Friday, March 9, 2012

Paradise in Guatemala? Yep, Semuc Champey!



Semuc Champey - this is completely unedited! unreal!
Getting to Semuc Champey requires a horrendous bus ride, but absolutely worth it. Let’s just say 14 hours of travel with the last hour being the worst was not fun. I also made it longer since I was coming from San Pedro instead of Antigua or Tikal which is much closer.
Quite the view right? This was taken from Zephyr Lodge
Most people stay in the town right outside Semuc, called Lanquin. For young, solo travelers the Zephyr Lodge is the place to be. I spent 3 nights in Lanquin at the Zephyr Lodge and had a really unforgettable time. From the lodge you get a 360 view of the valley, it really is incredible. You are quite remote which is nice and it allows you to meet some really cool people. Zephyr isn’t the cheapest for food and tours, but it’s definitely worthwhile.  My first day I went on their tour to the Kanba caves, rope swing, bridge jump, hike to a view point and playing around in the unreal blue waters of the pools. Thanks to my underwater case I captured this amazing day! My second day, was another fun adventure tubing down the river with a sack of beers. I didn’t want to hassle with my camera though so I don’t have pictures from my 2nd day here. 
Zephyr Lodge in Lanquin - Restaurant/Bar chill area 
The whole crew on Day 1 in the caves
Good times in the Caves - (From left to right: Me; Mette, Juan and Nanti; Carley and Morghan with 2 English boys; Carley, Me and Morghan; Juan working his way into the Cave)

There I go!
Jaw dropping view!
I had a little fern friend join me on this headstand ha
Playing around in the pools at Semuc Champey
Zephry Lodge in Lanquin
Sunset from the shower!
Drinks & cards with some new friends - Canadian, American, Australian and English
All in all, I had a pretty epic weekend away from the lake. Can’t wait to go back again someday!
You can find all my photographs on Picasa:
Semuc Champey

Tuesday, March 6, 2012

All Around Lago de Atitlan, Guatemala

I’ve written quite a bit about living in San Pedro, but haven’t had the chance to give you all the deets on some of the other awesome towns I’ve explored around Lake Atitlan in the last 6 weeks. I’m sure you’ll see that even 6 weeks is not nearly enough time on el lago, lots and lots to see & do!

Santa Cruz:
I decided to switch things up and stay a night in Santa Cruz at La Iguana Perdida. It’s a great spot to relax, enjoy the lake and get your grub on for their Saturday night BBQ’s. Saturday night is good fun here - they have a dress up closet and live music after the BBQ. It was a nice change of pace from all the people in San Pedro. I didn’t get to do much exploring outside of the hotel, but I do know there are some nice hikes to different towns that you can do from Santa Cruz.
Can't say no to those hammocks! (La Iguana Perdida)
Beautiful view right?
La Fortuna Atitlan in Patzisotz:
One Friday afternoon, a friend of mine from U of A, Steve Kmack, invited me over for a BBQ they were having at his property called LaFortuna Atitilan. GORGEOUS – my pictures won’t do it justice but you’ll get the jist. I highly recommend splurging and staying a few nights at La Fortuna.
Anyway their property is between Pana and Santa Cruz. It’s a small private bay called Patzisotz (good luck pronouncing that one ;)). Steve and his wife Kat are building a couple bungalows and making this place quite stunning. They had their soft grand opening BBQ with many friends from around the lake. It was really great to see the sense of community you can have when living on the lake. I had a really great time, maybe too much fun since I ended up staying over and didn’t make it to San Marcos that night. Then again I had the luxury of being the 2nd guest in this beautiful baby. Thanks Kat & Steve!




Fun with Mimi, of course!

Cerro De Oro:
I don’t actually know much about the Cerro de Oro community, but thanks to the wonders of social media (facebook) and had the pleasure of spending an evening in a beautiful home in Cerro de Oro. A friend of mine, Jason, posted a picture of the lake on his facebook, I put two and two together to figure out he was here! Jason was staying with Tony & Rachel Lucca at their good friends' house, Dustin and Jenny, in Cerro de Oro. This group of 5 has some really cool plans they are working on in the lake Atitlan area, which hopefully I can share sometime in the future.
Anyway, the whole crew came over to San Pedro one afternoon and then we spent the rest of the night at Dustin and Jenny’s beautiful home & then onto Pana. Tony & Jason played a really awesome set in Panajchel that night. Tony happens to be on the Voice this season – he has quite the amazing voice! See for yourself! Completely random and amazing day :) Muchas Gracias Jenny & Dustin for your hospitality! Let’s hope our paths cross in another awesome place someday soon!
Lunch in San Pedro and getting our hair done up in a traditional wrap!
Tony & Jason jamming out at the house and writing a song. Jenny had beautiful scarfs made by these ladies!
Sunset from the Jenny & Dustin's backyard
Casa de Dustin y Jenny


