A Broad Abroad

Monterrico, Guatemala, originally uploaded by peggydaly.

what would central american natural history museums do without pickled reptiles?

At the Tortuguario Monterrico visitors center I made a reservation for an early morning pirogue tour of the mangroves. I paid about $1.10 to visit the center, which hatches and releases sea turtles, caimans, iguanas and a prehistoric river fish. The few-inch deep baby turtle pool was my favorite. there is also a small “museum” with pickled animals, the main-stay of central american natural history museums :). I paid $10 for the tour, which is several hours long. Lonely Planet recommends buying there, rather than from a street tout, because then the tortuguario gets a cut and not a random dude. I got my ticket and was told to be there the next morning at 5:30 am. 5:30 am!!!

I thought: that’s cool, I’ll be out on the boat as the sun is coming up, being paddled thru bird-filled mangrove swamps – but it was about a 15 minute walk from my beautiful bungalow to the tortuguario. On the way home from the visit I attemped to walk to the resort from the road to see if that would be a better way to get there, but I hit a dead end on the road I thought led there. So I figured I would just walk down the beach just before the sun’s up – you know – dusk. It will be lovely.

Monterrico is actually separated from the mainland by mangove swamps. One must cross over on small boats or drive down a peninsula – which the shuttles do. It’s a dusty little town with one block cleaned up for pictures but when you get off the beaten path it’s rustic and kinda cool with some of the nicest locals I’ve met in Guat. I didn’t know when I arrived what a strange visit it would be. A local talked me into following him to several places near the beach, none of which I liked, so I headed down the beach towards a place I’d read about in lonely planet. Dulce y salado was to have cabanas surrounding a pool (1/2 price midweek bringing it down to around $15) and meals cooked by the Italian owners. The book said head 2km down the beach but that is easier said than done when one is gear-laden, walking down a black sand beach at noon!!!

I thought for sure I’d walked 2km when I see this swanky place with bunglalows (yeah, damn nice ones, but still bungalows) around a huge infinity pool and gardens. There is a swanky restaurant and bar. Now, I knew from using the bathroom at the last place I’d stopped that I am red and sweating and look really bad. I ask at the restaurant if they have “habitationes” and they give me an odd look at direct me to “reception” at the front. I’m still convinced this is the place but I am so darn hot and tired after dragging down the beach that I realize now it was just wishful thinking, so I walk up to reception. I haggle them down to $65 per night and for once I got the distinct impression that I haggled more than they did ☺. He actually asked me if I was familiar with their hotel (implying – do you realize what you are getting for this price?). I’m shown a HUGE bungalow with air-con, a dressing room, huge bathroom and a massive porch with seating and a hammock. I decided it was time, yet again, to slurge. I’m totally glad I did since the air-con was SWEET in this steamy little town. None of the other places on my list had it.

I won’t go on more about it – you can check out dos mundos online. Dos Mundos: two worlds – man you are NOT kidding. I got to see rich guatemaltecans and the last day I was there was a photo shoot next to the infinity pool, which up to that point had actually been ∞-2”. Since I was living the high-life for a few days I dined there in the evenings but made sure to keep it real by going into town for lunch – which one day was street food – something I hadn’t had for weeks. More to come tomorrow!! including my most perilous moment yet!!

I enjoyed my last few days chillin’ in San Marcos la Laguna but I knew I needed a jump-start and decided to move-on. There was no need to go back to pana to get to Antigua, as I thought when I first arrived. For $8 one can get a shuttle (van) to Antigua. It takes an incredibly beautiful and winding road around the lake. Don’t know if I mentioned it, but sak’cari gives a decent discount for a 1 week stay. Their posted rates for single occupancy of a room, private bath and no tv was $18 per day. I got mine for $13. Like I said, it was a great big, clean place with an awesome view and location (and plenty of hot water).

