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The sun is hot as I sit on the dock watching a Mayan woman who works here in traditional garb briskly pulling the dog Lila happily by. I think about my husband and kids who will be in Boston for the holidays and the turkey trot that we traditionally run. I miss them and am sad not to be there with them. I hope they understand my choice to be here this holiday.
Carly has asked me if I want to go on a hike to see the San Pedro volcano. I vacillate about this. I like to hike vicariously so and to read books about people who have climbed different thru trails like the AT and the PCT but I don’t hike. Maybe once or twice in my life but nothing significant. Last night at dinner I asked Aimee and Johnny who works here is it a tippy climb? Do you feel like you could fall off the cliff? This worries me most about hiking. They both tell me it is hard but not in that way. I tell them I don’t care about hard I just don’t want to feel like I could fall.
Well let me tell you today I did care about hard! It was tough going 3020 meters (9900 feet) up that volcano. It took us three hours up and two hours down. It was somewhat comforting that Carley who is 25 years old and runs ½ marathons (with a decent time to boot) considered it very challenging today. The hardest hike she’s ever done (she tells a woman on the boat from Denver who is considering it) and she's done a bunch of them.
The view at the top was magnificent though. It was worth it when we were up there eating our whole made energy bar and looking out over the lake. I had a taste of what hikers feel when they get to the summit. The hike was hurried for most of it though as we started too late in the day (and I left with not enough water). We had to get back in time for the last boat out to Santa Cruz. Five hours later we were glad to be at the base where we picked up a tuktuk to travel down the hill of the town to take a public boat back to our place here. The boat that we took was during 'rush hour' with many stops and people. It gave us time to just chill on the choppy ride back. I like to sit at the front of the boat where its open and the breeze best. It is separate from the seated area. Children tend to sit there too. The young men (really boys) who navigate the boat from pier to pier do so with amazing dexterity and often don't even rope the boat in fully when it stops. They get off and escort the people on and off and take their money (often charging the gringos more-which I don't mind but some people do) and then they board back on as they scamper sometimes on the roof to get to the back where the engine is. It is an experience in itself. We could take a private boat from the hotel but it would cost much more and we'd miss this experience all together.
When we got back the Guatemalan woman who works at the resort said she had done the hike twice in her life and each time she had a guide. Apparently the guides are for safety reasons that include protecting you from criminal behavior which we hadn’t been aware of. In the park (we only saw about a dozen people doing the hike today. Most of them were European, young and fit. They were descending as we were going up. Otherwise, it was pretty deserted. We kept asking anyone we did see 'are we almost there yet' how much further do we need to go and they all gave us different account of how much more time we had to the top. It would have been humorous if it wasn't so damn discouraging hearing an hour and then thirty minutes later hearing an hour again!) At one point at a lookout spot we saw two Guatemala police officers. It was early in the trek and I still had ample energy to ask one of them if I could get a picture of the two of us. They both seemed surprised but did comply. One posed and the other shot the picture. Ironically it came out as a silhouette shadow of the both of us which I found pretty interesting and cool. They don’t have the best reputation here, the policia. Rumors of corruption rampant.
We did see one Mayan family bringing up a huge wood bundle and backpack supplies as they are staying over night at one spot near the top to do a traditional ceremony. (We heard why they were there from the park official when we got to the base.) The indigenous people here are amazing with unbelievable strength. This wood bundle so big most of us couldn't even pick it up let alone carry it up a mountain for hours. Karley told me when she was volunteering last week there was a six year old carrying a said bundle. She asked if she could help them but it was too heavy for her to even lift.
We celebrate with Kombucha when we got back to the resort. Both in awe of the families that live here around the lake.. Their love for one another, closeness to nature and what is important is a lesson for us. They have so little but they aren't observed as wanting. Carley comments that she thinks the Mayan people are so nice and happy because of their connection to family and religion. She says to me that she used to not think about religion and spirituality but in the last year she does and thinks it is really an important thing to have. She asks my opinion and I agree. It gives a protectant to life that isn't there otherwise. Hope.
