Panajachel, Guatemala

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We left Mexico and headed to Guatemala.  From San Cristobal we took a shuttle to the border of Guatemala and then on to Panajachel (Pana), a smallish town on a lake surrounded by volcanoes.  Up till now we had been travelling in the buses but when we looked into busing from San Cristobal it was not going to work out.  The bus left so late in the day that it put us at the border at night.  This is something we really want to avoid.  We heard about the shuttle services that take you across the border and it seemed like a great option for us.  Definitely more expensive but when you are travelling with a young child convenience and safety are worth a lot!!!  It was a long trip and a long day but I think we are getting used to the long bus rides.  Thankfully, Nev has slept on most of the bus rides we have been on. 

Two of the volcanoes across the lake

We got to Pana after dark so we had someone help us arrange a hotel to stay at.  In Pana the roads are so small and crowded that they use tuk-tuks as taxis.  These are 3-wheeled motorcycles with a cab and back seat.  However, we are travelling with so much stuff that we had to hire 2 tuk-tuks to get us around.  The hotel was an OK place but we thought we could do much better for the money so the next day we moved to different hotel.  We also ran met up with a friend of ours, Carissa.  She is going to be living in Honduras for a while but met up with us to join us on our travels for a bit.

Tuk-Tuk

The next day we took a boat over to San Pedro, a small village across the lake.  Nev loved riding on the boat!  We walked around San Pedro for a while.  Got some lunch and checked out the crafts for sell.  Nev fell asleep in the Ergo.  We headed back to Pana on the boat and I met Alison, a woman who is living in Pana with her husband and two children.  She is half Guatemalan but is from the states.  Her husband, David, works at a local bar and runs a café in the mornings.  She told us about the BBQ the bar does every certain night (whatever night it was, maybe Sunday, who knows) so we headed over there for dinner.  It was really good!!! Some of the best food we have had to that point and it was a nice break from Latin American cuisine.  She also told us about their favorite place to visit in Central America, El Zonte in El Salvador.  We were not planning to go to El Salvador at all but I think we will add it in to the trip.

On the boat to San Pedro

San Pedro

Cool child size masks.  I wish I had bought this for Nev but I thought I would get else where and didn't.

Nev buying cachauates (peanuts) from a street vendor

They invited us over that evening so the kids could play together.  They live in a house that belonged to her grandfather who owned a lot of land and Fincas (coffee plantations) in Guatemala.  The house in Pana was a vacation home of his and was sitting empty.  When they were thinking of moving to Guatemala the house was offered to them to live in.  It is an awesome house!  We really enjoyed hanging out and talking with them and drinking wine.  The kids had a good time playing together too! 

Heading back to the boat.  Nev getting sleepy

Cool Guatemalan street sceen

Sleeping like a baby

We headed out the next day but we stopped in to David’s café for breakfast before we left.  The food was good.  The coffee was good but really strong!  So far on our trip it has been really hard to get good coffee.  A lot of people drink Nescafe down here.  So getting good coffee is a pretty special thing.

We left Panajachel on another shuttle.  We are headed to Lanquin where the Semuc Champey is.  This is another place Micah has been before and a place I have been hearing a lot about for the last few years.  It is one of Micah’s favorite places so I am looking forward to seeing it.

Nev looking handsome in his Guatemalan shirt

 

San Cristobal de las Casas

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We left Puerto Escondido for Tehuantapec.   It was along bus ride and I was already pretty tired.  I didn’t get much sleep on the bus because Nev got sick a couple of times and near the end of the trip I got hit in the head when my coffee cup came tumbling out of the overhead compartment. Ouch!!  It gave me a little knot on the head and hurt for a week. 

Getting off the buses in Mexico can be a little unnerving for me.  It is not like when you get off a plane because not everyone is getting off at the same stop and the buses don’t stop for too long so I feel a little rushed.  But after this trip I have learned that I need to ignore the feeling of being rushed and take the time I need.  When I got off this bus I realized I was missing my iphone and by the time I figured it out the bus was gone.  An expensive lesson but the main thing I was using the phone for was to send text messages and for Nev to watch movies so we can live without it for now. 

When we got to Tehuantapec we realized it was not a place we wanted to stay.  There was another bus leaving in 2 hours going to Tuxtla-Gutierrez.  It was another really long bus ride but we decided we would get some lunch then get on that bus.  It did end up being a very long and exhausting day.  When we got to our hotel I realized that I was getting sick again.  I had a fever again and was feeling sick to my stomach.  I believe it was probably the same thing that had made me sick before and because I was having a fever I decided that I wanted to see a doctor.  All in all that was the worst day of our trip so far.


Our Hotel in San Cristobal

Walking Street in San Cristobal

San Cristobal de las Casas

The next day we headed for San Cristobal de las Casas which was only an hour away on the bus.  When we got there we found a nice hotel, thanks again to the taxi driver.  The hotel also had Doctors they could call to make a house call to our room.   The doctor came and checked me out.  He thinks I have a parasite.  He gave me a prescription for a bunch of meds: anti-parasites, antibiotics and a couple of other things.  Me being the skeptic I am was a little unsure about it all.   Normally you would expect there to be some definitive tests done before diagnosing a parasite but in this situation I just did what the doctor told me.  After looking up some of the meds I decided they were things I didn’t need to take but I did take the antibiotics and the anti-parasite meds.  Since then my fever has not returned and my stomach seems to on its way back to normal.

