Vol. San Pedro

Just like last year, I spent Memorial Day weekend on a lake, only this time it was a little less sunny and a lot rainier.  Saturday we planned to climb Volcano San Pedro, one of the volcanoes on the shore of Lake Atitlan, and hoped to be able to see some great views of the lake from the top.  Unfortunately, it was already pouring at 5:45am, but we headed down to the docks in Panajachel to catch a boat over to San Pedro anyway.

It was raining even harder by the time we got to the other side of the lake.  This photo doesn’t do it justice, but there were streams forming in all the streets and water everywhere.  Our tuk tuk had some issues making it up the wet roads to the park entrance, though it was hard to tell if it was because of the water for the weight of 5 people.

Miraculously, just as we set out from the park entrance with our guide, the rain started to subside and for the rest of the hike was never more than a light drizzle.  

From the summit (9,908 ft) the clouds even parted every once in a while, letting us see Lake Atitlan and some of the other nearby volcanoes.

Sunday was cloudy, but a lot less rainy…..giving us this view from the balcony of our condo.

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.