The one major problem with living in Guatemala is the lack of outdoor opportunities. I can’t wake up in the morning and decide to take a hike in Rocky Mountain National Park or choose to go skiing or drive at the last minute to Boulder and go climbing. Those opportunities do not exist here. However, after a year, I have found a handful of people that crave outdoor activities and we have banded together with the mission of finding any way of exploring the beautiful natural areas of Guatemala.
So far, 2010 has treated us well. We started the year with an overnight hike to visit Vocan Santiaguito. It is the most active volcano in Guatemala. Like most experiences in the country, getting to the trailhead is half of the adventure. In this case, we had to take several “chicken busses” and the back of a pickup truck to get to the starting point. One chicken bus was the nicest I have ever seen, fully equipped with a flat screen television mounted above the driver. We were unfortunately forced to watch a horrendous movie about a midget that escaped from jail and pretended to be a baby in order to avoid the police. It was completely inappropriate and not family friendly, but the guy sitting next to me thought it was hilarious and several times elbowed me in the ribs while laughing hysterically. As far as public transportation goes, it was fairly painless.
The hike brought us to open grass land that local people hike through to gather firewood, fruits, vegetables and who knows what else. Women balance loads of goods on their head while men carry heavy loads on their back and support it with a strap around their forehead. We walked all day with our borrowed, basically modern backpacks to a site that was safely away from the volcano but with good views of the “show”. We were hoping for some nice eruptions at night so we could see the hot lava and hot rocks being shot into the air. Although it did rain in the afternoon, as soon as dinner was done, the stars started coming out and the volcano came out of the clouds. For the “most active volcano” in the country, we waited a long time for it to do anything and eventually went to bed, disappointed. However, within an hour we heard the whoosh of steam and the rumble of a rock slide as the volcano came alive. We saw 6 great eruptions over the next 12 hours as molten rocks got shot into the air and caused massive, blazing red rock avalanches. Luckily, they were not huge eruptions like the ones that destroyed several towns in the area 50 years ago.
My second outing was a trip to the western portion of the country to go climbing. One thing I love about climbing is the beautiful spots that you get to see. This trip was no exception – it was beautiful, but it had an added bonus of being a holy site as well. The volcanic area was a strange mix of religions - old Mayan and evangelical Christian. Preachers have cleared away rocks on the side of the hill or even built rough shelters with a roof and open sides. People were scattered all over these clearings to pray. Hiking up to the rock was…kind of weird. People were chanting, singing, screaming - I think people go there to be healed, devils removed, etc. Let’s just say it was a little distracting while climbing and it was certainly not the peaceful wilderness experience that I enjoy. Even with all the extra commotion, the rock was beautiful and it was fun climbing with people that were excited to be there. Eventually the people stopped praying and left us alone. We were the only ones remaining in a beautiful spot with a full moon – that was what I was looking for.
And then there was the adventure race. Normally I do not like organized races; you pay a bunch of money to spend a few hours with hundreds or thousands of other people. This one was different. There were only about 100 people and it lasted a day and a half. The race was a combination of trekking, mountain biking, orienteering, rappelling and some mystery challenge events that they would not tell us about. We had a great team and had lots of fun racing all day through beautiful countryside surrounding the town of Antigua. We raced for 8 hours, running and biking on trails; we carried tractor tires, shot paintball guns and tried to solve Sudoku puzzles. We didn’t finish this race because it got too late. Next time we won’t stop to eat lunch – now we know.
Everything else is going well. Sam is doing fine; he is working hard at school and trying his best every day. This earned him a special recognition of “Top Dog”. The award goes to one kid each week and is a big deal. We are very proud of our “Top Dog”, he definitely earned it. Besides the academics, he is taking an origami class, playing soccer, climbing, swimming and playing with friends. We feel very lucky to have a great little guy.
As for me…don’t ask about school – it is feeling like work right now since we are a mere four days away from our spring break. I think it is safe to say that Haviland is in the same place as me. Let the count-down begin! For our vacation we are heading to a mountainous part of the country. We are staying at a dairy farm and a horse ranch – both places should provide even more opportunity to get outside and enjoy a quieter vacation out of the big city.
We hope that all is well with you. Please know that our doors are open and that visitors are always welcome.
If you are interested in pictures, you can go to:
http://picasaweb.google.com/GrobGuat
-ken