When I got into Antigua I went to a place I had dinner previously and noticed they had nice rooms around the courtyard of a beautiful colonial building right on the calle del arco (the main street from the square to La Iglesia de la Merced). Posada Asjemenou,,,,with prime real-estate. I asked for and got a big room with shared bathroom (and wi-fi) for $22 – which includes breakfast. A girl working there had told me about these rooms. They do in-suite bathrooms for $29 and I think those have cable-tv. While staying there I heard several people walk in and inquire about prices and they only mentioned the $29 rooms. When I checked in this time I had to remind them ☺ of the others and they were fine with that. I don’t imagine one often has to share the bathroom with an arrangement like that. I was certainly the only one in a room without a bathroom.

I have found that Antigua is an easy place to toot-around for the day. I shopped around for the best shuttle price to Monterrico, a place not too far away on the pacific coast, that had been recommended by several travelers. I’d heard it was mellow during the week and on weekends gets jumping with guat-city weekenders. Prices fall during the week so I thought it would be a good place to chill for several days before I come back to Antigua and plan my launch to tikal. Antigua is a great place to do this stuff because of all the competing travel agencies. One does need to shop around. The agency in Posada Asjemenou quoted me $15 one way to monterrico, the one across the street (not in a hotel but on the main tourist drag) quoted me $12 and the agency I chose, club viajeros nearish The Yellow House Hostal, charged me $10. All the shuttles leave at 8am each day so as far as I know we were comparing apples to apples.

I once again had dinner at Hector’s (the no-name restaurant I mentioned earlier) and tucked myself away to prepare for my trip the next morn. The shuttle trip was uneventful except for the boarding of 4 strange quebecois after me. I was the only one in the van when they arrived and 2 of them insisted on squeezing onto my short bench seat with the other 2 behind them on another bench – leaving 2 empty rows at the back!! About 20 minutes into the trip when it came time to take off my jacket and I didn’t have the room – I took the opportunity to move back ☺.

Monterrico, Guatemala, originally uploaded by peggydaly.

sorry – couldn’t resist

Today was my last day of school!!  I felt like a kid again.  No – no throwing my notebooks full of paper out of the bus window.  But I was happy with my progress in the end and equally happy to be thru with the week.  My teacher, Rebecca, grew on me and she was quite good.  It’s a pretty standard plan for the week and there is logic to it.  Now I just need to practice!!

I plan to have a relaxing Sunday, maybe hike to a nearby village, and then decide on Monday whether to stay longer at atitlan.  I went to an amazing restaurant/hotel the other day, mikaso, and am tempted to move there on Monday and stay a few more days.  It has the most breathtaking 360-degree view from the rest/bar on the top floor.

The fact is I have a few weeks to kill before returning to Antigua for semana santa and I only have tikal/flores on my “to do” list in Guatemala.  I know there is much more to see, I just need to figure out what I’m in the mood for.  I think tikal will be a good, jungly-green treat!

Yeah, the next day of class went much better. A few things came back to me and we started methodically conjugating verbs. No, it’s not easy, but I see the logic behind it. If I try hard to use these verbs properly and practice, I can see a big leap happening. IF I use them and practice…..

….but, you know how they say multi-lingual children (from dual-languag parents) take longer to begin talking? i feel like my head is filled with verbs and their multiple conjugations and even the verbs i used easily before – get stuck in my mouth. i can only hope that like multi-lingual children, once i start talking i improve rapidly and end up even better :).

Although my classes are only 4 hours a day I feel pretty lazy for the rest of the day. Maybe it’s too easy to use school as an excuse to read the rest of the day. after I talked about the challenge of getting good reading material on a long journey, a really nice woman I met in copan gave me her unread, hard-copy of “a thousand splendid suns”. I had just finished reading a compilation of sci-fi short stories about AI (artificial intelligence). It was surprisingly good – tho I couldn’t say that about the book I had underway at the time: the tommyknockers (tk’s) by steven king.

When I finished 1k splendid suns earlier in the week I realized the danger of a good read: its pleasure is fleeting. The tk’s consumed a good few week’s worth of reading time and here “1k splendid suns” lasted merely 2.5 days!! So today I traded this fancy, new, NYT bestseller for an old copy of tom wolfe’s “bonfire of the vanities” from a restaurant down the street. I know this was a movie but thankfully I hadn’t seen it. There were only a few books there but it was nice to find a 1 for 1 exchange. I hadn’t read any tom wolfe but know he’s an American gem, so I went for it. I am really captivated by his style.

