paasta tanne perjantaina, mutta.. eei ihan onnistunut. Floresista etelaan on siis kaksi reittia, Rio Dulcen ja tasaisen maan kautta 8-10h, tai sitten suoraan etelaan, vuoristoteita pitkin. El Rematessa, keskiviikkona, paivana ennen suunniteltua lahtoa eteen pomppasi engelsmanni Paul, joka on kulkenut autolla USA:sta Meksikon ja Belizen lapi Guatemalaan. Paul oli myos menossa Lago de Atitlanille, joten paatimme kaikki yhdessa, mina, Nate, Rachel ja Paul, matkustaa autolla etelaan ja samalla kayda katsomassa Semuc Champeyn vesiputoukset ym. Ensimmaisena paivana matka kulki varsin mutkattomasti, aina Lanquiniin ja Semuc Champeyyn johtavaan risteykseen asti. Karttaan tie oli merkitty ihan mukavan nakoisena, hyvakuntoisena tiena, mutta totuus rupesi paljastumaan siina vaiheessa, kun 30 km:n matkaan ol... read more

Last Sunday I had the urge to do something a little different. I felt like moving around just for it's own sake. Trying to find a good loop or route is something often installed in a travellers' mind. Bearing in mind I only had a day, I decided to set myself the target of trying to work my way around the lake stopping at every town along the way. I started off with the ferry to Santiago. On arrival I moved through town fairly quickly, asking around in the market where pick-ups left from. On a relatively uncrowded pick-up, locals gave me that bemused/intrigued look I often seem to receive (probably my towering height), I smiled and nodded and after a while there eyes wondered elsewhere. A beautiful clear blue sky stretched out above us as ... read more

A few days ago I had two interesting discussions, both, coincedentally, with Dutch Girls about voluntary work and development projects. I explained how I was trying to get going an English school with the idea of passing on the reins once it had got going and eventually trying to move the idea onwards and upwards. I have encountered more problems than I had anticipated, mainly a mixture of the Mañana culture of the people and unreliability of my partner in business. The first Dutch girl saw the benefit of what I was trying to do, but generally had a negative attitude towards development seeing it as a no-win situation with regards to setting up workable schemes. In her view, on one side you have western people running things for locals leathered with difficulties because of cultural ... read more

We arrived at Lago Atitlan last Sunday after a few hours in a packed van drinking water and eating trail mix. After taking a boat across the lake we were greeted by lots of kids on the dock in San Marcos. The smallest of all decided to carry my big backpack up the hill and around the corner to our sleeping quaters, the pack was basically the size of the child! We stayed in San Marcos and travelled to 2 small villages nearby to begin our stove building adventure. The first day I helped build a stove in a house that was smaller than my room at home. We were mixing cement, breaking cement blocks and bricks with machettes, and buliding the stove alongside 5 people in one tiny house. The Mayan people we are building ... read more

There are Mayan villages surrounding the Lake. We stop in Santiago and it is here that I can see the poverty of the Mayan people, who have gotten some pretty crappy deals over the years. As the boat pulls up from the dock natives run to meet you. I am accustomed to this from other countries, but I have never seen it under these conditions before... the dogs on the street look like skeletons, flies swarming around them, I don´t know if they are dead or sleeping. children pulling at my arms and legs, begging for money for food, not all the villages are in this condition, but I am searching for smiles here too...there are smiles everywhere...I just can´t find them here. I don´t want to sound like some kind of world hunger campaign, but ... read more