Starting off where I left the last blog I must mention that no Team New Zealand did not win the Americas Cup sailing race despite needing only one more win verses Team USA's seven. As the Americans got better and better with each race it became obvious we couldn't keep pace and lost seven straight races choking at the final hurdle. Our entire country was devastated. Now on to brighter things….
On our first evening in Monterrico Guatemala we finally managed to release some tiny baby sea turtles into the ocean. At the cost of $1.50us per turtle we released two each. It was nice watching the wee things finally make it into the waves after being knocked back a few times but hardly the magical experience I had read about, it all just seemed a bit fake. Later that evening once the most recent torrential downpoor had subsided we went with our guide and two young local couples to look for a mother turtle laying her eggs .The tour could last as long as two hours while your guide searched for a turtle but as soon as you saw one laying the tour was over. This was in order to give the rest of the turtles a chance to lay in peace so they told us. Our lucky guide was in for an early finish as less than 50m from our hostel we crossed some fresh tracks revealing a turtle digging its nest. Our guide explained that once the turtle has gone into an egg laying 'trance' they dig a small side hole and catch the ping-pong sized eggs by hand as they fall out. Will and I listened as best we could while the rest of the group were far more interested in making out with each other. We were then allowed to touch the wild turtle and hold one of her fragile eggs. Next the local guy who had alerted us to the turtle started putting the eggs into a plastic bag and left while we watched the poor thing awkwardly fill-in her empty nest. Will and I asked why the guide who works for the turtle sanctuary didn't take the eggs but all he said was that the local would bring them to the sanctuary in the morning for the sanctuary to buy. "All of them?" we asked, "yes" he replied.
We left the tour with mixed feelings, would the guy really bring the endangered turtle eggs back to the sanctuary or were they destined for the food markets. Should we have even been watching the turtle laying its eggs with our flash lights and cameras pointing at it, in the name of education or tourism? Was the sanctuary just making the best of a difficult situation where jobless locals spent their nights looking for eggs to sell at the market so the sanctuary was forced to buy them as well. In the end we wished we had seen the turtles back in Costa Rica where men with guns patrol the beaches to protect the turtles and the eggs are kept naturally in the nest they were laid in.
We spent two nights at Monterrico beach using the internet, swimming in the pool and walking along the beach before driving to the beautiful colonial town of Antigua. After signing into the free campground at the tourist police station we walked into the centre. Despite the drenching rain we had fun exploring the ancient cities many convents, churches and boutique shops. The next morning we met the owners of our neighbouring truck back camper, Brad and Julie from Grande Prairie in Canada. They were a lovely older couple and we agreed to swap stories later that evening because Will and I were off to a local football match. We couldn't leave Latin America without experiencing one it just wouldn't be right! Dressed in green and white we fit in with the small but lively crowd, we had locals on one side and a family of five from Vermont on the other. It was your typical game filled with plenty of passion and 'hollywood' injuries, Antigua won in the end 3-2 so the riot police weren't needed and spirits were high. That evening Will and I planned to have noodles for dinner but Brad and Julie had other ideas. Back at the campground they offered to shout us to a five star dinner and we of course gratefully accepted! We all had top shelf meals and a really great time hearing about their family back home and their travels so far. We can't wait to see Brad and Julie again up in their warm home in Alberta which we have been invited to stay at when we eventually make it to Canada.
In the morning we walked to the nearby market for a local breakfast to give us some variation from our oats and powered milk. The corn based tamale was strange, the chocolate rice milk drink was ok but by far the best were these tiny little one Quetzal ($0.15nz) pancakes the size of a large coin, they were so good we kept having to go back for more until finally it was time to leave Antigua and head inland to the famous natural pools of Semuc Champey. We certainly could have spent more time in Antigua it was a wonderful city and I can see why many tourists choose to stay so long, but there were other things we wanted to see in our short timeframe. We had the route set on google maps to Semuc Champey and the guide book showed the same road so away we went but after six hours of tedious driving through lesser and lesser roads we came to a huge washed out bridge! A fisherman explained that the bridge had actually been out for four years arghh and that there was no other way around. Not a single sign on the way had mentioned this to our knowledge. Another look at the map showed that there was an alternate road (possibly the main one) but much much less direct. The only thing was we would have to drive most of the way back to Antigua to get to it. Defeated and rather annoyed with ourselves we gave up and headed the six hours back to Antigua for the night and would start attempt two in the morning.
