Robbed!

They gotz me wallet and me false teeth dammit. Still im alive and in health.

Watch your wallet if you ever go to Panajachel in Guatemala. Im always super aware of my things when im in high risk areas. They are professionals!
Seriously though, everything is cool and no harm done. I was waiting for this to happen, it was bound to happen at some point! Not fun but the trip will continue ;)
x

hot rocks, melted shoes

I joined a scrabble of tourists to climb the volcano El Pacaya (Volcan El Pacaya). Volcanoes seem like the earth´s pimples to me, when the planet was going through its awkward adolescence millions of years ago, it was covered in nasty erupting volcanoes all over the place. But now that it has settled into its early 20´s, like myself, it is only prone to the occasial outburst. There are 5 catagories of volcanoes, Pacaya being the type (4) that has small eruptions every few days when it is active. Luckily, when we went there was still lava flowing from a recent eruption, and I was able to get real close (close enough that I smelt the rubber soles of my Merrels start to melt!) There were some friggin´ hot rocks between the cracks of the pathway leading up the side of the cauldron. I dropped back well behind the group to enjoy the tranquility and solitude of the natural environment there, without being molested by the constant prattleing of brain dead tourists, who cant seem to ever shut up for even a minute to soak anything up! The views down into the valley were awesome - black, scarred volcanic rock dropping away into a steep green valley which stretched down for thousands of feet into a hazy golden dusk. From the top it really did look like Mordor (I was scanning for orcs but we were lucky that day) I know that Mordor doesnt actually exist. Really I do.




Overcoming my fear of horses



I have fire in my mouth



Sky Dragon



Descent into Mordor



Maybe not

Have arrived in Lago Atitlan now. Spending a few days in Santa Cruz and working my way round the lake I guess until I get to San Pedro, Guatemala´s bohemian backpacker event horizon. Good place to exit and head up to Xela (Shey-la).

Chichicastenango

Went to a famous regional market today up in the central highlands about 2.5 hours drive from Antingua. Clouds scrapped past overhead and the air was very chilly until the midday sun burnt through (and burnt my nose) Came back loaded with a bag full of stuff, most of which I could have bought in Antigua but it was all about experiencing the bustling atmosphere of a real guatemalan market (mercado). There was colour and noise and smoke everywhere, kids running in between legs and old Maya Quiche women pushing past to do their shopping. The meat section was stomach turning, the flower women were pretty and the usual latin american pandemonium was ever present.


















Dusk shadows over Antigua

Fish whit coco whit a bit a crab you know what i 'saying?

To get to Livingston on the Caribbean Coast of Guatemala, you need to take a lancha (a small boat) up Rio Dulce, because there are no roads that go out to that part of the coast. It is for the best though because the trip up the river really is stunning, lots of bird life and also some great places to stop. Ww lingered a while at some thermal springs where you can soak yourself in little rivulets of steaming hot water, which emerge from the cracks in the river bed. The smell of rotten egg gas sulpher is a bit strange but its totally envigorating all the same. Livingston was a real experience, a little pocket of Caribbean culture hidden away on the fringe of central america. Black people hanging out speaking Garifuna (Garinagu) or some lrelaxed hybrid of english and spanish with lots of attitude. The beach is black sand and fairly dirty looking, but walking about an hour up the coast it got a bit better. Man, i was squinting so hard to try and make out some form of the Caribbean Islands on the northern horizon, my tongue was hanging out just thinking how close I was to the coconut trees. (not really that close at all, quite a swim) There is a small natural wonder hidden away in the jungle about a hours walk up the beach from livingston, in Spanish its called Las Sietes Altares, or The Seven Alters. Apparently it is a place of import to the local people , some sort of ritual significance apparantly but I was pretty lazy reading the signs, sometimes i like to not know anything and just have my own experience of a place, especially sites of natural beauty. Its a sequence of rock pools and small waterfalls that snake up through the jungle, with dappled light overhead creeping through the jungle canopy. I meditated for a bit sitting on a mossy log and opened my eyes to find a collection of saphire blur dragon flies all over me and the log! They were the exact same shade of blue as the speedo shorts I was wearing, my theory is that they thought i was a giant member of there own species and were looking for some dragon fly lovin' *which seems to entail flying sideways (crablike) through the air at high velocities and getting it on.
Swimming in the cool waterhole the during the steamy middle sections of the day was truely a delight for the senses. The garifuna food is also an explosion of spices, seafood and flavour. I had dinner the first night at a great little restaraunt called Talingo Lingo. The owner Maria is a Mexican who lived some time in Goa, India. The food had all these influences combined with the typical local dishes. I sampled the most typical local dish know as tapado - which is a banana, a whole fresh crab and a whole fish served in a spicy coconut soup. The seafood is all caught locally and absolutely mouth watering. Followed down with some cracking mojitos, I stumpled back to the hostel a very satisfied customer. Evenings at the hostel were spent being incredibly stoned and trying to play chess, but nobody cauld really move from their chairs. I also got grifted by a local (to the tune of 100 Quetzales) I kind of knew he was going to rip me off but he must of used some kind of Garifuna Jedi mind tricks because he ended up with my money anyway. All in all a very colourfull and steamy end to my trip across northern Gautemala. In the last photo you can see the locals drying some fish, the local dogs congregate in this area!

