Guatemala 7/1/2022 - 7/17/2022

Friday, 7/15/2022 - San Juan La Laguna

I woke up for work at 6:45 a.m. Craig was still exhausted, though his diarrhea was gone thanks to the antibiotics. When I went outside for breakfast, I saw that Eddy and Yoselin had finished the puzzle last night. Breakfast was scrambled eggs with veggies, black beans, and cheese.

Humberto was not working today, and offered to take us and the family to San Juan la Laguna for an outing. Craig felt like he shouldn't go; he was feeling weak and dehydrated. But I didn't have much to do for work, so I took half a day.

At around 10 a.m. we walked down to the lake and boarded a lancha (boat) for San Juan la Laguna. the girls decided to take Octavio on his first boat ride. I always love being on the lake; it is so breezy and beautiful on the lanchas. The sky was a bit hazy due to Volcan Fuego erupting in the distance.

San Juan la Laguna had really flourished post-pandemic. During covid, the town invested in street art as well as a beautifully decorated observation deck, making the village Instagram-ready. As soon as you dock there, you see strings of carnival lights with masks and baskets hanging from them. As you ascend the steep hill which leads to town, you notice paintings on the walls of the buildings as well as on the street itself. Colorful overhead umbrellas provide shade as well as a nesting spot for birds.

We walked up towards the church and stopped for artisenal ice cream cones (pineapple coconut ice cream with strawberry sauce and peanuts on top). We walked down Hat Street, where there were many colorful murals, including one of a beloved mayor who introduced electricity to the town in the 1970's

We cut through a covered basketball court where kids were playing soccer. One of them kicked the soccer ball straight up into the air and it came down straight through the basketball hoop. It was amazing! We saw a statue/fountain of St. John the Baptist, the town's patron saint. There were many detailed murals in this area as well.

Then we went to the World of Mayan Bees, an area of bee conservation. The local "Mayan bees" are small and have no stingers. Here they have about 35 hives featuring bees of different types, and create an enormous amount of products. No photos were allowed, but it was a lovely area forested with bamboo, with bee-themed murals on the walls.

Our final stop was the Mirador Kaqasiiwaan. This is a lookout platform which is beautifully decorated with locally styled paintings. I have seen it online and have wanted to go there. The girls wanted to go too, so even though it was half an hour's hike in the hot sun, we loaded up on water and Gatorade and decided to accept the challenge.

We could see it towering over us as we got closer. In this heat and sun, I was a bit apprehensive, but I was determined to redeem myself after failing to climb the much more arduous San Pedro volcano 18 years ago. This was the least I could do.

Humberto bought our tickets, and we started the ascent at 12:30...talk about the hottest part of the day! There were stairs hewn into the hillside, and luckily there were shady spots and places where you could have a seat to rest. The kids and Humberto ran on ahead, but Paulina stayed with me. At this altitude, it was difficult to catch my breath, and I was sweating like crazy. I rested a lot, but after half an hour, I made it!

There was a bell to ring to announce our arrival. It was so gorgeous up there. The platform has two levels, all of which are gorgeously painted. In addition to that, there is a beautiful panoramic view of the lake and the surrounding volcanoes. It was the perfect spot to take photos. There was also a nice breeze, which cooled us down in the midday heat.

As we prepared to walk back down, Ivan needed a snack. One of his favorite foods is cucumber. One of the vendors at the mirador peeled and hollowed out a cucumber, seasoned the outside with Tajin chili seasoning, stuffed the inside with spicy nacho chips, and drizzled lime juice over the top. Humberto tried to get me to taste it, but it just seemed to weird to me.

It took about 15 minutes for us to walk back down to the base of the steps. We then took a scenic shortcut to get back to the dock. We boarded a different lancha to get back to Pana. The water was rougher and we were splashed and slammed around a bit, resulting in much laughter. Paola called and ordered Pollo Campero so that we would have lunch delivered once we returned to the house.

Craig was asleep when we got home. We woke him up and Paola gave him an IV to rehydrate him. Aracely helped to translate for Paola as she set up the IV. Craig felt better almost instantly.

He had some leftover chicken soup in bed while the rest of us enjoyed Pollo Campero: delicious, meaty chicken breasts, fries, cole slaw, rolls, flan, and Coca Cola. The family served it with a salad and ramen noodles.

Craig with his IV and chicken soup

Eddy, Aracely, and Ivan had moved into Vanesa's old room on the first floor. The upstairs 4 rooms were being rented tonight by a party of 20 guests that included 10 small children. A couple of the toddlers peeked into our room (the door was open but the Octavio-proof barricade was up). They were absolutely adorable and waved to us while Craig was finishing up his IV.

Once the IV was done, Craig went outside. We played Uno with the kids for at least 2 hours.

We didn't have dinner tonight, as we had had a big, late lunch. Vanesa and Danny came over to pick up a fridge that Humberto and Paulina gifted to them.