View from the top of Indian Nose as I ran off the cliff

Woke up early this morning thanks to more roosters, a cat fight, and a squealing pig. Next thing you knew I was in the shower, along with a friendly spider, in order to get ready for my paragliding extravaganza. I was up, ready, packed by 8:10 and was early to my meet up point with Gui. I was able to sit and contemplate life while he chatted with a french guest and her toddler son. It was quite interesting hearing them go from English to French to Spanish and back again. But I did enjoy this little boy singing and playing around.

Finally we were ready to go, Gui and I each had a bag and we were off to catch a tuk tuk to San Pablo a nearby village. From there we took a collective pick-up, perhaps my second favourite part of the day. In part because I saw a woman who I swear, looked exactly like Grand Mother Willow from Pochahantus, and also in part to the six year old boy who stared at me the majority of the way up to the kick off point. I really did love the collective taxi ride up the switchback roads and admiring the incredible views of the lake below and the green mountains beside me. I also enjoyed watching the massive black birds fly up above.

When we finally made it up the mountain, Gui whistled for the collective pick-up to stop. We got off and started walking on foot to the run off point. The views of the lake were amazing and I was definitely impressed. The sun finally came out and the wind starting picking up, all of which made Gui very happy. After about 20 minutes, Gui had unpacked the gear and the winds had reached an almost favourable level. The man who lets Gui operate off his property came by to help send us off.

My only instruction was to get ready to run, run until we made it off the rocks. Our first attempt we had to stop because apparently I stopped running. I don’t recall this, but we stopped in time and re-set up. The second time was the charm and we were off and up. It was absolutely incredible. We flew within five feet of a hawk and flew with the birds the entire time. I cannot describe to you the sensation of being up there. All I can say is that it was truly an amazing experience and it felt incredible to be flying up above the hills watching the birds swell around with you.

After too little time, Gui was making our way back down toward the landing strip. This also meant that we had to go over part of the Lake, which actually was part of my favourite moments. Seeing the blue water below my feet was wonderful! The part that was perhaps the greatest was realizing that we were landing in a cow pasture. With cows. Gui told me to stand up and get ready to run upon landing. Little did I know the wind kicked out and I managed two steps before sliding to a stop. Luckily I missed the manure. But there was a moment when I seriously thought we would hit a cow, and that mental image made me laugh rather hard. Both Gui and I survived the landing and had a quick celebratory hug. I took some photos while Gui packed up  his equipment for our ride back into town.

Landing strip...

Once back in San Marcos I made sure to wash myself off and then headed to the restaurant which is part of my hotel for a late breakfast. I had another veggie burrito with rice and beans while I studied past tense conjugations in Spanish. Then it was time for me to head to wait for the shuttle.

My ticket informed me to show up early, which really is quite a joke here as all of the buses and transportation is late. So I waited for 35 minutes for my bus to show up, but luckily I was able to talk to Brenda again and practice Spanish again. When the bus finally did arrive, my luggage was thrown up top and I found myself sitting next to the Guatemalteca with her one year old girl. She was from Jojotenango, a village really close to Antigua. I spent the first 45 minutes talking to her in Spanish learning about why she went to the Lake, what she does, about her other children, etc.

For me however, the absolute best part was when her daughter Sara woke up. That kid was absolutely freaking adorable with the chubbiest cheeks I have ever seen. So for the three hour bus ride I found myself staring into the big, beautiful brown eyes of this little baby laughing at her four tooth grin. Everyone on the bus was fairly enchanted with her and we all took turns (other than the couple in the frount row) trying to entertain her. Those three hours passed incredibly fast.

Also her mother, Blanca, tried to teach me some new words in Spanish. Hubo for fog and I have no idea how to spell it but I learned the Spanish word for waterbottle as well. When she got off she wished me well on my trip and I wished her well with her life. Definitely glad I ended up sitting next to her on the bus.

When I finally made it back to Antigua, I headed for Hostel Antigua in search of lodgings. After finally finding it, I made my way back to the Student Guesthouse I stayed at before to catch up with some friends of mine there. I ended up staying for dinner, meeting the new additions, playing Shithead, and finally heading out to Monoloco. The most memorable part, of an already memorable day is that I was able to see a friend of mine start an alcohol fire after a flaming sambuca shot on the floor of the bar. As scary as it could have seemed, it was definitely mostly funny.