On Tuesday the 24th of September we woke up at 5am to hit the road, unfortunately the new route took us through Guatemala City and its morning rush hour traffic, for a few hours we crawled along at less than 20km/hr. Then the rain started and it continued all the way to Coban. It was still going during the drive down to the pools on the extremely bad road with its steep up and downs making the track slippery. We finally arrived at Semuc Champey at 4pm (after 11 hours on the road) in the pouring rain and quickly decided to have a swim the next day once the rain had hopefully cleared. So we sat under the tourist shelter chatting to a local vendor and her two curious girls until the rain stopped enough for us to set up the bed and cook dinner.
A blue sky dawned the next morning as we made our way to the lookout for a few photos before heading down to the cascading limestone pools with their turquoise green waters and the huge brown river disappearing underneath. There were hardly any other people so we traversed the length of the pools swimming and wandering around between the grass and natural waterfalls and water-slides in solitude. By lunch time the crowds started to arrive and we were hungry, so we went back to the car ready for the next stop. In the dry weather the road back to Coban was less adventurous and we made it in about three hours. In Coban we brought a few supplies then started out on what some friends had called 'the mother of all gravel roads'. It got this name after half a mountain side let go and collapsed over several kilometres of the road in 2008, after this the road was only reopened with the help of some hardy local. It's never seen a grader or government repairs since and even the rest of the road is in extremely bad shape with huge bits washed out by flooded rivers. That night we camped at a large new gas station and brought hot chips for dinner from a shy local girl before continuing on the next morning. To give you more of an idea of the state of the roads, on our way to Lago de Atitlan we even drove past some ducks who had taken up residence in some of the huge water filled pot holes.
For lunch we stopped briefly at the Chichicastenango market then continued on to Panajachel at the shores of Lago de Atitlan. After inquiring at an over priced lakeside campground we spent the night at a Japanese run hostel called Hotel El Sol with secure parking. We were the only people in the dorm room, there was a kitchen and the wifi was fast. In the morning we jumped on the back of a truck with all the other Guatemalans and speed up the hill to the sprawling Solola market. A new market place was under construction so in the mean time the market had taken over the streets and was jammed wherever a tarp could be strung up to make a stall. Most men and women were dressed in their traditional dress of dark colours with bright embroidery and the men wore a skirt type blanket over their pants. You could buy all sorts at the market from crookery, vegetables, jewellery, meat, pets and we can't forget the chickens alive, dead or as tiny chicks. We watched as one made an escape from its basket enclosure entertained by the frantic running around trying to catch it. Almost everything you can buy is transported to its stall in a basket on the head of one of the women who can balance huge loads through the tight pathways.
For lunch we dined at a small busy cafe in the plaza then caught a 'chicken bus' back down to the hostel. Chicken busses are old American school buses that have been decked out in bright colours and often loads of chrome, the driver hammers them as fast as possible but they are a cheap mode of transport if you dare.
Our ten days in Guatemala was coming to an end, it had been a great experience that totally fulfilled our expectations - a poor country, with colourful friendly people, bad roads and fantastic scenery. We were now bound for a much anticipated Mexico…
Rochelle & Will
Our ten days in Guatemala was coming to an end, it had been a great experience that totally fulfilled our expectations - a poor country, with colourful friendly people, bad roads and fantastic scenery. We were now bound for a much anticipated Mexico…
Rochelle & Will