July 29 - San Pedro Volcano
July 29 - Did not get much sleep last night, in part because I was nervous of oversleeping my 5 am wake up time. I had a date at 5:40 with some classmates and guide to climb San Pedro volcano!
The day started fine, we walked through the town, which was quiet at that hour. The main square was mostly empty, and the morning bus to Xela was loading up.
Lily and Damien confessed to being hung over. The other two people in our group, Hassan from Belgium and Adam from Vancuver, were not. Our guide, Juan, had already worked his first job - fishing (by hand using traditional net technique) in the lake starting at 2 am! As we waited for Lily to purchase some water, I asked Juan if the gang of dogs that had assembled were going to climb the mountain with us. He laughed and said "si!" but I thought he was joking. Turns out, he wasn't.
We got to the entrance to the volcano "park" and signed in with our guide. As is basically always the case, there is some kind of deal going on between the guides and the park attendants, because if you come to do the hike by yourself, it is 100 Quetzales per person. If you hire a guide, it is 100 Quetzales per person, and there is no entrance fee. As we were signing in, I saw our guide handing the attendant some money off to the side of the room. Whatever!
The trail brought us through many coffee groves, interspersed with corn (Maiz) and avocado. About half way up, there was a cool tire swing. I did not get up the nerve to do it.
We had awesome views to the Northeast from the midway point. From left to right, towns along the lake are: San Juan peaking from behind the trees, then San Pablo near the center of the photo, and finally San Marcos all the way on the right, partially hidden. Up on the ridge above San Pablo is another popular day hike called "Nez del Indio" (Indian's nose.) I am saving that for another day or perhaps another visit.
We were hot and sweaty and tired when the guide informed us that we were about half way up. The temperature started dropping and the flora started changing a lot. Along the way Juan told us a few interesting facts about the trees and the animal life. With the dogs, though, there was not much chance we would actually see any wildlife. At one point, we smelled a skunk, but that was as close as we came to seeing anything, aside from some vultures when we were at the top.
Our guide had explained that traditional Maya people would come to the top to hold rituals and ask for good health and good harvests, and this would happen at sunrise. He also explained that the trees were seen as sacred and as the source of strength and balance. They refer to the very large trees as "Abuelos" (grandfathers) and they would hug these large trees that grow high on the volcano to draw strength from them.
Finally we reached a little camping hut that people use when they want to see the sunrise from the summit. Juan told us we were almost at the top, and we were so happy. We continued and reached the summit! The views were super impressive, even with the clouds starting to roll in. On a clear day, we were told, the Fuego volcano near Antigua can be seen erupting, but not today. The view from the summit was mainly to the south-southwest, including the "city" of Santiago Atitlan, beneath the cloud-capped peaks of Atitlan and Toliman volcanoes.
The trip down was rather uneventful. Everyone ordered smoothies when we got back to the park entrance. I had mango and it was super sweet and cold, perfect for a hot and sweaty hiker.
We wound up riding a tuk-tuk back into town, we kind of got pushed into it by our guide even though I would have been happy to keep walking. All five of us crammed in, with me and Lily in the front seat on either side of the driver. I was seriously afraid I would fall out going around some of the curves as we bombed down the steep road! When we arrived back in town, the driver wanted 10Q from each of us. I was not surprised, I know from my experience here and in Nicaragua last year that they charge by the person, not by the ride, and when you start or end your ride outside the city limits the fare is ten instead of five. Whatever - the driver got a good fare, but 50Q is still less that ten dollars, so it's not like he's going to be able to retire early off of us.
I split from my hiking buddies at that point and returned to my homestay. I took a shower and headed into town to get COFFEE and food. I returned to Sababa restaurant, where the food and coffee were both very Sababa!
The skies opened up at that point and it rained hard for over an hour, something that had not happened since I arrived over a week ago. The temperature dropped a lot, and it is now downright chilly!
Tomorrow I will be sad to leave San Pedro, but my full week is coming to a close. I might be back here with Aleeza at the end of our trip, as I have left two days unplanned after I pick her up, and she seemed pretty into the idea of staying here overnight. As Donald Trump likes to say, "We'll see what happens."
