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Guatemala City and Stories of Fileting a Whale

Tuesday, October 31st, 2006

We just started the last week in Guatemala and we are taking one more week of Spanish classes in Antigua. Antigua is one of the most beautiful cities we have seen on our trip and yet I don’t really like the city. Our Lonely Planet travel guide describes Antigua perfectly.

“Antigua’s profusion of language schools and drinking holes has made it a magnet for half-assed language students and serious cocktail swillers alike, and there is always a sizeable gringo population. Some people love it, some people hate it, but you’d be silly to miss it.”

 

Before coming to Antigua we were invited by a couple we met in Semuc Champey (the place with all the boring, horny people) to spend a few nights with them in their apartment in Guatemala City. Guatemala City is a place we initially were not interested in, because we heard that it is dangerous and that there is not too much to see. However, we couldn’t pass up the opportunity for a comfortable (free) bed and a lot of modern amenities (e.g. a shower with water pressure, hot AND cold water, carpet, McDonalds, etc.). Besides we really liked Kari and Adam and they had very interesting stories to tell about their teaching assignment in Alaska. We spent one night watching movies they made during their 2 year stay in Alaska on a remote island north of mainland Alaska (in Anwar, the remote place were the republicans want to drill for oil). They showed us movies of the locals catching whales and slaughtering them. It was pretty bloody, but it was a once in a lifetime experience for them, and their stories even made me consider to start teaching and also start foreign assignments. Yet again, we heard great, interesting stories of other travelers traveling in their own way.

Guatemala City was exactly how I pictured it to be. It had busy roads, McDonalds, Burger King, Pizza Hut and every other imaginable fast food joint. It even has Taco Bell, Chuck E. Cheese and Hooters. The only thing that’s missing for it to be a real world class city is Starbucks.

Like most big cities in Guatemala, or the rest of the world for that matter, crime is a huge problem. The statistics on crime in Guatemala are mind-boggling. I heard all kinds of crazy numbers. Ever since the civil war ended in 1996, crime moved from the mountains to the cities. Gangs started forming that rival any gang in Los Angeles, Chicago or New York. Tourists are not affected by the violent crime, as long as they following simple rules like don’t go to remote places at night, don’t show your money around etc. Common sense, really. The only idea you get about crime as a tourist are the armed guards protecting businesses. In the parking lot of a mall we went shopping at there were at least 15 armed guards. I was real happy to see that even beer trucks have an armed guard on them. The Guatemalans have their priorities straight.

I also read that a lot of street children live in Guatemala City and they are either sniffing glue or end in prostitution, dead or missing. Although we didn’t see any, they must lead similar lives to the thousands of wild street dogs in Mexico and Guatemala and probably in the rest of Central America. While in the states dogs get to wear Halloween costumes, in Guatemala cars don’t even break for them (no joke). I have seen several almost hits, one dog being hit by a car, and countless dead dogs on the side of the road.

Remember the Wolf? Wolf was the guy in Las Vegas who fixed our car and gave me great advice on how to drive the Yodavan. (Unfortunately I didn’t ask him about a passenger limit for the car.) Anyways, the list of things to fix on the Yodavan was growing and luckily Kari and Adam knew Oliver. Oliver is a 25 year old guy who runs a repair place called “Das Auto” which was just down the road from where we were staying. Oliver changed the oil, replaced the 2 mirrors which were broken in Xela, fixed our trunk door and checked the breaks which were smoking when we were driving to the coast for less than $60 US. So the next time you run into car problems near Las Vegas or Guatemala City let us know and we will hook you up with either the Wolf of Oliver. We still have a leaking gas tank however, so if anyone of you knows a VW mechanic near San Salvador get in touch with us since that is where we’ll be next week.
Julian Wearing Goggles Adam and William Having a Jam Session

Recuperating At Finca Tatin

Friday, October 27th, 2006

Our next stop was the Caribbean Coast and the Rio Dulce area.  When we were leaving Semuc Champey we caught a bus with 2 Spanish girls and they had recommended a place called Finca Tatin near Rio Ducle.  Oddly enough, somewhere along the way I had picked up a flyer for Finca Tatin and we decided that is where we wanted to go.  Finca Tatin is only accessible by boat.  When we got to the town of Rio Dulce our first goal was to find a boat that would take us there.  There is no shortage of boats, but we wanted to make sure we got a fair price, so we asked around at a couple of people offering their services.  We finally found one that also had a parking spot for us, so we were set.  Matthias tried to call Finca Tatin to see if they had space for us.  The number on our flyer was out of service, but we decided to risk it anyway and hope they had room.  William found the boat ride too bumpy, but Julian couldn’t have enjoyed it more.  He had a huge smile on his face the entire way and kept pointing to things and chattering excitedly about them.  The water is sparkling green and surrounded on all sides by green jungle.  It is about an hour boat ride to Finca Tatin and we arrived safely and they had plenty of room.  In fact we were the only visitors at all.