P.S

I want to go to Cuba now. Now. There is still a chance to step into the time machine and see what it is like to live in a communist country before it changes. With Castro fading out it is only a matter of time. I doubt it can stay as it is for much longer. Can I do it? Where is my credit card?? In Mexico City somewhere...



P.P.S - check the Mandelbrot fractal in this leaf!

clouds of guatemala

a speck of shakespeare's spittle, a little bit of Moses' pee that steamed off the desert sand, a former droplet from niagra falls - the water cycle just keeps on turning

a bigger lake

I have finally said my goodbyes to my Guetemalteca family (I have a family now forever apparently if I want to return!) and left the steamy selvas (jungles) of El Peten for the equally steamy but more lush and tropical department of Izabel, on the Caribbean Coast of Guatemala. At the moment im staying in a river town called Rio Dulce (Sweet river in spanish). This area was largly covered with fruit trees during the 20th century, courtesy of that lovely bunch, The United Fruit Company . The UFC built railroads to transport the fruit to Guatemala's small strip of Caribbean Coast, and they also constructed the port town of Los Barrios from where they would ship the fruit to New York and New Orleans. Rio Dulce is on the edge of Lago Izabel, (which is the largest lake in Guatemala), where the lake flows in the river and all the way down to the Caribbean Ocean. It will be a sweet sail downstream to the Seaside town of Livingston, a breezy Carribbean style settlement which is largely populated by las Garifunas, A really interesting group that are a mixture of African, Caribe Indiginas (indigenous people) and possibly some other genes here and there from the odd shipwrecked european sailor who washed up on the Caribbean shoress and decided to stick around for those notoriosly beautiful women. Slaves were brought from Africa by euro scum to work in the Caribbean Islands, but over the course of time and various rebellions, some of the Africans ended up in other parts of the Caribe, where they interbred with the indigenous people of the Islands, and eventually fanned out all along the Caribbean coast of Guatemala, Belize, Honduras and apparently right down to Nicaragua . Its strange to discover the racist attitudes that a lot of Guatamaltecos have towards the Garifunas (or "negritos"). Guess people are racist everywhere.

I think that the Caribbean coast of Guatemala is very different from the rest of the country though, it is like a little pocket tucked away with a different life style, food and music due to the influence of the Garifuna culture. The accommodations in Rio Dulce are fantastic - i'm staying in a 4 bed dorm (with only myself and a nice French guy I met on the way to Rio) for only 40 Quetzales a night which I think is roughly about $5 AU. The dorm is a giant bungalow on high stilts over the water - with beautiful, soft comfortable beds and completely open bed "nooks" which open out onto the water, with mosquito nets of course (and for once they don't have friggin' holes!). There is a fat, sleek beautiful tiger print cat which lazes about on the beds meowing at everyone and attracting endless pats and hugs like an affection magnet. The whole structure is built out of the water and is connected to the main building by a walkway over the water, and when boats cruise past the whole structure rocks back and forth gently. Yesterday I went with the Italian in the complementary Kayaks to explore the lake a little bit (its bloody huge though), about 30 minutes of paddling will take you to an old fortress on the side of the lake which was constructed by the Spanish as a lame attempt to deter pirates that sailed up Rio Dulce from the Caribbean to loot and plunder, but I believe the fort was sacked in the late 17th century. Also having similar problems with not being able to locate money here (A problem in many parts due to the currency shortage) so I have a lovely tab going at the restaurant which is quickly spiralling out of control, especially with the Chilean red wine (Vino tinto) being as nice as it is (soon it will match my uni library fine, at which point I will have to stay in Guatemala forever working as a peon on a hacienda to pay back my overlords) . Got rancidly sick again after eating some banana cake, i remember there was a crazy bug on it when I bought it but I ate it anyway cause It was juicy and delishous oozing sweet banana juice oh yeah....

Marion (my French friend from before) and her crazy Slovenian friends departed for a jungle tour in the north of El Peten, but we went and swam in the lake yesterday before I left. There was a brilliant sun set with celestial rain clouds sweeping in over the lake and a rainbow in the mist. We went to la selecta supermercado for the slovenians to stock up on important survival foods for the jungle hike, including rum, vodka and sweetened condensed milk - all the nutrients you need for a tough hike through the forest. Meanwhile I have developed a bizzare addiction to baby food, you can by jars of it for 5 Q and just lick it out of the jar with your tongue, its just fruit moosh and it tastes so so good when you need a tastly snack, why not?

The weather is lovely here though, sunny many days and beautiful and warm for winter. No natural disasters yet, though two friends in Jakarta in Indo were having less luck recently with the flooding there. Hope your alive Aubrey!