Fishing

After a weekend trip to San Salvador and the beach for some relaxation after the Sierra las Minas trip, followed by a domestic weekend getting my apartment painted, I got invited along on a fishing trip.  We spent 1/2 of Sunday out on a boat off the Pacific Coast for some good fishing and swimming.  We headed out from near Puerto Quetzal and as we got into the open ocean had nice, though somewhat hazy views of Volcano Pacaya.

Our 1^st catch of the day was the fish we were hoping to see….the sailfish.  Sailfish (vela in Spanish) are a protected species in Guatemala, so once caught they are thrown back.

We also caught a bunch of dorado (mahi mahi) that we were allowed to keep and even made some into ceviche while still onboard. 

Long Way Home

With Tuesday off work for Guatemalan Labor Day, I decided to finally visit the NGO Long Way Home (http://www.longwayhomeinc.org/en/index.php).  I won’t go into details, but there are a few different and long links that have brought me into contact with Long Way Home.  For more info, visit their website, but in short, they work to build houses and schools out of “trash, are also training people in this building technique, and at the same time are working on education and community development projects in San Juan Comalapa.  

A school under construction

Tire retaining wall

This is a house that was built for a local single mother.  It's got an indoor, greenhouse area, several rooms, and a complete rainwater harvesting system on the roof.

Murals in town

On the way back we passed through Tecpan and made a quick detour to the archaeological site Iximche.

Sierra Las Minas

On Friday after work we embarked on another adventure, this time to the Sierra Las Minas Biosphere Reserve towards the eastern part of Guatemala.  Sierra las Minas is one of the few cloud forests in Guatemala (about 8300 ft above sea level) and a good viewing spot to see quetzals.  After a couple “adventures” with the car on the steep, rocky, mountain road, we eventually arrived at the cabins, finishing the last part of the climb on foot in the dark.

Saturday we work up to a dew-covered landscape, much like you would expect in a cloud forest.  We spent the rest of the day hiking.

 So not the quetzal that we were hoping to see, but we did see a Horned Guan.

 Peña del Ángel

Sunday we got up early and were lucky enough to see a female quetzal, but no good photo op.  We hiked out of the park, down the mountain side, passing though farms and small towns, until we finally reached the church where we'd had to leave the car.