Is going to be difficult for this fresh faced 20 year old. How could something like counting blessings during a trip like this be hard for someone experiencing it you might ask? Let me explain….
Put yourself in my shoes. I get to explain to all of the parents, family, and friends of my new found friends about how lucky, beautiful, and trying the last week has been for the group. Let me start off with the obvious and most important information. You might have heard that the group embarked on a three day trek from Queztaltenango to Lake Atitlan…
Well, we made it!!!!
Imagine the group trekking 30 miles total, encountered no rain whatsoever, and the only injuries we had were bruises, blisters, and sore muscles. First day of the trek was 12 miles, and the most difficult day being 80% uphill. Despite this painful reminder, we were constantly rewarded with breathtaking scenery to help us keep our heads up. Trust me, most of us needed this help along the way (myself included). Our guides, Marvin and Joshua, carried most of the weight while also maintaining the most patience I have encountered in Guatemala so far. We also discovered that Marvin loved big cats but was afraid of one thing; large black butterflies. Funny how that stuff works. As the group progressed through the rest of the 12 miles after lunch, the level of difficulty lessened. As night began to fall, half the group (shoutout to Nic, Ian, Robin, Hanah, Joel, Jai, and Ruby) went ahead to set up camp while the rest of us (Aimee, Scott, Sarah, Miranda, Alissa and I) slowed down to help a fellow group member down the side of the rocky mountain in the dark with supportive words and hands. When this group made it to camp we had a nice hot spaghetti dinner, and a short meeting about what we thought about the trek. After the meeting some of the group members decided to spend the night underneath the stars while viewing the Milky Way, and other non-visible constellations. The second day of trekking was 10 miles, and the group again managed another day with no rain or injuries. Our lunch spot on this day was in a cloud while we rested and were well fed. Before finishing up the last bit of the 10 mile day, some of the group members encountered a small puppy on the side of the road near the hostel, but to our horror and a good slap in the face with reality when they saw that the puppy was in fact, dying. However, the group pushed through this emotional time together and helped each other however we could. The ¨hostel¨provided us with nice solid floors to sleep on, a semi warm sauna, and a beautifully painted outhouse to use. The next morning the group was woken up by an extremely obnoxious rooster around 3 am, and actually had to wake up at 4 anyways. After waking up between 3-4 am, we hiked to the top of a mountain/volcano side to watch the sunrise over the lake.
This made the last 22 miles of hiking completely worth it. The rest of the 8 miles of the trek were all downhill and relatively laid back. We got lunch at a restaurant sitting on the edge of the lake while we waited for our luggage. We loaded up on a smallish boat from San Pedro to arrive in San Marcos 20 minutes later.
In San Marcos, the group stayed at a gorgeous hostel called La Paz, which had clean and friendly Labrador dogs, a cat that found ways into one of the dormitories, and warm -ish showers. Definitely considered a paradise after the three day trek. Group members got opportunities to do whatever they wanted in San Marcos and some members chose to do stained glass class, jewelery making, yoga, meditation, massage, Mayan calendar, have their numerology read, or have their soul read by a Mayan ¨shaman¨.
Not only was San Marcos full of activites for the group to do, but we also got to experience a mini form of cliff jumping!!!
Don´t worry parents, it was completely monitored by Nic and Aimee. Sadly, tonight is our last night in San Marcos. Some members of the group ( Jai ) have convinced themselves that we are actually staying in San Marcos for another week or so. However, we will be in a van tomorrow for 8-9 hours while celebrating Aimee´s birthday!!!!!!
Picture uploading has not worked for our group yet, (for the blog at least, facebook has been accepting our pictures) however weekly updates through blogs will continue to come!
Much love and peace,
CAM MAYA GROUP
written by Regina 🙂
Happy Birthday Aimee, WE LOVE YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!