Panajachel

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Auto Plan B

Plan B at that time was to rent from Avis in Guat City, go to Belize, and return to Guat City. The car was not ready and the agent who had made the arrangements was not going to be there for a couple hours. This was getting difficult. We asked the friendly agent about taking a bus to Belize? "Oh, that would take three days !" "Really?" She turned to a brown teenager lurking at the back for no apparent reason. “How long, Ramon?” “Oh, three days,” he answered. (He must be the local Minister of Confirmation.) Ummm, another challenge; we must be traveling. Avis was across the street from the main airport. Perhaps we could fly. Waiting in line, we chanced upon Lester from Alameda bumming a cigarette from someone in front of us. Long story short, Lester from Alameda said we could take an over night bus to Flores, then a day trip to Tikal, then a bus from Flores to Belize City. Two days, one stay, problem solved.

Lago de Atitlan

The trip to Atitlan was grey and rainy. Maureen became enchanted with a Mayan child sitting next to

here. I was enchanted with the weathered driver in the background. Suddenly, we came over a crest, rain stopped, clouds opened, and there was Atitlan Lake. My heart skipped a beat. Cliché, you say, but it was a magical moment. I fell in love with the vibe in an instant and nothing has ever changed this. From Wiki, “The lake is volcanic in origin, filling an enormous caldera formed in an eruption 84,000 years ago. It is renowned as one of the most beautiful lakes in the world, and Aldous Huxley famously wrote of it: "Lake Como, it seems to me, touches on the limit of permissibly picturesque, but Atitlán is Como with additional embellishments of several immense volcanoes. It really is too much of a good thing." Don't believe it, friends, you can never have too much of a good thing.

For our home base Maureen had chosen Utz Jay (= Mayan for “good house”). The cost was slightly more than was quoted by her Lonely Planet, but her copy is two years old. I thought it was charming and I loved it. It was near everything: the dock for launchas (see red dot), the center of town, souvenir row, and the post office. Private bath (though downstairs), free continental breakfast, wifi, spa…what's not to like? In four days we had not found a three way plug for Maureen’s laptop. Finally, at the hostel, we had 18 minutes to email the lodge in Belize that we need a flight to Gallon Jug before her battery ran out. We checked in and hoofed it out to two pueblos on the east shore. If you zoom way in on the map you can find La Comunidad and Finca San Isisdro.

Cemeteries

I hunted down cemeteries wherever I could. The one shown is typical for pueblos. Simple, colorful, warm, friendly, inviting. I could spend eternity here. Or I could visit weekly to bring food, flowers, candles and reflect on my ancestors, clearly part of my weekly life. Families were in every cemetery we visited.

We had walked two hours and it was getting dark and unsafe. We had expected to flag a mototaxi but we had not seen one for a long time and why would they go out here anyway? A scarf vendor got a friend (relative?) with a pickup and we

negotiated a ride back to Panachel. Maureen sat in the back with the father, and I sat in the front with the son. They were “captains,” fisherman who cast nets from dugout canoes. You may see some in the photos. She learned (I heard later) that there are seven villages around the lake and three languages. He could not understand the other Mayan languages. Spanish is more important to learn as their second language, and English their third. I was talking with the son saying “Lake blue. Tree green. Pretty.”

Back in Panajachel, firecrackers rat-a-tatted in the streets. “They’re practicing,” we were told. Christmas (and perhaps other holidays?) are celebrated this way. Apparently, the boys, and the men-boys, needed the “practice.” Later, I found many towns enjoyed “garritas” = “little wars” where men-boys from one neighborhood would fling cherry bombs in to adjoining neighborhoods. How immature. (Sounded fun to me.)

We stopped at a variety store called “Lo Mismo Precio” = “The Same Price.” I suppose suggesting that, since you’re already here, you might as well shop this store. Not very enticing. My camera had been consuming two AAs daily. So I was delighted to find a dozen batteries for only $1.50. I found that none of them worked but they were so cheap! Two days later I found real Duracells in a Mercado with expiration dates of 2012. I got eight. None of them worked either but they were Duracells! And they were so cheap.

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Photos

Clothes and burdens
Heavy loads carried by very old and very young. Women balancing laundry baskets; 5 year olds sell trinkets; they work hard. Females wear the same fabric to announce their town, a community uniform.

Atitlan 3
Along the way we took dozens of photos of the lake because the lighting changed every ten minutes.

Comments

[Marcia Billings]

Gorgeous. I wanna go. I remember from a trip to Cancun falling in love with the Mayan features and still am fascinated when I come across someone here with those distinctive features.