Guatemala is nothing if not colorful and volcanos! We arrived in Panajachel, on the shores of Lake Atitlan after a few detours for road closures and construction. The tiny cobblestone roads here haven't got enough room for us to makke the turn on some of the streets without hitting parked cars so we sometimes have to drive around the block to make a turn. A pain, especially with all the one way roads, but I think we're getting used to it. The iOverlander posting about the free parking for vans on the shore of the lake brought us to a great spot and we found a flat area under a shade tree. We could've parked along the lake on the other side of the parking lot/soccer field, but our view was just as great and we had shade. Those using solar need the sun
This was our view from the van, overlooking Lake Atitlan to the Volcano Agua. Can't complain here, for free.
Looking down the row of local boats on the shore.
An Irish lady was traveling with her 2 chickens. This rooster, Helene, liked the Special K cereal I was having for breakfast.
A stained glass window in a church we passed on the road here.
Our first glimpse of Lake Atitlan from the road on the mountain on the way down.
A string of upside down plastic baskets with eyeballs pasted on and streamers flying looked like jellyfish
Party boats on Lake Atitlan at night were all lit up.
Early morning was sometimes the only time you could see the volcanos around the lake. Haze and smoke and clouds usually obscurred the view by the afternoon. The first day we arrived we didn't even know there was a volcano across the lake, much less two more on another side.
The volcanos we could see from our location.
A closer up view of Agua volcano across the lake.
Karen selfie with volcano and lake background.
A chicken bus parked along the shore. Jason really liked the huge array of horns on this one.
A very nice hotel in Panajachel on the shore of Lake Atitlan. The green growing vertical landscaping is pretty neat.
We strolled through the market street and this huge quilt of color caught our eye. There were colorful quilts and rugs of all sizes here.
The textiles in these typical Guatemalan plaids and designs are still worn every day by the women and a few men. The different sizes of the material, called huipils can be used as scarves, head cushions,skirts or shawls
These men are digging sand and gravel and rocks out of the river bed while the water level is down so far. They use it for the building materials and make concrete and other stuff with it.
More guys digging holes in the river bed to get to the sand they want for making concrete and cinder blocks. Once the rains start, the water will rush down the river and eliminate their source of materials here.
The shortcut back to our van took us across the river bed near the mouth at the lake.
Cute rock painting in someone's yard. This fish is cute. Minions were here, too.
Our neighbors at the lakeshore. Melanie drives a 1988 VW van that is older than she is. Her friend Ben rides a motorcycle with surf boards on the side. They were both heading to El Salvador to surf.
By the afternoon, the volcano has almost disappeared in the haze and smoke.
Helene wants some of Jason's cereal this morning.
Kate thought this was a chick when a baby and now they've gotten so used to calling it a 'her' even though it's turned out to be a rooster. It's just starting to get its colorful feathers. Her other chicken is a fluffy-footed white chicken. She has them certified as pets so she doesn't have issues crossing the borders with them.
Panajachel is a hotspot for paragliders. They take off from a hilltop nearby and soar along the shore of the lake and land just the other side of the dry river bed. We saw as many as eight at a time floating above us.
This local guy caught a full string of fish with his speargun in the lake. It's a deep lake, nearly 1000' deep, but the runoff from the roads and who knows what else goes right into the lake here, so I'm not sure I'd eat the fish.
There are still practicing Maya people here and this sacrificial altar was just down the road from us. A sign posted forbids animal sacrifices.
More examples of folks taking the landscape for building materials. We've seen lots of slash and burn going on to clear the land for farming, but then there is nothing left to hold the soil up, so we see landslides.
Not only do they dig up the riverbeds, but this hole on the side of the road is just asking for a collapse to happen.
Can you say 'overloaded'? This truck just came through a river crossing where the bridge had been washed out and not replaced. We were going to have to cross the river, too, or spend hours backtracking to go around.
We studied the steepness and deepness of the crossing as we watched several vehicles cross to make sure we could make it safely. Remember, we just got our bumper rewelded to fix the plate that got ripped off when we crossed a riverbed with too steep of an entry angle for our van. That knob of land on the right used to be the road bridge.
The water wasn't that deep, so not really a worry; it was the steep rocky entry/ exit angles that had us concerned.
We made it through the river and into Antigua, Guatemala. We fought our way throught market day bus traffic snarls to reach the Tourist Police compound here. They provide a nice, shady, free, safe place to park and leave the vehicle for up to two weeks. What a bonus! As long as you can say you have your own toilet and shower, you can sign in and stay.
The entrance to the local grocery store had a marimba band and balloons for some promotion the first day we went in. Another day when I shopped there, they had a promo for tortillas and they were thrilled that I bought the promo item. I got my picture taken holding packages of Mission tortillas and they gave me some freebie stuff as well. No idea where my picture may show up!
Out the van door, the compound wall was the backdrop for Jason to gobble yet another Little Caesar's pizza. The fast food joints, Wendy's, Taco Bell, McDonald's, and Dominos are all here, but you have to look for them as the normal signage isn't allowed here. The nose of that vehicle you see behind us had been here for over a month. It had expired Florida plates from 2021, expired Belize insurance sticker from 2022, and it had a Guatemala TIP sticker on the windshield. It was stuffed with someone's travel gear, but it had been here over a month and nobody had seen anyone who belonged to it. The Police came by a week into our stay and were upset that it was still here, but we don't know what they did to find the owner or what had happened to him.
One of the typical meat stalls in the market. I bought my meat from the grocery store.
Jason scooting through the market. Notice how much taller he is than the locals.
The market is a cacophony of color in the dress and goods sold.
Limes and mangos in the market.
These two little girls tucked themselves into a mango crate to entertain themselves while their mother sold mangos and other produce around them.
