Winding down in Antigua

The last day of this trip, a day to end all days.  Full of sun and crisp perfect weather and it doesn't rain even once. Instead the usual heavy afternoon clouds roll in around 2 pm full of wet portent but then move on. As if they know.

After much surveying of fellow travelers and internal deliberations, I decided to stay in Antigua instead of heading to Guatamala City for my final day, to see what I could see there. Yes, it would have been nice to get to know the capital a bit and some of the country's finest museums and the hostel where I would have stayed (included nice conveniences like a complimentary city tour and ride to the airport!) .... but returning to Antigua after my few days away at Laguna Atitlan felt surprisingly like coming home. I was just so happy to be back, on such pretty, familiar territory.

Once back, I also finally (!) got to experience a Guatamalan volcano. After two previously thwarted attempts due to rain or poor "registration," I found a group leaving Antigua for nearby Volcan Pacaya the very next morning (at 6 am to be precise about it). Antigua is surrounded by several volcanos, including Volcan Agua which at 3766 meters dominates the southern end of the city, serving as a constant, handy point of orientation. Also visible is Volcan de Fuego, which coincidentally erupted in full flowing lava swing just the other day. Acetanango is the "big Mama" at 3974 meters and plenty of local tour agencies offer overnight trips so you can watch the sun rise before making your way back down.

Pacaya moonscape

By these standards, Pacaya is puny though still impressive - and also quite active.  It last erupted almost exactly 2 years ago and plumes of hot smoke are everywhere. It's a popular volcano because it's so accessible -in just 1 1/2 hours we were on top, surrounded by surreal moonscape views of black volcanic ash and lava rock. It is like being on another planet. Only with marshmellows, which we gaily toasted over the earthy fire.

In addition to adding another Central American volcano to my list, I finally also made it Cafe No Se. Cafe No Se is really a bar, where Ilegal Mescal is served in its own special room with a sign warning "2 shot limit" as you enter. The other really amazing and special thing about Cafe No Se is its location directly across the street from El Hostel, my Antigua home away from home. I haven't had as much fun in a hole in the wall tequila bar and met as many fun, cool, open, gregarious and also inebriated people while listening to great live music, as I did during my 2 nights at Cafe No Se. Where, once again, I almost got talked into postponing my flight home.

Cafe No Se

Other highlights resulting from choosing to stay in Antigua: wandering its streets some more; revisiting el mirador; yoga at Hotel Panza Verda; talking mangos with the fruit stand lady; hearing Luis and Jancho play at the Rainbow Cafe; bonding with fellow El Hostel mate Jaime; discovering rellenitos de platanos; and absoring the charm and warmth of Antigua deeper into my psyche for future reference.                                  

I can see why so many expats come here then never leave. I am sure I would have found Guatamala City gratifying in its special own way. But Antigua was what I needed more. I leave Guatamala the right combination of happy and sad, for inspiring future visits.

Jaime y yo

Note: click here for more Antigua highlights captured

Getting a little bit sick of the rain

The rain keeps sabotaging everything.  Hellllloooow WET season!

Wet season lasts from May to about September/October here in Central America and I´m learning the hard way it´s not messing around. The rain was lovely when it started back in Nicaragua turning Ometepe vibrant green and the Antigua streets shiny for a few convenient hours, but now it´s done nothing but sabatoge my plans and make me really soggy.

Wet season means ¨low¨ season in Central America, therefore a difficult time to find groups for planned outdoor activities. With only 2 people signed up, Quetzeltrekkers canceled the 3 day hike I was so looking forward to from Xela to Atitlan.  Then after finally finding a guide willing to take just one person up Volcan San Pedro, I woke up this morning to the strongest downpour since arriving at Lago de Atitlan on Wednesday.

But I took the 7:30 am lancha from San Marcos where I´d been staying to San Pedro anyway, fully optimistic and hopeful the rain would stop by the time it arrived - even though San Pedro is just a 15 minutes boatride away. Nevermind that climbing a steep volcano when it´s wet nevermind raining is not a good idea by any rational standards, I just really wanted to HIKE. Unsurprisingly my guide wasn´t going anywhere.

So instead I have a day to kill in San Pedro La Laguna. Not a terrible place to while (wile?) some time away on a rainy day... getting to know this other pretty town on the laguna, eating lots of freshly made tamales, catching up on emails and some reading. Besides, I love tamales and my room at Hotel Tepepulkan has a good view of the lake, appropriate for my last day here.

Tomorrow I will forget about Volcan San Pedro and visit Chichicastenango´s famous Sunday market instead.  I will practice non-attachment, roll with the punches. I´ve been wanting to visit Chichicastenango anyway.

Oh look! The sun is coming out.

POSTSCRIPT(S)

That sun was a momentary hoax.  It peeked out then went away again. The rest of the afternoon continued to be heavy with clouds and the portent of more rain to come.  I did manage to sneak in two fresh tamales on a street stoop before it returned!

**

My grand accomplishment of the day: finding San Pedro´s used bookstore and getting a new book (did I blog about how my trusty Kindle died when I landed??).  Finally finished the copy of ¨The Lost City of Z¨ that Natalie gave me when I left Salinas about the early 20th century explorer Percy Fawcett and loved it very much. I will be returning to the U.S.A. reading - or perhaps having finished? - Margaret Atwood´s ¨The Blind Assassin.¨ 

**

I am happy for this stolen day roaming San Pedro´s winding streets. Just 15 minutes away but so different from San Marcos, more like an actual Guatamalan town than a gringo hippy commune kibbutz. Though San Marcos is where I met amazing artist and newest friend David Perez Sacach and I will remember it fondly thus along with our hike along the lake and through the hills all the way to Santa Cruz.

**

The girls.. sisters, cousins, friends?... are glued to the TV. The small gaggle of them is gathered there mesmerized by some Spanish variety show where adults are performing slapstick routines that keep sending them into fits of hysterical laughter. Even if I have come for tonight's chorizo taco special I am clearly sitting in what is also the family living room. No matter. I am the only one there, awaiting my taco special among the plastic tables and chairs and every once in a while I set my book down to see what's so funny. Whenever they burst into laughter the youngest one looks over, as if curious to see whether I find all this funny too. I make a point of demonstrating that I do. Outside dusk has become night and the rain falls in heavy sheets.

**

All afternoon people return my smiles. I will miss that about Central America, the exchange of pleasantries that seems to come so easily here with just about everyone. Old women with bundles on their heads. Kids playing on the streets or biking past. Men walking to the fields with their hoes and machetes. I usually start it saying, "buenos dias" or just "buenos," or "adios" and they all smile warmly briefly back and say something in kind. Today an older San Pedro gentleman wearing a cowboy hat stopped me on a narrow path we were crossing to introduce himself. He held out his hand and I hesitated just briefly before taking it. "Mucho gusto," I said meaning it before we both just carried on.

#