Hello friends and family of the MAYA group! We´ve taken a bit of a vacation from blogging as we were trekking from Xela to San Juan over the course of three days and two nights. We departed form Xela by bus and were dropped off in a small village about half an hour outside the city. The first day was by far the most difficult. We climbed up steep mountain ridges, crossed two rickety bridges that essentially consisted of a few somewhat sturdy logs, and it all summed up to a grand total of 12 miles! Even our guide who had 15 years experience with the trek, slipped and injured his arm. Needless to say, we were all ecstatic when we reached our destination of a small Mayan village in the highlands around 5:30 p.m. Everyone feasted on a large plate of spaghetti, and the group recuperated with the help of a cuddle puddle and an early night´s sleep. Of course even in the most remote of places, there is excitement, so naturally we found a dead armadillo that quickly became Lisa´s pet, and Ricky threw a tied up river crab into the girls room and yelled ¨TARANTULA!!¨
The next morning we set off around 9, and continued our ascent up the mountain for the first half of the day. We lucked out with some flat and downhill bits towards the end of the day, and Maya and Quintin boosted group morale by coming up with a very fun word association game called ¨Flash¨. It was an instahit. Fortunately day two consisted of only 6 miles, and we made it to our next stop on the crest of the Indian Nose, a beautiful spot overlooking Lake Atitlan and it´s three majestic volcanoes. The sleeping situation was interesting to say the least, everyone slept in tents, and 6 of the 8 girls camped on top of a wooden lookout tower shack…thing…Lizza and Shane made a great fire, which everyone ate dinner around and continued with everyone´s new favorite game, Flash.
We woke up at the crack of dawn on Ricky and our guide Eduardo´s birthday (5 a.m. mas o menos) to catch the beautiful sunrise over Lake Atitlan. After a beautiful birthday serenade on the harmonica from Sophia and Lisa, we set off on our third and final day of our trek. It started off as a hike along the ridgeline through cornfields and then we made our final descent into San Juan where we sat and recuperated/repacked for our boat ride to San Marcos. We arrived around lunchtime and settled into our bungalows at the beautiful Hotel La Paz. There was a collective sigh of relief as the group took in their tranquil surroundings for the next five days.
Sunday consisted mostly of relaxing and researching each group member´s respective classes and activities for the coming days. These activities included yoga, meditation, dance, music, and even piercings! Monday the group ventured over to a deck that was approximately 20 feet above the water and took turns running and jumping into the lake. Some members also participated in contact dancing, which was probably the most bizarre, hippie-ish dance anyone had ever done, aside from Brent of course, and everyone had a blast!
On Tuesday half the group took a boat ride over to San Pedro to go horseback riding. We ventured through the streets of the town towards the outskirts at which point we galloped like we were pros until we reached a meadow with an breathtaking view of the lake. When we began to head back, the horses realized that they were going to be home soon, so we galloped pretty much all the way back through the crowded streets dodging tuk-tuks (taxis) and jumping over speedbumps until we SAFELY arrived back. The rest of the group met up with the horse riders at a delicious restaurant called Casablanca which specialized in Mediterranean food. The rest of the day was dedicated to exploring San Pedro, and for 5 members, getting piercings! That night, three strong, disciplined individuals (Lisa, Leigha, and Quintin) decided to go on a fresh fruit and vegetable cleanse for the remainder of our time in San Marcos. They are grumpy, but boy are they healthy!
We leave San Marcos on Friday morning for our final stop in Guatemala; Guatemala City! We will spend two nights there, and dedicate all of Saturday to working with an urban sustainability organization called G-22. Sunday we make our departure for Nicaragua, and say adios to an adventurous five weeks in Guatemala. We´ve had an incredible time in this awesome country, but are looking forward to a bit of change. Lots of love to friends and family reading this blog, hope you´re all staying healthy and happy, just as we are! Hasta luego!
Tess & Ricky