So - next stop, the Hummingbird Hostel in Tzununa, and a day with Aleeza in San Marcos on Monday.
- AK
The day started fine, we walked through the town, which was quiet at that hour. The main square was mostly empty, and the morning bus to Xela was loading up.
Lily and Damien confessed to being hung over. The other two people in our group, Hassan from Belgium and Adam from Vancuver, were not. Our guide, Juan, had already worked his first job - fishing (by hand using traditional net technique) in the lake starting at 2 am! As we waited for Lily to purchase some water, I asked Juan if the gang of dogs that had assembled were going to climb the mountain with us. He laughed and said "si!" but I thought he was joking. Turns out, he wasn't.
We got to the entrance to the volcano "park" and signed in with our guide. As is basically always the case, there is some kind of deal going on between the guides and the park attendants, because if you come to do the hike by yourself, it is 100 Quetzales per person. If you hire a guide, it is 100 Quetzales per person, and there is no entrance fee. As we were signing in, I saw our guide handing the attendant some money off to the side of the room. Whatever!
The trail brought us through many coffee groves, interspersed with corn (Maiz) and avocado. About half way up, there was a cool tire swing. I did not get up the nerve to do it.
 |
| The Hangover Twins! |
We had awesome views to the Northeast from the midway point. From left to right, towns along the lake are: San Juan peaking from behind the trees, then San Pablo near the center of the photo, and finally San Marcos all the way on the right, partially hidden. Up on the ridge above San Pablo is another popular day hike called "Nez del Indio" (Indian's nose.) I am saving that for another day or perhaps another visit.
We were hot and sweaty and tired when the guide informed us that we were about half way up. The temperature started dropping and the flora started changing a lot. Along the way Juan told us a few interesting facts about the trees and the animal life. With the dogs, though, there was not much chance we would actually see any wildlife. At one point, we smelled a skunk, but that was as close as we came to seeing anything, aside from some vultures when we were at the top.
 |
| Nice of them to tell us the elevation! The summit is 3,050 meters above sea level. (That's a bit over 10,000 feet for my American friends!) |
Our guide had explained that traditional Maya people would come to the top to hold rituals and ask for good health and good harvests, and this would happen at sunrise. He also explained that the trees were seen as sacred and as the source of strength and balance. They refer to the very large trees as "Abuelos" (grandfathers) and they would hug these large trees that grow high on the volcano to draw strength from them.
Finally we reached a little camping hut that people use when they want to see the sunrise from the summit. Juan told us we were almost at the top, and we were so happy. We continued and reached the summit! The views were super impressive, even with the clouds starting to roll in. On a clear day, we were told, the Fuego volcano near Antigua can be seen erupting, but not today. The view from the summit was mainly to the south-southwest, including the "city" of Santiago Atitlan, beneath the cloud-capped peaks of Atitlan and Toliman volcanoes.
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| Santiago Atitlan from the summit. |
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| We Made It! |
We wound up riding a tuk-tuk back into town, we kind of got pushed into it by our guide even though I would have been happy to keep walking. All five of us crammed in, with me and Lily in the front seat on either side of the driver. I was seriously afraid I would fall out going around some of the curves as we bombed down the steep road! When we arrived back in town, the driver wanted 10Q from each of us. I was not surprised, I know from my experience here and in Nicaragua last year that they charge by the person, not by the ride, and when you start or end your ride outside the city limits the fare is ten instead of five. Whatever - the driver got a good fare, but 50Q is still less that ten dollars, so it's not like he's going to be able to retire early off of us.
I split from my hiking buddies at that point and returned to my homestay. I took a shower and headed into town to get COFFEE and food. I returned to Sababa restaurant, where the food and coffee were both very Sababa!
The skies opened up at that point and it rained hard for over an hour, something that had not happened since I arrived over a week ago. The temperature dropped a lot, and it is now downright chilly!
Tomorrow I will be sad to leave San Pedro, but my full week is coming to a close. I might be back here with Aleeza at the end of our trip, as I have left two days unplanned after I pick her up, and she seemed pretty into the idea of staying here overnight. As Donald Trump likes to say, "We'll see what happens."
So - next stop, the Hummingbird Hostel in Tzununa, and a day with Aleeza in San Marcos on Monday.
- AK
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