Fixing the fixer…

When I was a little girl my mom was bit and badly injured by a brown recluse spider that came home with my dad in a banana box he was using to carry the groceries.  She had to go to the hospital and had a blood transfusion.  Even though I was way too young to remember this event it instilled in me a fear of spiders I have spent most of my life trying to overcome.

After securing the little apartment “casita” for the following 3 weeks we started to unload Moby.  I should say Fritz and two men we hired started to unload the truck, while I killed spiders.  Armed with bug spray that I am sure was made illegal in the US after the movie “Silent Spring” made our country aware of the dangers of insecticide, I ran around spraying every corner, nook and cranny.  I am sure that I killed thousands, well at least hundreds, ok there were at least 10 corpses of spiders.  These aren’t the small little wood spiders or even the daddy long legged variety, these were big black or brown hairy spiders as big as my palm.  I know many of you are disgusted with my behavior, and are thinking I should have let them live like Charlotte, and to that I say, re-read the first sentence and if they were in the barn they would still be alive, they were in what was becoming my house.  I was also relieved that first night that the electricity came on, we still didn’t have water, we were using our camp stove but the lights stayed on all night long as we slept on our mattress on the floor, with our sleeping bag liner completely zipped up, encircled by a perimeter of insecticide and at one point I almost killed my husband by running one of the clip on deet fans aimed at our heads (turned it off after his wheezing got really bad).

The next morning before the sun was up (but after I had already gotten out of bed escaping my nightmares of spiders) Rafael was there to hook up our water.  Water in Guatemala is pumped by the city (San Pedro de la Laguna) every few days into holding tanks, in our case it is then pumped from the holding tank in the back yard to the holding tank on roof.  We had to wait for the city to fill the first holding tank before we could get water into the house, and unfortunately that wouldn’t happen until later in the afternoon, so for another day we were without water.

Adjusting to the latest setback Fritz got started on the back yard cutting the grass with one of the men who had helped us carry down our things from the truck the day before. 

After about an hour of work, this guy showed up and the whole process went much more quickly.

Around one that afternoon the outside was done the helpers were sweeping out the spider webs from the ceiling and off the walls and I left in search of a mop and a bug bomb.  It quickly became clear that I wouldn’t find either in San Pedro, here I was quick to learn, you don’t use mops, instead you cut a whole in a towel put it over a broom and get it wet.  Also, there are no bug bombs only spray insecticide, so Fritz now spends every evening (and some mornings) killing any spiders brave enough to come out where I can see them and most days I go around in the morning, spraying the dark places of our house just to keep them out. 

Other than that, we have settled in quite nicely to our little house, and we love the convenience of a stove, a bathroom and having a place to stay, almost as much as the dogs love the back yard where they chase lizards during the day and toads at night.

We found a fixer…

Up until we moved to LA and the housing market collapsed around us Fritz and I had been buying, fixing and selling houses.  While I wouldn’t call us “house flippers” as we lived in each of them for a while before moving on to the next project, it was definitely how we made money and something that we loved doing.

We got to San Pedro on Monday, a day later than we had expected because after yet another wrong turn we found ourselves back in Panajachel, our first stop in Guatemala, circle completed.  Rather than try to figure out how to get to San Pedro that day we returned to a hotel that we knew would take our dogs and settled in for the night.  The next morning, armed with directions from the schools in San Pedro we set off, yes there were a couple of wrong turns along the way but undeterred we arrived at San Pedro right around 11:30 AM. 

Our first stop was the San Pedro Spanish School, unfortunately our huge truck would never make it down the tuk tuk only sized street but the school’s Director Ramon quickly came to meet us.  He took us to a little two story apartment that we decided was a definite no go, first it was down a kind of scary walking alley, second the bathroom was outside (not a huge deal) and third there was a high school looking down on the yard (and therefore the bathroom). 

 

He didn’t have the keys for the second place but had called someone to meet us there.  The second place was located down the same little alley but when Rafael (the gardener/handyman) showed up he suggested we go the other way down a nice little path which made us both feel better.  I think that for both of us the second house was love at first sight, two bedrooms, an open concept living kitchen area, a fully functioning bathroom and a great yard.  The yard was what sealed it for us, a safe fenced in place for the dogs with a view of the lake, as long as you didn’t mind the two flooded out buildings in front of the house which didn’t bother us at all.

Not knowing how much this palace would cost us and having another appointment at another language school with bungalows, we arranged to meet Ramon in an hour and went to Corazon Maya a few blocks away.  The school was charming and the woman who met us was very nice, the bungalows were fine, but compared to the little house we had just left it would have been a huge step down. 

