July 21 - Mystical Yoga Farm and a tender goodbye

This morning we were focused on getting out of Panajachel and getting to the Mystical Yoga Farm. We left the hotel with our big backpacks, concerned that we had seen very little traffic and maybe we would not be able to find a tuk-tuk. Well, we hadn't walked twenty feet before a tuk-tuk pulled up, so we hopped in and rode to the docks.

Sometimes things don't go exactly as expected. For example, we were advised to take the PUBLIC boat to Santiago, running every hour, and expect to pay 20Q per person. We were also told NOT to pay at the beginning, only at the end. But when we arrived at the dock, a guy calls to us "Santiago?" so we nodded yes and he says he is the boat driver and here is the boat and it's 25Q each and pay him now. I tried to say no, but he was very insistent that his boat was THE boat and the fare is 25Q and pay now. So, what was I going to do? We paid and got on! The boat ride was incredibly quick and easy. 5Q is less than a dollar, so even if we got ripped off it was for about 75 cents each.

Our general instructions were to ask at the dock for a shuttle boat to the Yoga Farm. We were quite early, so decided to walk around a bit. Before we had gotten off the boat, we were accosted by multiple guys offering hotels, tours, shuttle boat, etc. These guys were persistent, they followed us up the street and wouldn't leave us alone. Eventually they apparently got the idea that we were really not interested, and we had a few minutes to shop at the extremely colorful shops on the road by the docks.

We could hear live music and bullhorns, and a big crowd was apparent just up the street. I asked a shopkeeper if it was a festival, she replied "yes, the Fiesta de Santiago!" Cool! We watched the procession for a few minutes. The guys in robes and masks were grabbing people from the crowd to dance with them. We stayed at the edge of the crowd, we still had our packs on and were actually getting tired of standing!

We returned to the dock and found a boat driver willing to take us. At first he wanted 80Q, which was more than we had paid to go all the way from Pana! So, I said no, and he pushed, and eventually we agreed on 60Q. After arriving we were told that we should not have paid more than 50Q. I am slowly learning - I should have started at half of what he asked!

Well, he was nice and he brought us there and asked when to come back to pick me up. He was true to his word and he picked me up promptly at the appointed time.

But wait - I left out the most important part of the day - Aleeza's arrival at the Mystical Yoga Farm, her home for the next three weeks. As we had been told, it was a slice of paradise. Hard to describe in words or with pictures, but I'll try. The place is set on a steep hill, which means that there are great views of the lake from everywhere. There are little garden plots all around the place, everything from potatoes to beans to berries to coffee trees, lime trees, mango, papaya.....I could keep going. The yoga spaces were open-air and featured wide views of the lake and the volcanoes, as well as the town of Santiago Atitlan and the two volcanoes. Wow.

Aleeza was welcomed warmly, the folks greeted her with open arms, literally, everyone hugged her when she introduced herself. I tried to stay out of the way as much as possible, introducing myself as "just visiting" and letting her add "he's my dad."

We snacked on some avocado and crackers, and Aleeza made some tea from the tea pantry.

Her room is very sweet, not unlike a camp bunk room. Her roomates were very friendly and from all over - Sweden, Australia, California, etc.

The boat guy picked me up, as I mentioned, and we had a very sweet but gut wrenching (for me at least) goodbye. At this point, clouds had started rolling over the hilltops and thunder was rumbling across the lake. I hightailed it to my hotel, a super nice place called Posada de Santiago. The rains continue to threaten now but the sky has not opened up. And now they have started blasting fireworks in town, funny since it's full daylight.

A few words about the Posada - first, the shower was actually HOT! The pool is not nearly as nice as it looked in the photos online, but isn't that always true? The grounds are a tropical garden - I heard something fall from a tree, and looking up, realized it was an avocado tree. The ground is littered with rotting avocado. The paths are lined with coffee trees. There are hummingbirds, banana trees, a multitude of flowers, mango trees.....etc.

It is tough getting adjusted to being alone! I don't know what I will do for meals, so that's the next project after finishing this post.

I hope you are enjoying the stories so far!

- Aaron

Boat across the lake

Mini parade in Santiago, bad photo!

More Parade

Arriving at the Finca de Yoga (Mystical Yoga Farm)

The dining and meeting space

Micro-farming and interesting buildings

The Om-Dome sonic healing space

One of the Yoga spaces

Aleeza's bunk

Clouds rolling in

Amazing flowers everywhere!

It looks even better in real life

More flowering trees