Pics

Finally got around to adding a few pics, but decided I need to take more. There are so many interesting people and sights in Livingston but it is not too cool to run around taking photos of everyone....
Below is our hotel, Casa Rosada which is right on the mouth of the Rio Dulce river. We are in little wooden bungalows, very cozy. Me drinking my AM coffee in the palapa, looking a little rough and sleepy. And covered in bug bites....




Above is a pic of Semuc Champey, the natural limestone pools that form a bridge over a river near Coban. And Lisa and I in the lancha boat on the way to Livingston after 11 hours of bus riding for me. Good times!

Livingston

After a marathon travel day on Sunday, I met up with my friend Lisa in Guatemala City, took a bus to Puerto Barrios and a lancha boat to Livingston. Livingston is on the eastern side of Guatemala and is populated by the black Garifuna population and some Mayans. It is very tropical and Caribbean, a very different feeling than the rest of Guatemala. And it is hot and humid! We are staying in a very nice hotel right on the Rio Dulce river, which offers a great breeze and an escape from the heat. The hotel has a dock with a palapa at the end, complete with a hammock- my favorite! Yesterday we walked to Siete Alteres, a series of waterfalls and natural pools good for swimming in the rainy season. Since it is not yet the rainy season, they were less than impressive but great for cooling off.It was a 1 1/2 hour walk each way along the beach, which was great for the breeze but it was still very hot. The beach is not really swimable, as it is pretty dirty with trash and mostly used for commercial fishing. The walk was a great way to see the local people and culture though. Tomorrow we head for Finca Tatin, which is a hotel in the jungle along the Rio Dulce river. It is pretty much isolated from everywhere else, and like Livingston, only accesible by boat. I have picture,s but off course this computer is not cooperating, so maybe when I get back to civilization next week.......

Solo Trip

Day 1
I left Xela early on Wednesday morning via a private shuttle thru a tour agency to Coban. Instead of a minibus, we were in a Toyota 4Runner, which I later found out that we definitely needed. There were only 4 other people, a Guatemalan mom and son and a girl from Australia. The trip to Coban took 8 hours, including a swim break at a river due to a road closure. The road that was being worked on is pretty much just a narrow path of dirt and rocks that winds up the side of a mountain. We were between the mountain and a very steep drop off and to add to the fun, we had to pass construction trucks carrying loads of rocks. It was the most terrifying 15 minutes of my life - I just held on to the ¨oh shit¨ handle and kept my eyes closed. We finally made it to Coban, then immediately took a public minibus another 3 hours ot the town of Lanquin. The trip was mostly unpaved, so it was another 3 hours of bumps, dust, wind, and heat. But I made it! The hotel I wanted was full, so at 8 pm I was trecking on the only road in town with my big backpack searching for a place. Luckily the only other hostal in town had a bed. After 11 hours of bumpy roads, I was exhausted.

Day2
Thursday I took an early minibus from Lanquin to Semuc Champay, which is a remote area known for its natural swimming pools and beauty. The minibus was only 1/2 hour, but it also circled the town plaze for 1/2 hour calling for more passengers and loaded huge baskets of fruit on the top of the bus. I was the only gringo on the bus and 3 Mayan girls stared at me the entire trip. By the time I made it to Semuc, I was hot, dusty and tired of being stared at. I stayed at Las Marias, which is only a 15 min. walk from Semuc, so I spent the afternoon swimming at Semuc and hiking the grounds. Semuc Champey is part of a river, but the river flows under the earth and somehow formed a series of shallow pools that are perfect for swimming and relaxing. It is absolutely beautiful and the best way to escape the heat and humidity. After Semuc I went back to Las Marias, met some fellow backpackers and had dinner, which is served together at 7 pm. it´s a great way to chat and meet people and be insprired for more travel adventure. The electricity went out at 8:45, so it was early to bed!

Day 3
I woke early and took a cave tour with 6 other people from the hotel. We waded, climbed, and swam through the caves using only candles for light and led by a Mayan guy who looked to be about 16. It took about an hour to reach the further point, where we sat in the dark because our guide told us the bats would come if we blew out our candles. Of course no bats came and we just scared oursleves sitting in the dark. Guatemala is prone to small earthquakes ( I have felt 3 since I came) and the occasional ´ Big One´ and that is all I could think about sitting in the dark under the earth in Guatemala. We finally started back out of the cave and our candles were down to little nubs, so we were ready to get out. We ended the tour by floating down th river to the hotel. A great our for 35Q, about $4. It as a great experience and very different, but I think I am done exploring caves. I went back to Semuc in the afternoon with Courtney and Samara, two girls from the hostal, for another afternoon of swimming and escape from the hear. Dinner was another big communal affair and electricy off at 9 pm, so no late nights for us.