 

We walked back to the San Pedro Spanish School talking about how much we would be willing to spend, the bungalows were $40US a week and the house was so much better, but the bungalows were all ready and the little house needed a huge clean-up, a stove, some major yard work and there wasn’t currently water or electricity.  At the school we explained our concerns to Ramon and asked him the price, after a few calls (we aren’t sure who he called as we later found out it was his house) he came back and told us it would be $1000 Quetzals for three weeks, a quick math problem and we figured it was $42 US a week, roughly the same as the bungalows, done, we had a home for the next three weeks!

Up a Mountain without a road…

After two really good days in Guatemala and the hope of an apartment, we decided to return to Lake Atitlan and San Pedro to get Fritz into school.  Consulting the map the most direct way to go was back though Coban and then cut over to Chimiltenango stay the night there and then to the school the next day.  With an early start I was fairly certain that we could get to Chimiltenango by around 3.  We stopped and to eat and get some dog food in Coban and then took off again still with plenty of time. 

We hit some really winding roads but everything seemed to be going well, we were a bit behind schedule and discussed stopping for the day but as it was still only 1 (our rule is try to find a place to settle in for the night by 3 or 4 at the latest) so we pushed on.  About an hour outside of the last town on our map we realized we had been going the wrong direction, we stopped at a gas station to double check and were informed that yes we had made a wrong turn but that it wasn’t a problem we could keep going and we would reach a town of Pachalum where there were hotels and was about 45 minutes from Chimiltenango. 

Following the directions to the City Square and Catholic Church, stopping to ask the nice policeman if we were on the right path we left the tiny town called I don’t know and headed up a steep mountain.  After about 3 miles the pavement ended but there was still a good gravel road so up we went, about 20 miles and 5000 feet altitude later the gravel was long gone but the dirt was well packed and we were headed down the other side… when the road forked.

We weren’t prepared for a fork in the road, we didn’t know which way to go, to our left was basically the right compass direction but on winding mountain dirt roads, a direction could change in a second, but left it was.  After a few minutes we saw a group of men (on horses) and of course stopped to ask directions, only one small hiccup with that idea, they didn’t speak Spanish, but indicated that we were definitely going the wrong way, further up the road we were finally able to turn around and coming toward us was a pick-up bus (the favorite mode of mass transportation on Guatemalan dirt roads a pick-up truck that people pay to ride in the back of since busses are too slow and they are cheaper than Combis), he thankfully spoke Spanish so we asked him for directions and he told us we had been headed in the right direction and he would wait for us to turn around again and we could follow him out. 

Once past the horsemen we found a place to turn around and caught back up with the pick-up bus passing the horse men for the third time to shouts of “otra vez” (again) and followed the bus while he dropped off his last two passengers.  Once they were out down the hill we went into the softest dust Fritz had ever driven in, it was so bad that not only could we not see in front of us but the tires started to skip like we were in water. 

Successfully navigating that stretch and on something that almost resembled a road the driver of the bus told us to keep heading down and we would be in town in about 10 minutes. Five minutes later we came to a fork in the road, guessing left, off we went hoping that we would see some sign of a town as it was now past 4 and we were getting more worried about having to drive after dark.  Up and then down a small hill we spotted a woman on the side of the road and out I jumped to ask for directions, in my best Spanish I explained that we were lost and asked if we were close to Pachalum and in perfect English she said yes we were just outside of the city asked where we were from, turns out she was raised in New Jersey and had been back for about 2 years to raise her daughter in the county where it is safer than the US.

With her recommendation of a good hotel we were off and 20 minutes later we were settled in drinking our first cerveza of the day, unfortunately 20 minutes after that I was expelling my cerveza and ½ hour later Fritz was in bed, both of us with the tourista, we spent two days in Pachalum and didn’t see anything outside of our hotel except for the few walks we took the dogs on, luckily for us it was a quick bout and we were able to finally get back on the road so Fritz could start school.

Swimming in the Rain…

We bought Moby our 2000 4x4 diesel Ford Excursion, specifically for this trip.  It is big enough for us and our dogs to sleep in, better fuel economy (they say with a diesel), and it is “Ford Tough” for bad roads.  With that in mind we set off to Sumec Champey on a “short cut” about 2/3rds the distance than if we back tracked through Coban, but 50 kilometers of dirt roads, followed by 20 kilometers of dirt roads.  Our load is so heavy that we broke our drag arm in Baja and had that repaired as well as the shocks beefed up in Oaxaca, but still Fritz was tentative to test the work.  I would say that we were slow and careful on the road but the truth of the matter is that we crawled the 70 kilometer to Sumec Champey, it took us about 6 hours to get there, but as we had left at 6 AM that was still early.

