Guatemala part 3

 Indigenous folks we passed en route to Atitlan - amidst the maize fields.

 No.  The volcano is not erupting.  Turns out that there is often a cloud there from the micro climate formed above the caldera.

 One of several volcanoes around Lake Atitlan.  It was worth a second photo for the blog.  Panajachel is below.

 The scenery around the hotel was breathtaking and included a waterfall in the mountains above the hotel.  This is a look across the lake (2nd largest in Guatemala, and a very deep lake at that).  The lake's elevation is about 5,500 ft. and the climate is known as eternal spring.

 The artwork and gardens at the hotel were to die for.  Just ask Gayle.  Our room (we swapped with the boys so they could have two beds) was on the end of the 3rd (top) floor (and was #315, visible  in this shot)and looked out on the garden and the lake.  Unbelievable views.

 More of the hotel outdoor walkway on our floor.

Looking back toward Panajachel.  I should mention that I got in several good runs this week, including a couple back at Camino Real in Petén on the gravel road next to the lake.  Here at Atitlan several of the Marshes and the Cospers' daughter got in a run with me.  Some of us had to back off of the hill route due to a massive mud slide that had covered the road.  It was a very nice run though.

 Our bed in #315 at Hotel Atitlan.

 Yes.  Believe it or not, this is what we looked out at from our room.

 The gardens were amazing.

 Many exotic plants we'd never seen before.

 An infinity jacuzzi next to the pool.  We tested it out later.

 Jared in the evening.

 Looking back at the restaurant and the mountains behind the hotel.

Here's the pool, just beyond the restaurant's outdoor seating.

The catamaran was loading to head across the lake to visit Santiago de Atitlan.  Here we are on the dock with a couple of the guys helping with the voyage.  You can't see in this photo, but just behind us there is a gazebo and lamp, etc. underwater.  Turns out that the lake level has risen about 15 feet over the last several years.  It goes through cycles.
Jared, catching some rays on the trip across the lake.

Some of the group (Rich, Trevor, and Charlene chatting) on the trip over.
Jared and Dallin en route.

Jared's smart phone (Android) wide angle shot on the way to Santiago de Atitlan.

These are in no particular order, but here are some shots from the Hotel Atitlan.  This is part of the breakfast spread.  There were beautiful decorations everywhere.

One of the displays in near the restaurant.

Bringing back more orange juice at breakfast.  I could've had watermelon, pineapple, or papaya juice too, probably.

Gayle, about to eat chicken & vegetable soup at lunch.  I went for the black bean soup.  The lemonade was fantastic too.  I had mine with mineral water.
 Note Gayle's right eye.  She woke up one morning at El Camino Real Hotel at Petén Itza and it had swollen shut.  As best as we can tell it was a mosquito bite in her eye socket next to her nose.  I slip this shot in here because the next shot was a couple of days later at Atitlan and the swelling was still noticeable.

A photo at an evening event (birthday party for Ted Fairchild, one of our group).  Gayle's eye is getting better.

A wall in an art store in Santiago de Atitlan.  Out of place with the other photos, but colorful so I'll leave it here.

Fruit anyone?

Outdoor seating at the restaurant.

And this would be indoor seating for breakfast.

Another shot out of place.  This is a lady selling cloth in Santiago de Atitlan.

Two of the locals in their traditional dress.

The garden right below our balcony.

More of the garden at the hotel.

Kicking back at Hotel Atitlan.

One of the hotel staff with the guys.

Garden, looking out at the dock.

Life, imitating art.

It must be a popular hotel, there's a helicopter landing pad.

One last look down at the hotel, just to the right of the ugly green tower hotel.  Next, on to Antigua Guatemala.

The guys in their "Man Cave" section at the back of bus #2 en route to Antigua.  Antigua was the ancient capital of this central part of Latin America.  It is a very scenic, artsy, colonial city.  Our hotel was a very old convent, restored and turned into a ritzy hotel, complete with several museums inside.  The following Antigua and final Guatemala City photos are not in a particular order.

A local band with 6 guys playing the marimba.  They were performing not far from the downtown plaza in the evenings.

By far the fanciest McDonald's I had been to.  Here's a look into the McCafé where Rich, Pam, and Terry are talking.