Pana:
Panajachel (Pana) is another big town on the lake. I’ve only been there a couple times for a few hours to wander. Pana definitely has more shopping than San Pedro and some good restaurants as well. When I met up with Ashley Ludman, we had some really tasty and refreshing food at The Deli.  Although I have not been yet myself, La Palapa, pana's party hostel is where it’s at from what I hear. The owners are two awesome Arizonans who know what’s up -  Thursday night is pub quiz and Saturday they have BBQs. I’m hoping in April when I’m back I’ll be able to stay in Pana for a couple nights. Here area few photos I've taken so far:

Amazingly delicious sandwich!
Tony & Jason tearing it up at La Terraza in Pana

Dinner before the show at La Terraza - Dustin, Me, Jason, Rachel, Tony and Jenny.
San Marcos and the Mayan Culture:
Lucky me, San Marcos is only a 5-10Q and 10 minute boat ride away from San Marcos. I found myself being drawn over to San Marcos quite a few times. San Marcos is a quiet, yoga, hippy, holistic, super interesting town. One of my favorite spots is the “trampoline”. It’s a deck they built where you can play around and jump in the lake. The water is much cleaner in San Marcos and you get a really awesome view of San Pedro and the mountains in the afternoon. Although between 10am – 2pm is when it’s typically the warmest.

Many times following the trampoline, I’d head up the hill to the Ganesh Collective. They have a pretty stellar view and epic margaritas – purple basil margarita, don’t mind if I do! Only 20q at happy hour starting at 4pm. They have some fun live music on the weekends and a lot of different Pilates, yoga and aerial silk classes during the day.

Lots of good times on the Trampoline. Including Ben & Kieran being crazies with back flips and dives off the platform!
Ganesh Collective by Night with Brad and Mathilde
Margarita's & cards at the Ganesh Collective with Kieran
Recently it was Wayeb. Wayeb is a five day ceremony to bring in the Mayan New Year. I had the opportunity to participate and watch a couple of the Mayan ceremonies that were happening in San Marcos. Tata’s and Nana’s from all over Guatemala were putting on these ceremonies. It was really quite interesting to be present at the ceremonies, but I really didn’t understand them all that well. The Maya’s are very wonderful and warm people. There’s a lot I don’t know about the Mayan Culture, but the little I have learned is quite interesting. A common thing to have done in lago de Atitlan is have your Mayan symbol read – think of your astrology sign but more complex. I am K’an. I had my sign read during one of my Spanish lessons actually and it was pretty dead on about my characteristics:
Opportunist, detailed, can be selfish, good memory, Intelligent, at times lacks confidence, desire to drive other’s lives, I don’t like being the boss, when there’s a problem I must find a solution, controller/dominate, good with technology, likes drastic changes ,takes precautions, my energy is in my spine (why I can sometimes have back problems), movement/always on the go (not me!, I thought you’d get a kick out of that mom), the fire/power of the serpent, sincere and my favorite haha “la magia sexual”
I found learning what little I know fascinating. Maybe I’ll try to learn how to read Mayan signs and bring a book back home to read yours.



No words necessary. This guy is clearly awesome.
Santiago Atitlan:
Santiago Atitlan was very similar to the center (non-gringo) part of San Pedro, but bigger. There are around 30k people living in the Santiago Atitlan area, where as just 13k in San Pedro. I had a nice afternoon buying some gifts and getting some lunch. At this time the power had also been out for a few days in San Pedro, so I was stoked to charge my phone up and get on wifi.I went to the market here as well and took some photographs.

Santa Clara and San Juan:
I’ve also been to Santa Clara and San Juan a couple times, but don’t have pictures really. Santa Clara is where I started the hike to Nariz de Indio (a 45 minute climb) – epic view! About 20 mintues beyond Santa Clara is where the Zipline park is at. Only 90Q to enter – just over $10, really incredible and cheap compared to other Canopy tours around Central America. Thanks Emanuel for taking me!
 San Juan is where my host mom, Teresa, is from and all of her family still lives. It’s just a 5-10 min tuk tuk ride from San Pedro. San Juan has a few great woman’s artisan stores and a cheese/wine spot called La Artisana that I still have yet to check out.
Emanuel and I ready to go!
View from the Zipline near Santa Clara
As always you can check out all my pictures here:
Lago de Atitlan


Saturday, March 3, 2012

Life in San Pedro

San Pedro and the whole Lake Atitlan community is quite wonderful. Each town has it’s own vibe – from San Marcos, Pana, Santa Cruz, San Juan, Cerro de Oro to San Pedro. I’ve tried to go explore around the lake when I can. I’ll write more about the other towns on the lake in another post, but you really do have to come see for yourself, the lake just brings you things and makes some amazing experiences happen.  I’ve settled quite nicely into my life in San Pedro, Spanish lessons in the morning and volunteering in the afternoon a few days a week. I will admit I am very excited to explore more of Central America starting sometime next week though.

