On our last night in Guatemala I thought it is time to reflect a little on our adventures here. We have been here for over a month, although we popped over to Belize for a few days where we went straight to the islands and stayed on Caye Caulker, one of the highlights of the trip so far. Quite possibly the most beautiful place I have ever been and certainly idyllic with white sands, turquoise ocean and a laid back lifestyle.
I went snorkelling (whilst Darren spent the day on the internet and in a hammock - both of us equally happy!) I set off at 10am with a sun-kissed wrinkly old skipper called Juni who lived a simple yet envious life in a little wooden house on the beach and had spent the last 30 years taking the odd tourist or two out onto the reef in small groups (no more than 6 at a time) in a boat that he had built himself.
Juni seemed hugely respectful of life, and I couldn't help but respect him back. He didn't talk very much, but his eyes sparkled with a thousand stories and I couldn't wait to get out on the water with him. I looked forward to the challenge of getting him to recount some of his tales but it was harder than I thought! He was a wise man, and wise men know to listen more than speak!
We made two stops on the reef and as we motored to the first I made small talk with the three other tourists on board and wiped the spray of my sunglasses. Every so often we would hit the water as a large wave swelled, slicing it in two and causing the top half to come crashing over the side soaking me and the girl I was sat next to. Juni sat at the stern, giggling silently. I think he planned it so that every time I wiped my sunglasses I got a fresh soaking immediately after! I caught his eye and we shared the joke.
At the first stop I donned my snorkel, mask and flippers and sat on the side of the boat staring into the water as several foot long fish circled below me. Several doubts filled my head and it took a few deep breaths before I was ready to jump in.
After the bubbles cleared from my not so graceful plunge, I saw 20 to 30 large silver fish with yellow tails swimming around me. They looked like small tuna fish but were actually called jacks. They surrounded me as though I was one of the shoal and stayed with us for the entire swim (about an hour and a half). Although always within arms reach, they were impossible to touch as they always moved before your hand got to them! I have know idea how we did not have any contact because they were so close, but any skill here was purely theirs!
I swam with them in awe of my surroundings as the others jumped in too. We all had a practice swim to check that our masks didn't leek. Mine worked fine, but I didn't drift too far from the boat and was enjoying the curiosity of the jacks when I looked down and saw a sting ray skimming across the bottom of the ocean just a couple of metres below. Instinctively, my head shot up out of the water, but after another deep breath I was back down again only to notice a small shark, around two foot long, casually swimming past me a metre or so away! I spun around (if that is possible under water) and was making a vague effort to close up to the boat when I saw the bigger brother, a two metre long shark gliding between me and the safety of the boat! Argh! What was I doing?!
Juni was the last to jump in and immediately all the fish darted towards him like he was some sort of fish magnet! He rubbed his hands together in a way that the fish understood, he was actually communicating with them and they loved it! Fish after fish queued up and pushed each other out of the way for a chance to be close to him and some even came in for a cuddle!
Juni had his favourites, in particular a green congar eel that danced through his hands after being coaxed out of it's hiding place and a giant sting ray that swam up for cuddle after cuddle. I stroked her too, and she swam over me as I laid on my back in the water. Her skin was amazingly soft yet so strong. Juni and her had been playing together for 30 years, can you imagine having such a relationship? She is so big now that Juni struggled to lift her and I think she enjoys her dominance in the water.
Over the two swims I saw thousands of fish, tiny blue ones with dots that looked like little mirror balls at a disco hiding in the coral to great shoals of large shiny silver fish all fighting to stay swimming in the same direction. I also saw several nurse sharks that were bigger than me, rays, eels, a lobster and a turtle feeding on the small plants on the sea bed - my personal favourite.
The wind had picked up by the time we reboarded the boat and we sailed back to the island as we munched on meat pies and fresh fruit, and drank sweet milky coffee from a thermos flask. My lips had wrinkled up like an old prune from the salt water so the coffee was soothing as well as warming.
