Feliz Nuevo Ano

Up at 5 am on New Year's Day, to drumming.  Naturally.  I slip out of the house and down the street to the park, where I meet my fellow student Martin and our guide, Nicholas (arranged thru our school).  Nicholas is an older man, wearing the usual sandals, but he proved quite spritely, practically trotting up the volcano.  With 4.5 hours of sleep, I lagged behind, but was still feeling good.   All morning we could hear loud bombas blasting off in San Pedro below.  We were just far enough away that first we saw the white puff of smoke from the bomba, with a few second delay before the following BOOM!

San Pedro Volcano sits directly behind the town. You can walk up the back streets, hit the trail and keep going. At 9,908 feet, it's still plenty high, but unlike Volcan Acatenango, this one is covered with lush vegetation, from coffee and corn at the base to tropical jungle and rainforest all the way to the summit. And--unlike Acatenango--there was a real trail, with real trail maintenance, and real switchbacks. So the hiking was a lot easier all around, even though it was hotter on this hike.

We climbed quickly, arriving at the summit to find only one other very friendly local party, who greeted us like we were long-lost friends, and proceeded to take many pictures of us, and them, and us and them, etc.  It was festive.  Then they left and we enjoyed the rocky summit by ourselves, gazing down on the blue green lake, ringed with volcanoes. Music drifted up from Santiago. Boats cut sharp white wakes on the water below, and clouds created dark blue patterns.  We were all very pleased.  Then we galloped down (barely keeping up with Nicholas) and passing  herds of other hikers puffing up in the heat.

A good way to start the New Year. 

Nicholas and Martin at the nice resting shelter mid-way up.

At the summit with our new friends.

Lago Atitlan spreads below us.

Looking down on the town of Santiago, largest town on the lake. 

Mid-way down, looking over San Pedro from the corn fields.

Passing through the coffee plantation on the last leg of our  hike.

Around San Pedro

Martin and I enjoyed several other outings together:  one day we took the lancha (overloaded with nervous and therefore loud tourists) across the lake to San Marcos, a laid back town with lots of yoga retreats and some more woo-woo type activities.  Best of all was a lovely, fresh place to swim! 

The view from San Marcos across the lake to Volcan San Pedro.

A little park, with clean water and a nice place to swim. You can see the late light hitting San Pedro town across the lake.

A traditional canoe heads for town.

We also rented kayaks and paddled across the lake one day. Coming back, we paddled thru some of the abandoned houses near San Pedro. The water has been on the rise for the last several years, and quite a few lake-side structures have been abandoned.  They are not quite sure why the lake is rising, but the most popular theory I heard, and one that makes sense, is that it's related to all the volcanic activity in the region, and it rises and falls periodically over the decades.  This would explain why all the locals have traditionally lived well up from the lake, and the newly arrived ex-pats are crowding the shore...but slowly flooding. 

Martin and I paddling under one of the flooded houses.