Life in San Pedro is simple, great and very low stress. San Pedro is a pueblo of about 13,000 people, so it’s not all that small. There are also two languages spoken in San Pedro, Tzutijil and Spanish. Religion is a big part of the community here. The majority are Catholic or Evangelical, with a small group of individuals that are still traditional mayas. I had the opportunity to participate in a couple Mayan ceremonies this past weekend in San Marcos in celebrations for the mayan new year. My host family practices evangelism, yet they do speak the traditional mayan language tzutijil.
Mayan Ceremony in San Marcos
Interesting experiences I’ve come across:
1st meal was at taco bell in a mall – mainly because my Spanish was extremely limited, but a Mexican pizza tastes the same in guate
Shower was dripping – come back a few days later and the shower was gone. Literally the shower head and piping was removed (piping and wiring was all external since the homes are concrete I guess, get a nice little shock sometimes ha)
Mashed potatoes for breakfast
Random “fireworks” – not a fan of those noise bombs!
No running water sometimes (only twice for about 24 hour each but it’s just something we take for granted!)
Lack of toilet seats – yes normal toilets but for some reason the seat is mia (are they not sold together as a package??)
Guate Time - In attempt to go to Pana I had to wait an hour and pay a bit extra just to get the direct boat to leave (have to wait unil there are 13 people to leave).
Outdoor Yoga - absolutely stunning...until a bird poos on your back! Reminded me of Emily in middle school!

I love:
The beauty – Lake Atitlan is a gem, no doubt.
People – very warm & friendly.  Even though they don’t have much they will always open their home and offer you what they can. Everybody greets each other “hola, buenas, buenas noches”…Something I wish we had in the US instead of silence or entranced by our mobile phones.
Café!
La Comida! – Teresa’s tostadas and tacos are by far my favorite
Los Thermales – Think outdoor hot tub, filled with fresh hot water heated from the volcanoes
Tons of outdoor activities – ziplining, kayaking, paragliding, hiking, cliff jumping
My friends and family here :)
Los Thermales with Kieran
Me with the little chitlens at Ja'Bel'Ya where I volunteered - San Pedro
Papusas for dinner - maize pancakes with cheese and mashed potatoes inside, then cabbage and red sauce on top. yum!
Sunrise in San Pedro
Traditional hair wrap :) Now if only I could reproduce this...
Lunch in San Pedro with friends from the US! Dustin, Jenny, Jason, Rachel, Tony and I - awesome afternoon. Check mr. tony lucca out on The Voice this season!
Zipline near Santa Clara - really awesome view while 200m above the ground
Out at Buddha in San Pedro with my buddies. Woody, Daniel, Steve & Thierry.
Never having fun...
Living with the Cholotio Gonzalez family has been really wonderful, but I have struggled at times. Obviously with the language barrier, but I also forgot that moms worry a lot. I have been on my own for 8 years now, with nobody to report when, where and what I’m up to each day. I tend to be an extremely independent person as well, but I’m really happy to be here. The family is very warm and Teresa is so sweet and caring. Teresa’s traditional food is so yummy – tamales, arroz con leche, arroz con chocolat, tostada, papusas. Delish!
Teresa, Rosa and Me (yep that's me in traditional dress)
Chema, Victor, Checha, Myself, Teresa y Rosa - all with our SF t-shirts on!

As for the language barrier, it’s been getting better poco a poco (little by little). The more lessons I’ve taken the more my Spanish has improved – it’s just making myself use it that can be hard. & My family at times has tried to sneak in teaching me a few Tzutijil words, I laugh and tell them I can only learn one language at a time! In the beginning some great ways to get around the language barrier were with games – memory, jenga, connect 4 and backgammon were fun. Chema was also nice enough to draw me some pictures on napkins when we weren’t quite connecting:

At this point in By this time I’ve actually finished my time in San Pedro and am moving onto my next immersion in Costa Rica. Yoga Immersion. As I said the lake brings you experiences. I was actually just in search of a Yoga retreat and not a Yoga Teacher Training (YTT) but I happened to stumble across my South Carolinian YTT instructor’s, Ashley Ludman, blog. Come to find out Ashley was on the lake! But for only one more day. We set up time to meet in Pana the next day before Ashley headed down to Costa Rica. Butterflies and excitement about the idea of this training were in full gear and I knew it was the right path to take. We’ve come full circle by now and I’ll be at the Costa Rica Yoga Spa from March 10-31st for the YTT. Wow!

I'll continue to add my pictures to the Picasa Album:

Lago de Atitlan