We found a cute little hostel to stay about 2 kilometer outside of the park, unloaded had a sandwich and figured we check it out and decide if we would spend one day or two after a swim in the pools.  During the last 20 minutes of driving to the pools we saw the ugliest green river I have seen yet.  I was super disappointed that all that I had read about Sumec Champey and the crystal blue pools and lovely waterfalls was not living up to the green gunk that I was seeing, maybe everyone else had come during the rainy season and during the dry season it wasn’t as nice.  Feeling the same sinking feeling that had been gnawing on us since Guate, we got to the park to be informed once again that no dogs were allowed in.  We didn’t think that we would be there that long, so we let the dogs out in the parking lot and decided to park in the shade, roll down the windows and check it out.  It was one of our better decisions.

There are six pools in all at the park, each feeds down to the other, there is also a hike that goes up and around the park so you can see the pools from above, not wanting to leave the dogs that long we skipped the hike and headed straight to the pools.  The pools are blue, and clear, and absolutely lovely.  We swam in the lowest one then climbed up to the second one.  After checking on the dogs, making sure they were fine, and having a couple of cervezas, it started to rain, rather than packing it all in we went swimming again and then called it a day.

That night at the hostel we were treated to wonderful light show by Mother Nature, though this time we didn’t get a mini tornado and hail we got at least 6 hours of lightening, thunder and rain, a wonderful treat!

The drive out the next morning was different; Fritz finally found his 4 wheel drive skills.  I am not sure if it was the great swim, the pouring rain, checking on the truck and finding everything ok or getting passed by tour buses loaded with luggage and stuffed with people but the drive out took less than half the time as the drive in, and that’s a good thing.

More caves and pools…

 

The drive from Flores back to where the Candelaria pools were was less than exciting, we were both frustrated at the 8 hours of driving we had done in the last couple of days, feeling like we were chasing our tails and going around in circles.  Our conversation centered mostly on if we should stay in Guatemala or just find a school in El Salvador or Nicaragua.  We got to the turn off for Raxruha really early and quickly found a hotel recommended by LifeRemotel.com.  We asked the girl at the front desk about the caves and besides trying to sell us a guide for $500 quetzal wouldn’t give us anymore help.   We headed into the town asked for directions there and off we went.  About 30 minutes later we came to a fork in the road, I looked at my map and couldn’t figure out which way to go, we asked the military guys at the fork which way to the caves and after a bit of discussion amongst themselves they pointed and the journey continued.  Fifteen minutes later I was fairly sure that we had gotten lost, luckily we were in a town (San Bartolome de Las Casas) and asked another person, this man explained that the caves were on the other side of Raxruha and that we needed to turn around drive the 45 minutes back then another 20 or so minutes past where we started.  Off we went once again driving around in circles.  We stopped about 3 more times to ask directions just to make sure we were on the right track and finally we saw a sign for the caves.  We pulled into a nice looking restaurant and hotel and out I jumped to find out about the caves only to be informed that they were closed and the road in was blocked.

When I got back in the truck I was so mad I couldn’t speak more than to say “There closed, get me out of here”, Fritz not knowing what to do drove and kept saying “Do we go back to the hotel?  We can leave Guatemala tomorrow. It’s Ok honey.”  Another 5 minutes driving up the same road and we saw another sign for the caves.  Still fuming about the bad directions, the girl at the hotel who wouldn’t help, the owner of the restaurant that said they were closed we hoped we would find the caves.  Driving down a bumpy dirt road the last thing that you expect to see is a bunch of kids hanging out in school uniforms but that’s what we saw.  Immediately one boy jumped down ran over to the truck and asked us if we were looking for the caves, when I said yes he told me just up the hill and down and we would be there.  His friendliness melted my anger and with a bit of hesitation we pushed on, up a very steep dirt road and down the other side with a hairpin turn about half way through. 

 Once at the bottom we were greeted by a group of very friendly people who assured us we were at the right place and that they would take us through the caves.  The next hour and a half was spent lazily floating down the river through some big caves and then hiking out, sorry though no pictures of the caves as we were scared we’d drop the camera.  Also a note to anyone thinking of checking out the caves, you can camp or rent a “cabana” at the caves there, I would think it would be a nicer place to stay then where we stayed, and that money goes to support the 350 people who live in the area and take care of the caves.

Faith restored in Guatemala we returned to the hotel to shower and check email, in the in box was a note from another school in San Pedro that said if we came there we could have an apartment… The scales were definitely tipping toward school but first we decided to see Semuc Champey.

An apartment and school… or not

After 8 weeks living on the road between hotels and some camping to say that I was excited about having an apartment where we were going to spend 3 to 4 weeks, especially one on a lake, in a hot area where Fritz could go to school would be a bit of an understatement.  We had chosen the school in Flores precisely because they had an apartment, there were other schools in San Pedro where we could have a bungalow but even though this was more than twice the money, I really wanted to have an apartment.