I was back at my hostel around midnight and headed straight to bed. Unfortunately one of my fellow dorm room occupants had a wicked snoring problem and made getting to sleep difficult. Oh well, who needs to sleep anyway.

Life in San Marcos...with money

This morning I was rudely awakened by what I think must have been meditation on speakers coming from somewhere nearby. Also spoken in a different language. Perhaps an indigenous language. I did managed to fall back asleep and finally got ready to leave Aaculaax. Even though I was really content there, I was ready for a change. I packed up my things and headed to Hotel La Paz, for their 50Q per night dorms. Today is my last full day here, so I also want to pack in as much as possible.

I headed out in search of breakfast, meditation, message, and a kayak. I found breakfast at my hostel, meditation was a bust (no I don’t want to do partner work with a stranger, thanks), a message at the Holistic Center, and a kayak at the local travel agency. I also stopped at the local internet cafe here in order to answer some pressing emails from my folks. I ended up being early to pick up my kayak and subsequently had some time to talk to Brenda, the woman who worked there. She asked me the typical: how old I was, where I was from, whether I was married, and what I did for a living. And some questions about my family. I asked her about her family, her marital status, where she lived (San Pedro), and whether she liked her job.

I finally got my kayak and made it onto the water by 1:10pm. I spent two hours on the lake and they were absolutely blissful. It was sunny where I was, but just cloudy enough in the hills to make the landscape very enticing. I really enjoyed watching the local people going about their daily business, which ranged from fishing, to collecting water, to bathing in the lake. In particular I was entertained by this one local family who had about five children with them. Each kid took their turn waving at me and saying “Ola”, which I returned in kind. I loved seeing the women in their traditional skirts and the men fishing in their wooden canoes. Something about it was just so enchanting.

Additionally the hills around San Marcos are wonderful with amazing foliage, sheer cliffs, and just generally beautiful. Each side of San Marcos had some truly beautiful spots. I also found my German friend again rock jumping. Although I was too late to say hello, I did manage to hear him hoot and holler as he jumped into the lake.

I returned slightly early, but was ready to get out of my kayak. I got myself ashore and waited for help to arrive. Although I was greeted by a very friendly man asking me in broken spanish if I had money for him. I did not. Finally Antonio arrived to help me carry back his kayak to its proper place. I also ran into Tamara again (looking mighty strange with my hair sticking up at odd angles and a very wet bottom) who expressed her surprise that I had left. I told her I had moved to Hotel La Paz and she informed me that they have amazing hot chocolate. Good to know!

I had just enough time to change and get some vegetarian empanadas before I had my massage appointment. It was great to just relax and have someone work out some kinks. My masseuse was a native of Israel, whose name I forget. But he did a fantastic job and I distinctly remember leaving feeling amazing. He also advised me that Utila Island was not as nice as Roatan in Honduras. So now it may be that I should check both out before I make my way to Nicaragua.

When I got back to my dorm I discovered I was no longer its only occupant. Camilla was from Sydney, Australia but had spent some time in Canada working for some ski hills. We ended up heading out for dinner together at Ganesh, which turned out to be a veggie burrito. While we discussed travel tips and places to go we were serenaded by a band. Which featured a local man on guitar, an Argentinian on violin, and several people taking turns playing the drums.

I also enjoyed the moment when Brad had to pull me aside and ask me once again for my name. It is not Annie, as he had thought. Although I was written down in his tab book as Annie. How nice.

Early night again, paragliding in the morning! Although I did get to listen to some, hopefully, confused roosters before I feel asleep.

First day in San Marcos and I need to get back to San Pedro

I am running dangerously low on cash. I oped to pay another night at Aaculaax because it was just so pleasant there. Also the bed was amazing! Plus having met the renters I was more than happy to support them for an extra night. However I really did need to head for a ATM. The only fly in the ointment is that there are no ATMs here in San Marcos. The closest one is in San Pedro. A fact I wish I knew before I departed yesterday.