Day 4
6 of us from the hotel took a shuttle from Semuc Champay back to Coban. I am staying in Coban for the day/night and will catch a 5 am bus to Guatemala City tomorrow. There is not much to do in Coban, especially on a Saturday but it is good to rest and take a hot shower! Another long day of bus rides (11 hours) tomorrow, but hopefully tomorrow night will be spent in Livingston on the Carribean coast.

Pictures to come, i fogot my camera in the hotel....

Final Semana

The past few days have been busy, busy, busy. On Thursday night, Andrea, Lisa and I went to salsa class, but I was paired with an older American guy who knew no salsa and kept running me into the wall. It was a very painful 40 minutes of dancing with the ¨abuelo" (grandfather) but Lisa finally helped me out and the last 20 minutes were salvaged with a decent partner. It made for a good memory and experience but not much help for my salsa skills. Friday was the last day of school (yay!) and we celebrated by cooking dinner in our hotel, Casa Dona Mercedes, for 3 other people from school, then dancing at a local discoteca, La Rhumba. Quite a few Guatemaltecos and gringos from salsa classes go there, so we had lots of company and a good time dancing.

Saturday a group of us from school took a tour to a coffee finca about an 1 1/2 from Xela, close to the Western coast, which is prime coffee growing land. Santa Anita is a cooperative coffee finca, meaning that it is owned and operated by 32 families, not one owner like many fincas. Coffee fincas are basically coffee plantations that are owned by the wealthy Guatemalans or fereign companies but worked by poor Mayans who are exploited and live in pretty horrible conditions. Coffee fincas and land rights were big issues during the civil war and continue to be a big issvery controvesial within the country now. Santa Anita was bought after the end of the civil war 12 years ago by the group of 32 families, who were ex gurilla fighters. About 120 people live on the finca and harvest the coffee and bananas. It is extremely labor intensive but not very profitable, and the finca is not able to pay back the government loan, which has an interest rate of 12%, plus penalty interest. Bananas sell for Q40, about $6, per 100 lbs! It also takes about 100 lbs of picked coffee bean in cherry form to make only 10 lbs of roasted coffee, which is how consumers purchase the beans.

Once we arrived, a guide from the finca took us on a hike around the land and explained the coffee harvesting and production process. It was pretty warm and humid, so we were all ready for lunch and shade after a few hours. After lunch, a man from the finca gave us a talk on the history of the finca and his involvement with the civil war. It was an extremely interesting and informative trip, especially for a mass coffee drinker like myself.

The group from school with a great chicken bus background, and a kid from the coffee finca collecting wood for the family.

In the evening, Stephen, Lisa and I went to a futbol game, the Xela Superchivos vs. a team from Guatemala City. I guess a superchiva is some kind of ram, not totally sure, but saee the pic below. There are riot police present at the soccer games, plus the opposing teams fans are kept in a seperate caged off area in the stadium to minimize the crazyness I guess. I yelled right along with people even though I wasn´t sure what I was saying. I asked the people in front of me for some help, and they happily assisted this gringo in shouting obsenities at the team from Guat. City. Although the Superchivas lost , the game was a great experience and a good chance to people watch.

Wednesday I leave Xela to head to Coban and visit the caves of Lanquin and water of Semuc Champey for a few days before meeting a friend for a week in Livingston and Rio Dulce area.

Termino con la escuela

Mi maestro Oscar en la escuela - Adios y muchos gracias!

After looking at my friend Lisa´s blog about her trip here, I decided my blog is woefully under detailed and photographed. Lisa will be my travel partner in 2 weeks for the Livingston/Rio Dulce area of Guatemala. She is a lot of fun, but we also eat way too much together. I have developed a nasty avocado, bean and chip habit, a Cheeto and popcorn addiction and a love for a Menonite-run bakery here that makes the best cookies! In general, the food here is not memorable, especially the tortillas which are much smaller, thicker and less tasty than Mexican tortillas. No es bueno.

Today I finished my 6 weeks of school! I have a pretty good base of Spanish, but it still takes me a lot of thinking to say what I want to say properly. Poco a poco..... On Wednesday the schoolwe went on a field trip to the Copavic glass factory . It was amazing to watch the guys at work creating glasses, vases, etc. but equally amazing was the complete lack of safety equipment - goggles, gloves, etc. Pics to come eventually.....

Pic of me at Fuentas Georginas, the natural hotsprings close to Xela from last weekend. And the above pic was from the hike the weekend before. The man and his son were herding the animals up the hill - the same hill that had the gringos breathing heavy was no match for this guy. Or the animals.

After the stove project, we took the villagers swimming. The 4 gringos with our snacks - me, Andrea from Switzerland, Lisa, and Kathy, who is half of the great Canadian couple of Dave and Kathy. They were in the hotel with Lisa and I and were great company and guides around Xela.

