Getting High in Guatemala

Come on, it's us...  Of course we didn't mean it like that.

 While this picture is a good representation of the accuracy of our GPS maps, the point here is that we were driving at 9,955 feet.  Now being from Colorado, that shouldn't be such a big deal.  The difference is that in Colorado, you're never going to go from sea level to 10,000ft in a matter of about 50 miles.  The steep grades and winding roads were definitely taking a toll on the poor, gutless Montero.  At one point it was having a hard time passing a scooter and later on, I played a fun game of cat and mouse with a Toyota Corolla.  Fortunately, the lackluster performance just gave us more time to take in all the colorful towns tucked into the valleys and mountainsides.  Until we drove into the clouds that is.  

Super smooth roads so far!  Yes!

We pulled into Panajachel late on Wednesday, met the owner of the Spanish school, met our host family and then I proceeded to flop down on the bed and fall fast asleep.  Kaytie wanted to take a shower first and when she left the room, she closed the door behind her.  Unfortunately our door automatically locks so when she came out of the shower, I was knocked out and she was locked out.  Apparently she banged on the door and called my name through the window to no avail.  Finally she got the window open enough so that she could pick up my cell phone on the dresser and throw it at me.  That did the trick.  Usually I'm not such a deep sleeper.  I guess driving 11 hours in Central America will do that to a person.

In the morning we woke up to a vibrant and busy town.  We are staying in a house that is just off the main square and currently there is a big fair going on.  Complete with parades, ferris wheels, and fireworks.  And we are quite literally right in the middle of it all.  Panajachel has a lot of character, even considering the fact that it's a bit of a tourist town.  The roads are very tight, made of cobblestone and Tuk-Tuk's run all around like a swarm of ants.  It's a pretty fun place to be.

This is Lake Atitlan.  Panajachel sits on its shores at about 5,100 ft.  The lake is over 1,000 feet deep and over 50 square miles!  It's surrounded by lots of other small towns which all sit at the feet of incredibly steep mountains.  Oh yeah, there are also those three large volcanoes you see here.  

Back to getting high... 

Some people might say that I do some dumb things at times.  I prefer to say that I like to have adventures.  But one night last week, I will admit, we did something that was actually a very bad decision that could have ended with some very serious consequences.  Brett, Kaytie and I were walking around the fair, just observing people and seeing the sights.  We watched some kids on the ferris wheel and it looked like tons of fun.  It was going super fast and the chairs were swinging wildly.  We walked up and paid our 10 Quetzals.  As soon as we sat down, I started to wonder if it was a good idea.  The little bar that closed us in was rattling anytime one of us shifted our weight and I could actually see breaks in the welds.  They took us straight up to the top and then parked it for about 5 five minutes.  It gave us plenty of time to realize how stupid we were.   We imagined our parents getting phone calls from the US Embassy telling them that they were right all along - their children did, in fact, die in Central America.  Then we imagined their disappointment when they found out it was death by ferris wheel, not by the drug lords or dengue fever. 

After a truly exhilarating ride, we made it back down safely and Kaytie and I celebrated.  

Saturday we decided to hike a Volcano.  No big deal.  We took a boat over to San Pedro and started the ascent.  The peak is at 9,900 feet and it's a steep climb to get there.  I had been sick since we left Texas but I was feeling better and thought I could handle it.  After we made it about a third of the way up, I MAN-sied.  (I was man enough to know that I was way too much of a pansy to do the hike that day.)  So Brett and Kaytie continued on while I hiked back to the base, sat down on the patio, kicked my feet up and took a nap. 

Luckily they took the camera with them, so I pretty much had the same experience and can relate it here.  They said at one point they were tempted to follow my awesome example and quit.  Right then, a park guide came out of no where and used his machete to cut some walking sticks.  With renewed strength from the mysterious machete-man walking sticks, they climbed to the top... just in time for the clouds to roll in.  They decided to wait a while and see if they would clear.  Finally, the ever-faithful Kaytie said a little prayer and moments later the clouds opened up.  They had a view of the entire lake and a row of volcanos stretching across the Guatemalan wilderness.