I got very frustrated when the first two ATMs didn’t work. I had to go ask in a travel agency where there was another one, which turned out to be up the hill and past the market. After Volcan San Pedro I felt slightly bitter about climbing this hill, however this one was much more manageable...and short. Finally with cash in hand I was able to figure out my next move. Which meant a return trip to Antigua in order to book transportation to Lanquin and also Semuc Champey. I only hope that I can head straight from Lanquin to the Copan Ruins in Honduras. I also ran into my buddy Michael again, who seemed shocked to see me back in San Pedro. He asked if I hated San Marcos that much that I returned the next day. I informed him that while the walkways are narrow, I have yet to encounter hippies informing me that my aura was broken.

After discovering that my Internet Cafe was closed, I headed to Hummus-Ya for more hummus. Apparently I just can’t get enough of this stuff. I spent my midday eating a pita sandwich and hummus while reviewing my Spanish lessons. I definitely wish I had better recollection of how to conjugate the verbs I learned. All I can say is I have a lot more work ahead of me. However, I did have an opportunity to practice my Spanish with this little old woman who I had frequently run into on the streets of San Pedro who sold cookies and bread. She was trying to get money apparently to send her daughter to school for her final lesson. You hear stories like hers all the time here, of people struggling to provide for their families. As heart breaking as it is, you can’t help them all or really know where your money goes. At the end of the day I think everyone here in Guatemala is slightly worse for wear, especially when the number of tourists has been so low this year. Life is definitely difficult for the people here.

The boat ride back to San Marcos I spent studying Spanish vocabulary while Coldplay’s Parachute album played over the speakers. Of all the places to hear that album, I was definitely surprised to hear it on my boat ride back to San Marcos. Still tuckered out from the days exhaustion (aka eating too much hummus) I passed out on my very comfortable bed. I woke up just in time to make my way back to the same house I went to yesterday for a birthday celebration for one of the ladies I met yesterday. The problem was that I forgot the name of the place. Now I know it to be called “Pierre’s Place”, but the tuk tuk driver I hired had only “la casa con verjas de negro” or the house with a black gate.

My tuk tuk driver was an entertaining character and was also a prime person to practice Spanish with. His name is Diego, he is 22 years old and born only 2 days after me. He asked me about Canada, what I did in Canada, and about university there. He also asked me if I was married, a very popular question here. I lied and said that I had a boyfriend back home. Sometimes that is so much easier than telling the truth. But he informed me that it was common in this area for people to be married very young, yet he was not married yet. Interesting.

My evening at the expat compound was intensely enjoyable. I met a few other Canadians, one who worked in Afghanistan and had some interesting stories, as well as a ex-cop from London. We discussed places to travel, more local gossip, and fat sherpas in Nepal. They also seemed nervous for me when I told them that I arranged to go paragliding with Gui, a French expat who was taking me paragliding on Saturday. However while I believed in their worry, I didn’t get the sense from him that he would be a danger. After all he was strapped to me and equally doesn’t want to get hurt. Right?

I said my final goodbye to the New York couple who had been so friendly to me while I was here, and wish them well on the last leg of their journey. They are moving to Los Angeles when all is said and done and I wish them the very best. They were also nice enough to wait for my tuk tuk to arrive.

My final tuk tuk driver of the evening was Luis. A man who appeared to be 17 years old who also had his wife in the backseat with me and a boy around 7-9 years old sitting next to him. They all just looked so young, and I asked in surprise if the young boy was her son. She laughed rather hard and said that her son was only three years old. Still she looked far too young to have children, let alone have a three year old. Even though I might have insulted her, she wished me well with a smile on her face. So apparently I hadn’t made a terrible impression.

I had another relaxing evening reading and listening to the vain attempts of a fly to escape my room. It was a very peaceful night.

The day after...

Definitely still exhausted from my previous day’s excursion. But this morning was pretty gentle on me. Picked up my laundry, went in search for breakfast and an internet cafe. I managed to find one at “Internet Cafe”, what an appropriate name. With a strawberry & pineapple smoothie in hand I caught up on my blog and messages from home. Finally though it was time to move on to San Marcos.