We met an expat who lives here now and he told us they refer to the police compound where we are staying as 'the leper colony'. Apparently, the grounds used to be a leper colony and then a hospital, but most of the buildings are crumbling. The perimeter of the yards is filled with old vehicles, motorcycles, and bicycles rusting away.
Nice old stone structures now in disarray.
You can still see the fireplaces in this part of one of the buildings.
The ruins make for an interesting environment, that's for sure. Some French children dragged bits and pieces from all over the compound to build themselves a little fort/room in this building. They are putting up cinder blocks to make a door.
Interesting strands of orange beads that turn to dark purple-black and then fall on the ground.
The front entry to the Tourist Police compound where we come and go. We must take our trash out with us and find somewhere to put it as the compound doesn't have trash or bathrooms or showers for use. They do have water taps for washing, but we aren't supposed to use them for showering.
We parked next to another Transit van that is called Nomad 'n Rad, which belongs to Liz and Remy from Canada. We had a blast with them while we were parked here together.
Another sort of mini market along the town plaza square. Liz had already scouted out the best price for chocolate here, so we were happy to find her vendor still where expected.
I bought a package of the Becerra Cardamom Chocolate. Here you could taste the different flavors and get the roasted cacao beans, too.
A gorgeous ornate church front in Antigua. This town is known for its colonial architecture.
Another one of those tiny chicken bus sales carts. This one sold ice cream cones.
Lots of arches in this town. They are better to withstand the earthquakes.
This is the famous Arch of Santa Catalina, the only structure to survive the massive earthquake of 1773. You can see Volcano Agua through the arch behind us.
The old bricks and stones are quite interesting, I think.
Some of the old buildings are undergoing restoration.
The big letters of Antigua in front of a restored colonial frontage,
Liz and Remy in old town Antigua.
We went to dinner with them to a street food stall they'd been to before. The concoction Jason got was called an enchilada but had no resemblance to what we know as enchiladas.
We wandered town in the evening with Liz and Remy and went to the oldest bakery in the town here. It's been in operation since 1653. I got a loaf of bread, but the pictures in the place were worth a stop to view.
My cardamom chocolate. It's meant to be for making hot chocolate drinks, but we just break off a chunk and enjoy or put a piece into our morning coffee.
Inside the paper package are four large disks of chocolate laced with sugar and cardamom. They are hard and breaking off a chunk takes some doing. Seventy percent of all the cardamom in the world is grown here and exported. It's one of the top 3 most expensive spices, along with saffron and vanilla.
We planned to hike up the Pacaya volcano and invited Sonny to join us, since he was coming here, too. He showed up with his friend, Maria, and we all went on the hike together.
The market also does hot meal foods in some aisles. We didn't try them, though.
So many different types of mangos available here.
These tiny marble-sized potatoes made me laugh. You coud fry them whole for round french fries if you want.
These things are all some sort of medicine the lady told me.
Plastic bottles and jars of all sorts are for sale here, too. Recycle through the market.
Pinatas for sale hanging over a stall.
Tomatoes, peppers, and onions are everywhere.
Our first glimpse of Pacaya from the van as we drove there. Not our van, we used a tour company that provided the necessary guide and picked us up from the police compound at 6 AM.
Our guide, Dario, wanted to stop for his breakfast at McDonalds. We had to wait a few minutes until they were open to serve food. Here, Sonny sits with Ronald McDonald while we wait for the eaters to get their food and coffee.
Remy and Jason discussing world issues.
Our group picture before the hike begins. Volcano Agua in the background.
Another 'before' picture of our group. There were two young folks from Switzerland in the van with us, but they took horses to the top instead of hiking up.
OOOOH! Pacaya let out a belch of steam just before we started.
We'd heard it could be cold at the top and brought layers just in case. But the exertion kept me sweating and regretting the extra weight.
Karen and Maria at the back of the pack. Horses trailed us for part of the way up the trail just in case we changed our minds about hiking it. One of them kept dogging my heels, whispering "Taxi? Taxi?" to try to get me to accept his ride. They get 200Quetzales (about $30) for the ride up.
I've gotta admit I was the slowest on in our group. But they all kept encouraging me so I kept going, huffing and puffing my way up the volcano. And this is supposed to be an easy-to-medium difficulty.
The volcano hike took us up to 8300'+ in altitude. We're at the edge of one of he lava fields from a flow a couple of years ago. There have been two flows in the last nine years.
We crossed the lava flow field to reach the steaming vents where we hoped to heat up our focaccia bread pizza we brought with us. This was the easiest part of the hike. Desolate lava. Only a little bit of mold and moss is starting to colonize the rock. It takes a few years for the lava rock to offgas before the organisms can survive and grow.
Dario is pointing out something to our group as we enjoy lunch at the top.
Liz with some of the focaccia bread. We wrapped it in foil and stuck it into a steaming area of rock, but it wasn't really that hot. Even the cheese didn't melt on the bread. We'd brought marshmallows and forks, too, to roast over the hot rocks, but left them untouched. Steamed marshmallows just didn't sound so appetizing.
Liz and I next to one of the horses on our way down.
Jason and Karen at the top of Pacaya volcano hike.
Karen, Liz and Remy at the top of Pacaya. Then we all ran down the scree slope, shouting and waving our walking sticks while videos recorded the event. The videos are funny, but too big to post here, sorry.
A local with a loaded beast walking down the road.
Back at the camp in the compound, we all gathered for drinks. Here, Jason is expounding on some subject, just before the 5.5 earthquake struck. We felt the ground shaking, but some of us thought it was our muscles from the hike! It went on for a bit and we soon learned it was an earthquake. No damage here, though.
Liz capturing Melanie, Jason, Ben, and Remy after our hike.
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