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Published: November 17th 2012
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The boat ride across Lake Atitlan is quite the exciting boat ride any given day, as the water can become aggressively choppy. However, on this day, the ride from the Bambu Hotel to Panajachel was particularly rough. Prior to setting out for the playa publico (public beach), we went to say goodbye to Don and Barbara (at the little restaurant at the end of the road) and to take a photo of their awesome establishment. See photo. Having said our farewells, we set out by tuk-tuk to find our transportation.
We were a little rushed this morning, because we were working under the assumption that the boat left the pier promptly at 9:00am sharp. (How silly of us to think that anything happens at the exact time it is scheduled here.) However, in spite of being a little hurried, we arrived at the boat at 8:40am. That was a huge relief to us, as we did not want to miss our connection in Panajachel. When we located the public transport, we asked how much the fare was (we knew it was 20Q. per person) and the very kind gentleman watching the boat said simply, “50 quetzals” (for two people). Nice.
Thanks for adding the tip fella! Having paid, we boarded the boat. The time was now about 8:45am, plenty of time to relax and get comfy in the front seats.
The sun was very pleasant at first, but quickly became quite hot. By the time 9:00am arrived, we were still almost alone on the boat, with the exception of one old woman. When she tried to board the boat, she was carrying two short laundry baskets and could not manage to get them on board. We helped her load her baskets and discovered that they were goods bound for Panajachel and contained fresh cilantro and closed black plastic bags. The first basket was a little heavy but manageable. However, when Clay grabbed the second one, he said that it had to weigh 30 pounds. We stored her goods and she sat in the row behind us. We were very irritated and hot by 9:15 and could not understand why we were still sitting in the sun. By 9:25, people were streaming in on tuk-tuks to board the boat. You guessed it! The boat was actually scheduled to leave at 9:30. (Grrrr.) By 9:35, it was completely full with locals
and a few tourists. Having shoved off, we were soon aware of why the locals sat in the back of the boat… OUCH! The boat ride was bumpy and on the back, neck and derrière. The seats are hard and often you are up on a wave and then crash, boom on your bottom. After about half an hour of that, one of the woman’s baskets started moving and then splash, one of her mysterious plastic bags opened its maw and out flew pounds of raw pork chunks! This would not have been a disaster had it only been her loss of the pork, but it was the pork and its accompanying juice that caused us an issue. The pork must have had sixth sense as to where to locate the newest bag on the boat and it acted accordingly by zeroing in (Ann’s brand new hiking backpack). SPLAT!!! Juicy pork chunks christened the sky blue Osprey pack and tried desperately to infiltrate the outer layer to reach our clothes. Fortunately for us, Clay and a local man sitting next him were able to scoop most of the runaway pork back into the bag and securely tie it shut. However,
the pork juice was out to stay. When we finally got to the dock, Clay washed it off in the lake as best he could and we both hoped that the feral dogs wouldn’t follow us all day. So with our bag flavored, we walked around the public beach area a bit. Our spines will never be the same again.
Our ride by bus to Antigua was uneventful, but pretty. We arrived and were given our prior room (#4) again. It was so nice to be remembered here.
Dinner was really fun and entertaining! We wanted to eat early and so we went to Hector’s (the first place we ate upon arrival at Antigua). Once seated, we met David and Nina, two very interesting and lovable people. David is originally from Ireland, then to California. He had a terrible accident and has been travelling to “find himself,” a bit like us. Nina is from Orlando and in Spanish school in Antigua. They met on Halloween night at a restaurant on the central plaza. It was great conversation! We learned that they were going to Lake Atitlan and hooked them up with our hotel owner (also a travel business)
and gave them Diego’s information as well (our Tuk Tuk guide in Santiago). We hope they have a wonderful time at the Bambu, like we did!
During dinner, we also met a twenty-something who was in the Peace Corps in Guatemala. Imagine that! Her mother was visiting her here. She was very informative and really nice. We wished her luck said goodbye to Nina and David and retired for the evening. See photos from restaurant. Tomorrow off to Coban!
Last but not least, a special thanks to Gerlinde Henning from our hotel in Antigua, Posada La Merced. Not only does she provide a wonderful hotel and restaurant next door, with her Husband Fernando, but she hooked us up with the travel arrangements to Lake Atitlan, and now forward. She is absolutely amazing and we highly recommend her for all of your Guatemalan travel plans. If your plans send you to Guatemala, email to
gerlinde.henning@gmail.com.
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Jim
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Lake Atitlan
That place looked awesome. I was reading about accommodations on travel advisor last night. Sorry Ann got porked....