Another part of the McDonald's.  There also was a spacious garden area with seating, a kids area at the back, an Internet area, and the usual dining area.

On a hill above Antigua, with our Guatemalan t-shirts on.

Jared and Erin above Antigua.

Dallin, the local, above Antigua as well.

The young singles club - Jared, Rebecca, Dallin, and Erin.

The youngsters eating out.  Steve Marsh, Erin, John Marsh, Jared, Dallin, and Rebecca Marsh.

Somewhere in Antigua.

Inside the Casa Santo Domingo Hotel, in Antigua.

More local color.

Inside our room at Casa Santo Domingo, a colonial convent converted into a hotel.

These doors open into a private, small garden area.

Trekking up the parking lot driveway toward the buses to leave for the capital city.

The guys ready to board load their stuff on the bus so they can visit the city before leaving.

A couple of adventurers.

A mural in one of the hotel museums, with Pam May to the right.

Near our hotel room.


Our room from the outside.

Looking in with the door open.  You can see the fireplace at the back left, and the doors to the garen to the right.

Beauty everywhere around at the hotel.

More convent decorations.

Artwork all around.

Rebecca and Jared relaxing at a jade museum and factory we visited.

Checking out a jade marimba at the factory.

Wearing a jade encrusted costume at the museum/factory.  Guatemalan jade is significantly harder than the more common Chinese jade.

We, of course, hit the market.

We also visited a couple of the many Catholic churches in Antigua. 

More decor back at the hotel.

Dallin blended right in.

Gayle wanted an artsy shot of hot chocolate.

Colorful street selling.

Old colonial vs. modern street market.

A shot of a pathway inside the convent/hotel.

In the hotel somewhere.

More convent/hotel artwork.  A marriage ceremony was held here the night we stayed.

Jared and parrots.  I believe somewhere in the Casa de Santo Domingo Hotel.

So scenic I have to show another shot of Antigua from the hill above it.

Jared, the Mayan king.  Although for those interested, many LDS scholars think the Olmecs and Jaredites are correlated, whereas the Mayans correlate time-wise and probably location-wise with the Nephite/Lamanite civilizations.

Back at our Guatemala City hotel, the Barceló.  We held a great testimony meeting the night before leaving.  Here are Steven Marsh, Erin Elton, Jared, Colleen and John Walker, Rebecca Marsh, Dallin Large, and John Marsh.

A farewell kiss from the guys to send Rebecca on her way.

Guatemala part 2

After our excursion to Quiriguá we headed out to northern Guatemala to the state of Petén.  En route, we passed by some military personnel.  Jared and Dallin wanted to have their photo taken with one of the guys so I asked and he said it would be OK.

 
I couldn't tell exactly where this fit in, probably back at Quiriguá, but Jared and Dallin were in the same clothes as the other shots on this day so I stuck it in.  They are with Erin Elton, daughter of one of the former Walker missionaries.  She lives near Dallin in California but found out he was going on this trip while they were both attending a young singles meeting on the east coast and Dallin overheard her talking about the trip.  They couldn't believe they were both going on a Walker Guatemala trip.

The Camino Real Hotel near Santa Elena is right on the third largest lake in Guatemala, the Petén Itza.  It is lowland and in the jungle.  It's a great hotel.  This is in the dance area where we also sang karaoke.  Dallin is dancing with Rebecca Marsh (daughter of John Marsh and niece of Henry Marsh the olympic steeple chaser from the 80's).  Becky also had two single brothers on the trip.

Jared and Erin dancing in the jungle.

Several of us tried karaoke.  Here Gayle and Erin belt it out.  Erin has a very nice voice, as does her father, Byron.

There were lots of exotic plants around the hotel (and everywhere else, for that matter).

The first site we visited in Petén was Yaxha (pronounced Josh-ha, more or less, per our guide, Aquilino).

 

The dudes, taking in some vitamin D.

 
Father and son, apparently looking at something in the jungle.

Jared, on top a VERY steep pyramid at Yaxha.  Frankly, I experienced mild acrophobia, mostly when others got too close to the edge.  The Laguna Yaxjá (spelling per map) in the background was very scenic.