WAIT – here I am in Guatemala reviewing contemporary American literature? That is soooo wrong. Tonight I decided NOT to go to a Lenten procession thru town – one that I’d learned about from my Spanish teacher – so I could sit on the balcony overlooking the lake and read. But I said “heck – I am going to be in Antigua for semana santa! What do I need with a procession tonight!?” But I know i need that boost….the boost that rainbows at the ngobe’ market in boquete provided me and the boost that poetry in a café in leon provided me.

But tonight I’ve tucked myself away using the comfort that a good, new book provides. Before that I used the copious hot water to shave my legs. I took out the best purchase I’ve made thus far – a 20 cent piece of volcanic pumice from the masaya market (and I bet that girl belly-laughed after I paid that for it) and gave myself a pedicure. I watched the sun dip behind this valley created by volcanoes, filled with clear-blue water and conjured the spirit that propelled me on this journey……..then I used tomorrow’s 8:00 am Spanish session, my last, as an excuse to hit the sack early. Buenos noches!!!!

Chichi Market, Guatemala, originally uploaded by peggydaly.

On Monday I moved to san pedro despite my reservations that it would be a hippie-haven.  I am glad I did.  It is a lovely pueblo with many Spanish schools and a decent mix of people.  I signed up at san pedro Spanish school and started one-on-one classes on the very day I inquired – $80 for 20 hours – 5 days/4hrs ea. I absolutely love the hotel sak’ cari which is just a few buildings away.  I have an incredible view of the lake and lots of hammocks and chairs to lounge and study in.

and study I must. Spanish is hard and my mind is soft.  I left my second day of classes feeling a bit down.   Spanish school took me out of my comfort zone:  tourist topics.  Now I was trying to talk about every-day stuff.  Ooohhh how little I comprehend!!!  And how much less I’m able to say!!  I feel muy tonto.  Do you know tonto means stupid in Spanish?  Isn’t it odd that the lone ranger’s side-kick was Tonto?  Coincidence?

So tonight I am holed up in my room, happy to have the wind whistling thru the cracks in the windows and doors, making me feel at home.  This is how it sounds at home on a windy day (minus the smell of burning trash).  I ordered satay “para-llevar” from Buddha (It sucked.  Literally the first thing in all of central America that I had to spit out of my mouth) and listened to NPR’s fresh air downloaded on iTunes.  It was a mighty and only partially successful effort to overcome the blues.  One does what one must.

I know I need to try a little harder and not become one of the gripey-people I’ve avoided over the past few months.  If I am assimilated it will be tragic ☺.  Usually I am able to shake it.

For the next day I arranged my transport on the $5 pullman direct to panajachel (on lake atitlan) – which leaves at 7am.  This can be arranged at many places around Antigua – just look for the signs.  it is a beautiful drive but I exited the bus unprepared.  Typically I know which direction I want to head when I arrive someplace, thus avoiding the vultures preying upon bodies that rest too long.  But this particular morning I had a hangover.  My first since the holidays!  the night before I ran into some people I had met on the collectivo from copan, then got into a conversation about evolution with a kiwi at the bar….and the rest is history.  I must have needed this.  Regardless, it was all I could do to keep my wits about me on the windy, up-and-down road to atitlan and it was out of the question that I try to read my guidebook to figure out where to go once in pana.  I can’t read a book or even a map during the best of times when I’m in a moving vehicle.

I got ripped off by the tuk tuk driver but eventually found my way to posada vinas del lago near the lake.  For $10 I got a clean room with cable tv and sinking mattress.  I had to wait too long for the water to get hot and since the shower basin drained slowly, by the time the water was hot enough it was spilling over the edge of the basin’s edge.  Thus, my arrival in pana didn’t go smashingly.  I rested that day, prepared to make a go of it the next.

Pana is a decent sized town with a main drag that caters to tourists in the market for souvenirs.  It’s a very reasonable place to do this, but since I don’t have room for fabrics, clothes, etc. – it did not suit my needs.  What it did provide was a perfect launching spot for the Sunday chichicastenango market an hour and ½ away, renowned as a regional best, so I stayed an extra day. This was worth it!