We rented a bungalow right along the river for two nights.  William and Julian both squealed with excitement when they saw we would all be sleeping under nets!  Matthias and I weren’t so excited when we saw the spider the size of my outstretched hand on the wall above one of the beds.  When we arrived we were floored at how neat this place was.  This area was very different from what we expected it to be and definitely transcended all our expectations.  Both Matthias and I had a moment where we felt that just the opportunity to spend a few days here was one of those times that makes this whole trip worthwhile.

Our Bungalow At Finca Tatin     Matthias On The Rope Swing At Finca Tatin

 

Finca Tatin is a great spot for relaxing.  There is a main area with hammocks, sofas, books and games for all to share.  The two dinners we ate there were probably the best food we have eaten since we came to Guatemala.  On the dock there is a rope swing you can use to jump out into the river.  You can also rent kayaks, there are nearby hot springs and lots of trails for walking in the jungle.  They only have electricity for about 4 or 5 hours.  The owner has a generator that he turns on when it gets dark, and shuts it off when everyone goes to bed.

We arrived in the early afternoon and went swimming.  Everyone except Julian had so much fun swinging out and jumping into the river.  The river was clean, very warm and a nice way to escape the humidity of the jungle.  That evening we had dinner, played some dominoes and went to bed early.  The rains that night were tremendous and the jungle is an active place at night.  The memory of the spider on the wall left me lots of bad dreams and a very restless sleep.

The next day we took a boat to Livingston after breakfast.  Livingston is also only reachable by boat and the stretch of river from Finca Tatin to Livingston was even more spectacular than the ride in.  We spent a few hours walking around this town, which is right on the Caribbean coast and definitely has a Caribbean feel.  Many of the slaves from Africa remained here and there is a large Garifuna population in Livingston.  It has a much different feel than any place we’ve been to in Guatemala.  We went swimming again that afternoon and later the owner offered to take us over to the hot springs.  The hot springs are just a hole in the side of the river wall where hot water comes out.  We pulled up to the dock and jumped right in.  It was very relaxing and we watched the sun set.

That evening we had dinner with the guests that had arrived during the day, a group that consisted of 2 Argentinians, a woman from Uruguay, a woman from the Canary Islands, a Swiss man and a girl from Israel.  It was so interesting to talk to all of them and see where they had been and how they were traveling.  Our friend from Israel has been traveling on her own for over a year.  One couple travels around the world in a catamaran.  The other couple has lived on their sailboat for a number of years and they support themselves by repairing sails on sailboats.  This woman (who grew up in Uruguay) was the daughter of a German woman and grew up speaking German.  She now speaks German with her 5 year old son, her husband who is from Argentina speaks Spanish with their son, and he just picked up English along the way.  Their son is tri-lingual and seen so much more of the world than most Americans.  It really would be interesting to follow everyone’s lives and see where we all are in 20 years.  I left wanting to spend more time with all of the people we had met here.  Luckily, though, we left relaxed and invigorated to continue our travels.

 

Matthias has put more pictures on the web here.

The Worst Outing So Far

Monday, October 23rd, 2006
Our map of Guatemala has a section where it lists the number of kilometers between cities and the anticipated driving times. You could really throw this information in the garbage because it more or less useless. Matthias (being German) wants ... [Continue reading this entry]

Kim and Erik are Getting Married!

Saturday, October 21st, 2006

In the past week we heard that our good friends Kim and Erik are getting married.  Kim is my best friend from high school.  We are so happy for them and we want to be back in Seattle for the wedding.  The wedding ... [Continue reading this entry]

Swimming With Divine

Friday, October 20th, 2006
The drive to the coast really was something else. Yet again, we put the Yoda Van to the test and he got us where we needed to go. As soon as we had descended from the highlands it became hot ... [Continue reading this entry]

Duct tape, No Lights and a Whole Lot of Smoke

Tuesday, October 17th, 2006
Despite being in the same city for over 2 weeks, every day is filled with amazement, new experiences and new things to see. Saturday was our last day in Xela and we decided to join some of the teachers, Paul and ... [Continue reading this entry]

Market in San Francisco El Alto

Monday, October 16th, 2006

Friday was our last day of classes at our school and we decided to go to a market in San Francisco El Alto with our teachers and William and Julian. The market at San Francisco El Alto is supposed ... [Continue reading this entry]

Wal-Mart, Hugo Chavez & Chickens on the Chicken Bus

Thursday, October 12th, 2006
There are 2 large shopping centers in Xela and recently Wal-Mart bought both of them. We’ve been shopping at a small grocery store near our school. I was reminded of Hugo Chavez’s recent speech at the UN when I realized ... [Continue reading this entry]

Pure Guatemala

Sunday, October 8th, 2006
Somehow our blog has deteriorated into more information about the people we are living with than what we are up to. All that is definitely a part of what we are experiencing, but I thought we should try to tell ... [Continue reading this entry]

These are the Days of our Lives

Thursday, October 5th, 2006
I was walking through the kitchen at the guest house we are staying at when I heard water running.  I asked Paul “Is it raining?”  He answered “No that’s Bonnie in the bathroom – a floater.” Paul ... [Continue reading this entry]