Post Note:
My camera died before we got to the summit. This link below has some great picture and is an accurate account of what we experienced today!
http://www.sunglassesrequired.com/blog/2015/6/1/hiking-san-pedro-volcano
The pic of the police officer and me and the other of Carly before as we wait for the boat
Carly has asked me if I want to go on a hike to see the San Pedro volcano. I vacillate about this. I like to hike vicariously so and to read books about people who have climbed different thru trails like the AT and the PCT but I don’t hike. Maybe once or twice in my life but nothing significant. Last night at dinner I asked Aimee and Johnny who works here is it a tippy climb? Do you feel like you could fall off the cliff? This worries me most about hiking. They both tell me it is hard but not in that way. I tell them I don’t care about hard I just don’t want to feel like I could fall.
Well let me tell you today I did care about hard! It was tough going 3020 meters (9900 feet) up that volcano. It took us three hours up and two hours down. It was somewhat comforting that Carley who is 25 years old and runs ½ marathons (with a decent time to boot) considered it very challenging today. The hardest hike she’s ever done (she tells a woman on the boat from Denver who is considering it) and she's done a bunch of them.
The view at the top was magnificent though. It was worth it when we were up there eating our whole made energy bar and looking out over the lake. I had a taste of what hikers feel when they get to the summit. The hike was hurried for most of it though as we started too late in the day (and I left with not enough water). We had to get back in time for the last boat out to Santa Cruz. Five hours later we were glad to be at the base where we picked up a tuktuk to travel down the hill of the town to take a public boat back to our place here. The boat that we took was during 'rush hour' with many stops and people. It gave us time to just chill on the choppy ride back. I like to sit at the front of the boat where its open and the breeze best. It is separate from the seated area. Children tend to sit there too. The young men (really boys) who navigate the boat from pier to pier do so with amazing dexterity and often don't even rope the boat in fully when it stops. They get off and escort the people on and off and take their money (often charging the gringos more-which I don't mind but some people do) and then they board back on as they scamper sometimes on the roof to get to the back where the engine is. It is an experience in itself. We could take a private boat from the hotel but it would cost much more and we'd miss this experience all together.
When we got back the Guatemalan woman who works at the resort said she had done the hike twice in her life and each time she had a guide. Apparently the guides are for safety reasons that include protecting you from criminal behavior which we hadn’t been aware of. In the park (we only saw about a dozen people doing the hike today. Most of them were European, young and fit. They were descending as we were going up. Otherwise, it was pretty deserted. We kept asking anyone we did see 'are we almost there yet' how much further do we need to go and they all gave us different account of how much more time we had to the top. It would have been humorous if it wasn't so damn discouraging hearing an hour and then thirty minutes later hearing an hour again!) At one point at a lookout spot we saw two Guatemala police officers. It was early in the trek and I still had ample energy to ask one of them if I could get a picture of the two of us. They both seemed surprised but did comply. One posed and the other shot the picture. Ironically it came out as a silhouette shadow of the both of us which I found pretty interesting and cool. They don’t have the best reputation here, the policia. Rumors of corruption rampant.
We did see one Mayan family bringing up a huge wood bundle and backpack supplies as they are staying over night at one spot near the top to do a traditional ceremony. (We heard why they were there from the park official when we got to the base.) The indigenous people here are amazing with unbelievable strength. This wood bundle so big most of us couldn't even pick it up let alone carry it up a mountain for hours. Karley told me when she was volunteering last week there was a six year old carrying a said bundle. She asked if she could help them but it was too heavy for her to even lift.
We celebrate with Kombucha when we got back to the resort. Both in awe of the families that live here around the lake.. Their love for one another, closeness to nature and what is important is a lesson for us. They have so little but they aren't observed as wanting. Carley comments that she thinks the Mayan people are so nice and happy because of their connection to family and religion. She says to me that she used to not think about religion and spirituality but in the last year she does and thinks it is really an important thing to have. She asks my opinion and I agree. It gives a protectant to life that isn't there otherwise. Hope.
Post Note:
My camera died before we got to the summit. This link below has some great picture and is an accurate account of what we experienced today!
http://www.sunglassesrequired.com/blog/2015/6/1/hiking-san-pedro-volcano
The pic of the police officer and me and the other of Carly before as we wait for the boat
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