Jared, holding up a stela.  Actually, in some cases the actual stelae are taken to secure locations for study and preservation and replicas are set up.  Not sure which this is.

Gayle, atop one of many pyramids.

In these ancient sites, many of the surrounding hills are actually unrestored pyramids.  At Tikal, for example, the forest had been cleared in the late 1800's and yet when we were there the jungle had completely taken back much of the area and all the unrestored pyramids.  Once inhabitants left, often it is suspected due to degradation of the surrounding environment, the cities were lost to the jungle.

 
That's me on top.  You can click to enlarge if you don't believe me.

Lake Petén Itza was fantastic.  It is clean, warm, and beautiful.  This is a dock below our hotel.  We went swimming and kayaking.  A Swiss guy had retired and built a beautiful home overlooking the lake just around the bend.  We went kayaking past his house (and dock and boats).

Jared and Dallin had just pulled in with the kayaks as dusk fell.

We had to get this sign.  How many times do you see a "Jaguar crossing" sign?  This is Rich May, one of my former companions (we served in Tampico together) and his sister-in-law, Terry Wilkinson.  Rich is an immunologist in Birmingham, Alabama (but was raised in Ojai, California).  He's been a stake president and Area authority, and right now is serving his second time as a bishop.

Also not the type sign we would usually see.

Although this was a small guy, there really were crocodiles in this body of water at Tikal.

Overlooking part of the main square (so to speak) of Tikal.  The numbers of "buildings" here (and at other ancient Mayan cities) were incredible.  We didn't have the time and money (usually one goes by helicopter) to get to the more recently studied El Mirador up in northern Petén.  Its size even overshadows Tikal.  Its La Danta pyramid is not as tall as, but is more massive than the one at Giza, Egypt.  Charles Lindbergh and other pilots who saw it and other pyramids in that part of Petén thought they were seeing many volcanoes.

Group shot at Tikal.  Trevor and Charlene Ashton, Rich and Pam May, Kenny and Terry Wilkinson, and yours truly with Gayle.

One of many large carved masks at Tikal.  I need to point out that the pyramids, when in use, were all stuccoed and painted different colors.  And all the open areas for walking were also stuccoed.

The young bucks at Tikal.

John Marlan and Colleen Walker!

Wish I had a recording of the howl these howler monkey make.  Amazingly loud and scary.

Buzzards circling in the jungle around one of the multiple "temples" at Tikal.  The hill just outside the shot to the right is another of the temples, but not uncovered.

We had an amazing local guide on this leg of the adventure.  All I can remember is his first name, Aquilino.  He has never been to the US but speaks English very fluently.

Jared with a Mayan temple in the background, rising above the forest.

Another shot of the center area of Tikal.  Roofs cover some of the artifacts being preserved and studied.

Another one of us.  Note the scaffolding in the background as work is being done to shore up and preserve the ancient structures.

Jared in the jungle.  Has a nice ring to it.

That evening we went to see the lake island of Flores (from the shore) and mainly to visit one of the local LDS branches in Santa Elena, to see students who had benefited from the Walkers' foundation, Las Gaviotas (the seagulls), which provides tuition for poor students to complete public education (which is free only for the first 6 years).  Each recipient got to stand up and express gratitude and report on their progress.

Wish I'd taken better shots of El Camino Real hotel, but here's one of thte sidewalk going past each building of rooms, which overlook Lake Petén Itza.

And here's a shot of the breakfast spread that awaited us each morning.

A look over a roof top area toward the lake.

 There was a nice pool and jacuzzi, but I'm not sure which part of which this particular view takes in.

 We left the Santa Elena area and retraced our earlier journey as we headed to our next adventure site, the Atitlan area.  They let us disembark the buses in order to walk across a scenic bridge.  This spanned a narrow part of the Lago de Izabal, the largest lake in Guatemala.  I didn't realize it at the time, but we were very close to the Castle of San Felipe, a place a Guatemalteco friend of mine (Adrian's neighbor) said we should try to see.

Even though this is Guatemala, we were close enough to Mexico (in distance and culture) that hand made corn tortillas were still very common in the area.  After we crossed the bridge, this was one of the places we passed on foot as we approached the gas station where the buses were re-fueling.