Second Lake Atitlan Visit

We decided a little bit spontaneously that we wanted to go up to Lake Atitlan over the weekend, and so we could only stay Friday night because they were completely booked every other night. Larissa and I insisted that it was still worth it though, so we all piled into a van Friday afternoon to drive up there. We had a nice driver who didn't really drive like a Guatemalan, which was a good thing. It meant that nobody felt sick. We have a theory now that the drivers who have crosses hanging from their mirrors are a lot more careful and experience than other drivers. Our sample size is really small, but so far it has held true.

We got to the hotel in time to rest for about an hour and then have dinner. It was already too cold and windy at this point to swim or anything, but we explored the whole area with Allison, and then sat and watched the sunset, which was absolutely gorgeous! Dinner was good as always, and we were slightly surprised when the dessert was platanos. None of us are very fond of them, and were not exactly enthusiastic to try whatever it was. As it turned out though, it tasted a lot like apple pie, and if you ignored the overwhelming smell of bananas and the looks of the thing, it wasn't too bad. Of course you also had to imagine you were eating apple pie and not something else, so Larissa, and Allison and I didn't end up finishing everything...

We woke up Saturday morning, to find that we were incredibly lucky. All the times mom has been there before it's been really really windy. That's not saying a whole lot since it's not like we go every weekend, but it definitely isn't everyday that the lake is perfectly calm and smooth. We swam and went kayaking for most of the morning, goofing off and jumping of the decks down into the water. I really wish we could have stayed longer, but oh well. It was still a lot of fun.

And the best part about it was that I was completely healthy the whole time. In the afternoon we had to ride the boat back to Pana to have lunch and shop around for a little while before our bus came. We ate at our favorite restaurant there, which as ever had some of the best food I've ever tasted. Everybody's was absolutely delicious, and we were very content while we walked around looking at the shops. There was a period of about an hour where all of our stomachs were a little dicey, we think from lake water, but it ended up being ok.

The biggest adventure of the whole vacation was the ride back. We arrived at the travel agency the exact time they told us to, which was only about ten minutes before we were to leave. Half an hour later, a man came out and told us that it would be about twenty more minutes. As it turned out, the van showed up about ten minutes later. It was a really little one, because it was only for the five of us and one other man. Only the windows in the front seat opened, so Nancy and Rissa freaked a little bit to be up there. Since I don't get motion sickness ever it was no big deal for me. We set out and stopped at a gas station about five minutes out. While the driver and his assistant were out of the car, an indigenous woman who had been sitting with them, the wife or girlfriend of either the driver or the assistant took the keys and left.

None of us were really paying attention, so we didn't notice what had happened for a minute. The other passenger spoke Spanish, and told us that apparently she had a fight with whoever she was with, and as revenge stole the keys and left. Nobody could find her, and we were assuming at this point that we were going to spend the night in Pana. As it turned out though, they found another bus within about five minutes. We don't know how. This bus was literally a mini-school bus, not the normal van, and so all six people on the shuttle got their own row. We were all fine with the turn of events at first, until we realized that this driver was definitely Guatemalan and didn't have a cross on his van.

Allison and I lasted in the back by watching for bumps and standing up every time they came. If we missed one we were literally shot about two feet off our seats, because the driver slowed down for the front wheels, and immediately sped up again as soon as they were clear. I didn't mind the drive, but everybody else got very car sick. Luckily there was enough fresh air that they just moaned and that was the extent of it. As we neared Antigua, the driver asked us where our hotel was, and we gave him directions. He stopped at a travel agency in Antigua first, and said just a minute. He never came back, but another man came out and told us that the shuttle ended here, and unless we wanted to pay the driver a taxi fee to take us to our hotel we had to walk. None of us can efficiently argue in Spanish yet, so we walked home. A very long day.