Final week

This week is my 6th and last week in school and in Xela. My Spanish is still very basic, but I need a break from school and am getting anxious to travel the country. I have heard that it is wise to take a break from school after about 6 weeks and once you travel you realize two things - 1. you know more Spanish than you think you do, and 2. there is a lot you don´t know and will likely not know for a long time! I am hoping for more of option 1, but 2 is much more likely. I plan to travel a week by myself, then meet up with Lisa, a friend I met in school, for another week before I meet my mom in early May.
It is bittersweat to leave Xela, as I have a good routine going here and enjoy the people I have met. A group of us visited the natural hotsprings, Fuentas Georginas, over the weekend for some R&R in hot water, then took a short hike to a vista point over the city yesterday. I have also been taking advantage of the great live music and cafe scene here, especially for trova music which is very popular here. The Guatemaltecos I have met have been very friendly and patient with my limited Spanish, and I look forward to traveling and meeting more people.
This week also marks the half way point in my trip, mas o menos. It has gone by so fast, but life in the US seems like such a long time ago. It is amazing how quickly one can adapt to a completely different lifestyle, especially with the language barrier, extreme poverty, and cultural differences.
Lots of plans to come for the week, including a big futbol game between rivals of Xela and Guatemala City on Sat. Good pics to come, I hope!

El fin de semana

This past weekend was very busy but enjoyable. On Saturday a group of volunteers from Xela traveled to a small Mayan village about an hour from here to build stoves. The stoves provide the families in the village with a means of ventilated cooking and saves firewood and therefore money. We started the first step of stove building which basically involves cement and cinder blocks, the pic is me with the finished masterpiece. After building, we took a group of 40 people from the village to a bathhouse/swimming pool. Apparently, some Guatemalans travel to these places weekly or so to wash the entire family, as they don't have access to water in their villages. We were certainly the only gringos there and it was an interesting experience. The hot water was great in a counry of warm showers and a morning of dirt, cement and hard work.

It was also my first experience using a bano that is a toilet but doesn't flush. You have to put water down the toilet with bucket, which I didn't understand until a Mayan woman demonstrated this to me. Banos here are always an adventure!

On Sunday a group of us from school took a hike to Laguana de Chicabal, a crater lake near Xela. The hike was beautiful but a bit strange as we hiked along a rode and through a village for an hour prior to the entrance of the park. Meanwhile, other groups were driving by in pick up trucks, so we are pretty sure our tourg roup just dropped us off at the bottom of the hill because the vans couldn't make it up. Another adventure!

Salsa machine!

I have been salsa dancing three times this week and although I am still bad, I decided I am improving poco a poco. On Wednesday night, my friend Kate and I went out dancing at a local salsa bar. There were mostly Guatemaltecos there and I felt very awkward with my gringo dancing skills. Plus, I couldn't understand anything that was said to me and just kept asking "Como?, "como?" But they were really nice and patiently taught me a few more moves. This weekend is busy with a volunteer project to build a stove in a rural Mayan village, then hiking to a crater lake on Sunday. I have been eating tons of avacados and mangos, which are muy barato here. At the market, I get 3 avacados for about .75, likewise with mangos.
No complaints here.....

Fuentas Georginas

On Saturday, I took a trip to Fuentas Georginas, the natural hot springs close to here, with an American girl I met. The trip requires a chicken bus and a negotation with a pick up truck for a ride up the hill or a hike to the hot springs.The hot springs are set in the side of a volcano and are surrounded by lush greenery and agriculture. They are really beautiful, but better yet very hot and relaxing. There were mostly Guatemaltecos at the hot springs and not a lot of grigos which very nice. Unfortuntely, the pics did not turn out well, due either to the fog or sulfer from the springs.

We also went to the town of Zunil to look for San Simon, an 'evil' saint of sorts who is worshiped by the Mayans. He is placed in someone's home and dressed in Western clothes, complete with cigarettes and alcohol. People bring him their worries, ask for his blessing and offer gifts of rum, money and cigarettes. It was one of the most interesting sights I have even seen - rum is even poured down his throat and the cigarette is lit!
I moved into the hostel over the weekend and am really enjoying it. There are not many other residents (about 6 on two floors), but they are longer term residents and older, so it is ideal for studying and relaxing. The best part is that I am finally able to buy fruit at the mercado since I have the means to clean it and a kitchen to use. I have been feasting on mangos and avocados since I moved in.

I attend salsa lessons on Mon. night and am pretty horrible at it. But it is great exercise and a lot of fun, so I will keep going. There are a lot of really great cafes and activities in Xela to keep busy with and forget about school for a bit. My Spanish is growing poco a poco, but the more I learn the more I realize I don't know!