On the way back I managed to get Juni talking about his family and life on the island. He was funny and sensitive, and I loved listening to him just as much as the snorkelling. He got out his photo album and I was expecting to see his kids, but they were all pictures of fish, him swimming with them and cuddling them!
I had a little go at steering the boat before we arrived back safely in the late afternoon. We each got a big hug from Juni and I thanked him for the experience before heading off up the beach with a big smile on my face bursting with things to tell Darren.
After five days in paradise, we caught the boat back to the main land and bused it back to Flores, Guatemala - our third visit to this beautiful island town. Overall, I have really enjoyed my time in Guatemala, apart from the small hiccup of having our bank cards cloned which caused us quite a bit of stress and frustration during the umpteen phone calls to the bank.
When our new bank cards arrived (thanks Mum) we treated ourselves to a fancy cake. We had been cooking simple meals in an effort to retain cash so I was really looking forward to it. Darren chose a cheesecake, you can't go far wrong there, and I opted for a cake called elote. It sounded yummy and looked even better with shortcrust pastry, a coconut topping and caramel - some of my favourite favours! We returned to our apartment carrying our cakes very carefully along the cobbled and uneven paths. We bumped into our neighbours, the owners of the school, who translated for me. Apparently, elote means sweetcorn! I had bought a bloody corn cake! I can't begin to express my disappointment to you here! Darren thought it was hilarious, but he obviously loves me because he shared his cheesecake!
We have experienced a lot in Guatemala, but only seen a little. This is because we have mainly been in one of two places, Flores or Antigua. It has been different from the rest of our travels because we have settled in these places and used them as bases to work, learn, and visit other places for a couple of nights before returning 'home'. We have made friends and got to know the towns quite well, we even have some favourite restaurants and haunts.
I loved Flores for its beauty, charm, and friendliness, and despite being robbed there, it will always be one of my favourite destinations. It is a small island, full of colourful houses and cobbled streets, connected by a causeway to the mainland. You feel a sense of adventure by being isolated, but safe in the knowledge that you can return to the familiar shopping malls and chain restaurants on the other side of the causeway. If you ever visit, I strongly recommend strawberry and banana smoothies at San Telmo, tuk-tuk rides and boat trips.
Antigua is different, much larger and older, but has much of the same charm and friendliness. This historic town has remained unchanged for years and has a ban on advertising so the lack of plastic signs and neon lights combined with cobbled streets and old churches really makes you feel like you have stepped back in time. For me, the most beautiful sight was Volcano Agua looming at the end of the street, surrounded by mist, every time we went home.
One thing that I have been quite surprised about is the amount of money here. Antigua in particular seems to be a wealthy town full of cake shops, restaurants, boutiques and well dressed people driving shiny new 4x4s. It is not until you travel away from the tourist hotspots that you see the real poverty here.
On our journey to Lake Atitlan we saw women and children lining the road. All the children were waving so I began waving back. It seemed very sweet. After a while I saw a young girl, sitting on her own, holding her shoulder but still waving even though she had a pained look on her face. I realised that this is what they do day in day out in a vague hope that someone might stop. I'm not sure why you would stop, very few had anything for sale. It seemed a desperate and hopeless life to me. I stopped waving after that.
Panajachel, the town built up by the lake, was very different from the tourist towns we have already visited. Run down and crowded, but still with a certain charm, vendors packed the streets and competition was fierce. We weren't really interested in buying anything (we have too much to carry as it is!) so most people only asked once. I saw other tourists swamped by people after showing the tiniest bit of interest in a souvenir and decided that wasn't for me.
Women offered me scarves, "good price, five" they would say. As I walked on I would hear "two for five" then "three for five" but I really didn't want them, even if they were only US$5. On our last evening there we chatted to an English girl in our hostel. She told me that the women weren't asking for dollars but quetzals! 5Q! That is about 45p! I felt so guilty for not buying them that I vowed to purchase the next half decent one that I saw. Only, as it was our last evening and all the vendors had gone home, I never got the chance.
Our next step is into Honduras, a new country. We haven't crossed a border in a while and I wonder how different it will be and what lies ahead of us.
No comments:
Post a Comment