We arrived at the school around 2 in the afternoon, the drive had been long and we had gone from the temperate climate of the mountains (63 when we left) to the heat of Paten (93 when we arrived).   At first we couldn’t find the school, we saw the signs but when we walked in it was a café.  After going in and out a couple of times I finally asked the girl behind the counter where the school was and were informed the school was upstairs.  I asked if the director was there and she said no one would be back until 7 PM, I then explained that we were there to get an apartment and that Fritz would be starting school the next day so if she could call the director and let her know that we were here we would greatly appreciate it, unfortunately the phone was out, so she suggested we come back at 3, when someone else would get there, and they could take us to the apartment.  I changed clothes in the bathroom while Fritz gave the dogs some water and then we had a beer while we waited.  Around 3:30 the other worker arrived and after a bit of a discussion we all hopped in our truck (me in the back with dogs) and drove to the apartment.  

 

The tour of the place lasted about 30 seconds, it was a room, no kitchen, a card table with three folding chairs, no closet or dressers and three extra small single beds, oh and the dirtiest bathroom I have ever been in.  In a less than polite manner I explained that this was not going to work for us, the girl who had brought us very kindly said that she would see what she could do and left, I thought to find the director so we could figure out a solution.  Less than an hour later she was back, not with the director but with a portable stove and a bottle of water explaining that she could make us a kitchen, when I (less than politely) explained again that for this amount of money we expected more and that this was really, really less than acceptable and that the director should really be there to explain to me what had happened, she shrugged and said basically “take it or leave it” so we left it.

Luckily we were able to find a hotel right across the street from the school, with air conditioning (not in the apartment), a lake view (not in the apartment), wifi (not in the apartment) and a sitting area (not in the apartment) for less money. 

 

Thoroughly disappointed, frustrated as well as hot and still not feeling well, we came up with a new plan, we would see Tikal, drive back to Semuc Champey and the Candelaria Caves then check out the bungalows in San Pedro.  The next afternoon we headed up to Tikal, we thought that we would spend the night at the Jaguar Inn so we could get to the ruins really early the next morning and then head out.  An hour later we were informed that under no circumstances could we take the dogs to Tikal (would have been nice before the 60 kilometer drive but oh well).  So back to the hotel, paddle boarding on the lake and at 6 am the next morning we were on our way.

Caves in Coban

After saying goodbye to Ana in Guate, we both decided we needed to find a more rural place next so with 3 days to go until Fritz started school we took off to Coban.  Our plan was to spend the night in the National Park in the city and then to head toward Semuc Champey before heading north to Flores in Paten. 

 

The departure from Guate was super easy; we left on the Saturday before Easter early enough to beat the cities processions.  The road took us from dried suburban landscapes to cloud forest as we drove, about 2 ½ hours in we stopped at the funniest Guatemalan restaurant either of us had seen, it looked like it was ordered right out of the General Store catalog, we truly felt like we had been transported to somewhere in middle America and were having lunch with someone’s grandmother.  Another hour later and we were in Coban, unfortunately I was still recovering from the Guatemalan flu and so we decided against camping and opted for a hotel, my hopes of finding a hotel on the last Saturday of Semana Santa that would take us and the dogs was not high but we followed these signs hoping for a break and after Fritz saying “Really, you think you want to look for a hotel down this street?” and me encouraging him on we found what has to have been the nicest hotel for dogs yet.

Not only was the room really comfortable and the water in the showers hot, the couple who owned it had also landscaped the whole hillside for bird watchers, where we could let the dogs run free or use the lawn area for a much needed game of catch!  The couple who own the hotel was very nice (we ended up being the only people there as all the other guests had checked out that morning to miss the traffic back to the city) and suggested that instead of Semuc Champey we try the “Cuevas de Los Reyes” which was closer.  We headed out there early on Easter morning.

Anyone who knows me knows that I am fairly claustrophobic, so I am not quite sure what I was thinking going Spelunking, I have been in caves before, well I have been in the mouths of really big caves on Kauai and when the guide told me that the first opening was the smallest at one meter by one meter I almost chickened out.  I will say that I did it, unfortunately I don’t have any photographic proof of this as it was too dark for our camera to work, but I did it, including crossing a stream in the cave with a rope, crawling through parts on my knees and a minute complete darkness in the center of the cave where we were all supposed to pray or meditate and talk to our ancestors (my conversation was pretty much get me the bleep out of here).  Once in the sunshine I cried. 

 

Other than the caves I would have liked to have spent more time in the pools and waterfalls but with the Guatemalan flu persisting and Easter Sunday crowds we retired to another afternoon of hiking and an early dinner at our new favorite hotel.