Before I left my hotel I ran into the Japanese-Czech couple who I helped my first day here. They were talking to a guy whose name I want to say is Michael. A German fellow who lives in Mexico City teaching at a German University there. When the couple asked me where I was off too, Michael chimed in that it was the hippie hangout with narrow streets. Apparently when he went there someone walked up to his friend and told him that “he had a broken aura”. I was definitely getting nervous that San Marcos would be terrible. But I pressed on, I went to the Pana dock and was fortunate enough to have a boat leave right away. I did enjoy the views from the lake of the surrounding volcanoes though. Very impressive.

The dock in San Marcos definitely looks more like someon’s private property than a city dock. But considering San Marcos is only a 3,000 person town and the proper docks were destroyed by the rising lake water, perhaps I shouldn’t be surprised. Although I wanted to head to Hotel La Paz, I found the signs for Hotel Aaculaax easier to comprehend (i.e. visible) and therefore I found myself headed in that direction. The cheapest room was definitely not as cheap as my San Pedro room and felt like there were cheaper options available elsewhere. So I left my bags in search of an alternative. I did find Hotel La Paz, but the dorm was empty. For some reason I was actually pleased to head back to Aaculaax for a night because it had a really tranquil atmosphere.

After finally setting up in Aaculaax I made my way to fill my stomach with some good food. I stopped at a little place called Blue Lilly which advertised hummus and I was hooked. The Blue Lilly was as empty of patrons as it was beautiful. I was greeted by Moo, the owner Cathy’s little black puppy. Absolutely adorable. I enjoyed Cathy’s company while I ate my falafel wrap while she told me her story of how she ended up living in San Marcos for the past 3 years. By the end of the conversation she had already invited me to meet up with some of her friends for a drink. Por que no?

We walked to her friends house which was just outside of town. It was a stunning place where expats gathered apparently for their few weeks (or months) hanging out by the Lake. I just could not get over the beautiful views they had in this place. Absolutely stunning view of the three volcanoes, including my favourite San Pedro. At this ladies afternoon I met some very interesting people. Including a fellow Canadian, a freelance writer, a retiree, an Aussie, and the two ladies currently renting out Aaculaax.

It was definitely a strange, yet exhilarating moment to realize that I had just arrived in San Marcos, yet found myself surrounded by new and interesting people. It was definitely interesting to here how the remainder of the group winded up here, where they had traveled, and what they thought of Guatemala. We also discussed the local gossip, a general hatred of Walmart, chicken buses, scorpions and spiders, and where to buy spices in Guatemala (the answer is a store called “Superb” in Guatemala City).

When things started winding down, we all headed back to San Marcos for a drink at Ganesh. If you ever stop here in San Marcos (which I highly recommend anyway), a must see is Ganesh’s Collective. The bartender, Brad, alone is worth conversing too. A former lawyer, now bartender, he entertained me all night with his jokes about living here, calling me Annie (thanks to my curly locks), and betting on how many glasses of water I could drink (a lot apparently). He also flavours his own vodkas, some of them include: lemongrass, five pepper, sun dried tomato, pineapple, ginger, cinnamon, and many many more. Although I didn’t taste any, I was assured that it was the best of the best vodka. Also if you get a chance ask him about his experience in Circle in Los Angeles.

Finally around 10:40pm, it was time to make my way to my temporary home. The short walk home seemed all the more terrifying when the only light I had was from my camera. However it was definitely adequate enough and I managed with no problems. When I reached my room I felt like I had a successful first day in San Marcos and fell into an easy sleep listening to crickets and frogs.

View from "Pierre's Place"

View from Hummus Ya in San Pedro

Hotel Aaculaax in San Marcos

Welcome to San Marcos La Laguna!

If you don't stop here for some grub or vodka, you are a fool!

Narrow walkways and perilous gutters of San Marcos

Great artwork near Ganesh and Hotel La Paz

Boat ride to San Marcos

Moments on Volcan San Pedro

Lodgings for under $5

With my own private bathroom

My first day in San Pedro La Laguna

Is it a bird? A plane?

No it's a bee!

The glories of Tikal

Where's the bird?

Nice tail feathers

A nice roadside restaurant

Living it up in Livingston

Owned by Pelicans