First vacation in Guatemala

 I live in Guatemala. I've been here for about 6 months now, well, I'm in the 6th month. I've gone to the market, visited Antigua for a weekend (twice), and explored a few things in the city. None of this was vacation. From the outside, it feels like it should be a vacation, but it's my life. I'm a teacher, so I go to work, get home, eat a lot of food, and crash. Every day. Knitting is involved in this of course. On weekends I grocery shop or stop in Dollar City for decorations or pots and pans. That's life. It's what I did as a teacher back in the United States. Why should that change just because I'm in another country?

I know people will argue the point that because I'm in another country I have an obligation to do things and travel. These people are not preschool teachers. Planning a trip takes time and money, something I don't have enough of often. Just because it's easier to go to Antigua if you live in Guate, doesn't mean you want to go every weekend (some people do, and that's fine). It's like going on a weekend trip EVERY weekend, not feasible.

My school has the month of December off for Christmas, so I planned a trip. More accurately, I contacted an agency and they planned the trip based on my interests. On Friday I left Cayala to travel to Lake Atitlan. We stopped first at Iximche to see Mayan Ruins. They may not be as spectacular as Tikal, but they are beautiful. My guide explained how there were temples to the Sun and the Moon, and how there were two leaders, so four temples and 2 palaces. We stumbled upon a ceremony of thanks at one of the altar sites. It was a sacred day in the Mayan religion.

Temple of the Sun

Temple of the Moon

From there, we went to my hotel. I don't know what I was expecting, but it was NOT where I stayed. The hotel has little bungalows for rooms. Each one has lounge chairs and a hammock. They overlook the lake and it's spectacular. They even provided a little bed for Lucy! There's a restaurant run by a fantastic chef who caters to my vegetarian needs. I got a special dish every night made just for me!

Lucy's bed

Day 2 was very busy. I had breakfast at the hotel, then traveled across the lake to San Juan. I got to see a small coffee farm, and taste different varieties. Then we went to a weavers cooperative and saw a demonstration on how they make fibers they use. From there to a chocolatier, and then an apiary. I was tired, but it was a great day! We got lunch at a little vegetarian place that looked very much off the beaten path. It's a sort of commune for backpackers.

Textiles in a weaver's shop

Day 3 I had a free day. I was going to see Quetzals on day 4, at 5am, so I didn't do too much. I wandered the path up and down the shore, looking for a couple restaurants that were recommended. One I found easily, but it was early, so I just got a smoothie. The second, was quite hard to find. In fact, the path ended about halfway there. I looked up directions, but it had me going through the town, which meant uphill (steep) for a mile. I did half of it and gave up.

Path in front of my hotel

View from Isla Verde

Lunch ended up being at La Iguana Perdida. I have thoughts on this and will share in another post. The food was tolerable. When I got back I ordered dinner for 6:30, laid on my hammock for a while reading and rested. All in all a good day.

Lunch at Iguana Perdida

Day 4 I went to bed the night before with a killer headache. The kind where no matter how you head is, the pressure of it touching anything makes it worse, so you have to sleep in a weird angle with your head hanging off the side of the bed. I fell asleep pretty early, 7:45 or so, partly because of the early start, and partly because of the headache. The hotel brought me food at 8:45, for breakfast in the morning, but of course I couldn't work the lock and I was exhausted and it was all a mess.

So, finally it being day 4, I woke up at 5:00, headache mostly gone, and chugged some lukewarm black coffee. I crammed a couple pieces of bread down, then wrapped up a little fruit in case I got hungry later on. at 5:30, my guide was ready to take me in a boat to Santiago, where we would climb a mountain and look for Quetzals.

The sunrise over the lake was stunning. It was pretty cool, and the wind blowing as we sailed across was almost bitter. In Santiago, we hopped into the bed of a truck and stood as we drove up to the entrance to the hiking trail. I'm not great at mountains, but I did it! I was proud of myself. We arrived at the trail a little after 6.

Sunrise on the lake

As we walked along we talked about plants that grow and spotted a few other birds that live in the trees there. By 7:30 we had stopped at a little clearing to look for Quetzals. They are hard to find, because they are green and the trees are green. They don't come out too much, either. We spent 20 minutes, maybe 30, waiting. Apparently that was not long. Finally we saw one! It was so much better than I expected. I was exhausted, a little chilled, and groggy. The sighting perked me up.

Plants used by Mayans to preserve food

A QUETZAL!

View of the bay

Instead of waiting around to see another, or to spot something else, we walked back down the trail. My guide knew I wasn't an enthusiast, so he understood. We got breakfast at a lovely place with local art and amazing food. I got blue corn pancakes with macadamia nuts and molasses. The coffee was hot and delicious.

We ended our day by seeing a very old Catholic church and seeing Maximón, a Mayan deity. We sailed back and I rested for the remainder of the day.

Maximón

Day 5 This day was short. We stopped in Santa Catalina Polomo and saw the weavers selling wares by the docks and the buildings painted beautiful colors and designs. I was able to look closely at how things were made so I can spot better now. Then we sailed over to San Antonio, where there are a lot of ceramics and a large scale weaver. We went to a ceramic shop that provides things to the US and got to hear their process. I was able to watch women paint! I picked out a few things for myself and friends. At the weaver's I got to try on some traditional clothes, and see how the large table loom works.

Weaver selling her wares

Women painting pottery for sale

Table loom making shawls

Traditional Mayan clothes for San Antonio

Satisfied with my trip, I got in a van and rode back to the city, arriving with just enough time to stop off home before heading to a Devil Burning with Tracy and Gabriel.

Burning of the Devil

It was an amazing trip and I will absolutely go again.