Nev got to use his sleping bag finally

San Cristobal is a really touristy place but on the backpackers level not the big hotels kind of place.  It is high in the mountains so it was much cooler and at times even kind of cold.  I enjoyed the weather very much.  It has been a long time since I was not hot.  It is an old colonial town with cobble streets and lots of little cafes, hostels and restaurants.  It is a really beautiful place.  It was also the most touristy place we have been to so far.   However, most of the tourists are from Europe.  We have seen very few Americans on this trip.

We walked around town a lot getting some things done that we need to do and picking up things we needed.  There are many churches in the town and one of them is up a hill.  One afternoon while Nev was napping I walked up there to take in the view.  While I was up there I got interviewed by a couple of girls.  They asked me questions about traveling to and visiting Chiapas.  It was all in Spanish and I think I did OK.  I was pretty proud of myself!  My Spanish is by no means good but I am definitely learning more everyday.

Micah trying to tell the kids they only get 1 balloon



Nev is a little overwhelmed



We attracted quite the crowd of kids

One evening while walking around town, Nev wanted to get a balloon.  We couldn’t find anyone selling blown up balloons but we found a toy store that had bags of little balloons.  Micah had the idea to buy them and that Nev could give them to other kids.  We left the store and immediately had Nev give one to one of the little kids on the street selling things.  Wow!  This drew the largest crowd of little kids and Micah and Nev got over ran by these kids.  They were trying to just give one to each kid but then they started hiding them to get more.  We realized we had to give them away already blown up so they couldn’t hide them.  Then the crowd of kids started to fade.

Agua Azul



View from the top of Agua Azul

There are lots of beautiful natural sites to see around San Cristobal so one day we rented a taxi for the day and the driver took us to Agua Azul.  This is a huge area of water falls and swimming areas.  It was beautiful and we got to go swimming for a little bit.  We had a lot of fun!  The driver didn’t speak a word of English and he liked to talk a lot so Micah got a lot of practice with his Spanish.  The trip was way longer than we had anticipated and we were all exhausted at the end of the day.



Micah doing a backflip off rope swing

We didn’t get to do all the things we wanted to while in San Cristobal but this is another place I would like to visit again someday.

From here we will be crossing the border into Guatemala.  It looks like the best way to do it is to take a shuttle service.  They pick you up at your hotel and drive you to the border.  You have to walk across the border then get into another van that takes you to the destination.  It is definitely more expensive (although still cheap by our standards) than the bus but it is way more convenient.  Convenience is worth a lot more when you are travelling with a young child.

Week 3: Puerto Escondido

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We barely made our bus out of Acapulco.  The taxi driver that was supposed to pick us up to take us to the bus station for our early morning bus never showed up.  We almost gave up and stayed another day.  We were already late when a taxi finally arrived but we went for it anyway.  We arrived at the station 15 minutes late but the bus had not even showed up yet!  Now we are thankful for the late Mexican buses!

After our long bus ride (8 hours) we arrived in Puerto Escondido.  I have been hearing about this place for 4 years now as it is Micah's favorite place in Mexico.  It is a small kind of touristy town of about 20,000 people and of course there is surfing!  Since Micah has stayed here before he had a place in mind for us to go the first night we got here which was good because it was a no-brainer and we were tired.  The unfortunate part was it was a hostel with a small palapa type room with 2 bunk beds and a fan.  There were a lot of young french travelers there and the music was bumping all night.  We did not get a whole lot of sleep that night except maybe Nev who can pretty much sleep through anything.  Anyway, after 2 weeks on the road I was wanting or needing a little more comfort (at least for a couple of days) and I was being a little grumpy.  The next morning we set out to look for another place to stay.  We checked out one place that was ok but not the most inviting place to stay but we decided to go have breakfast and think about it.  Micah had seen a little cafe earlier that morning so we went there and the women there were wonderful.  They cooked us a great breakfast and they absolutely adored Nev.  Turned out they had a little studio apartment to rent for 700 pesos a night.  This was a bit out of our range of what we wanted to pay but it was really nice and had everything we wanted plus a kitchen which could save us money on food.  We decided to do it and we ended up staying 8 nights.  It was exactly what I needed!

The Apartment we rented

Nev trying out his new floaties in the pool

The guesthouse where we rented the apartment



These shops line the street in the neighborhood where we stayed.
Pretty much everything we needed in a 5 min walk.

Our first day there we found Nev a chiropractor to check out his back and arm.  He hurt it again right before we left Acapulco.  The chiropractor was an American living in PE and he was awesome!  He did a little adjustment on Nev but said his elbow was dislocated too.  He popped it back in real quick and it seemed to do the job.  He has had no problems since.  We spent most of that day in town.  Micah got a shave and Nev got a haircut.  He was very apprehensive about getting his haircut so we had to force him.  But as soon as the guy started with the clippers he realized it was not going to hurt and he was good with it.  Afterwards he was very proud of his haircut.  We also went to the Mercado which is the big town market with all the vendors selling everything from produce to meat to toys and clothes.  We grabbed some stuff to cook and some lunch.  Unfortunately I think I may have gotten sick from what every I ate there for lunch.  A couple days later I got a real bad upset stomach and a fever.  This pretty much laid me up in bed for 2 days.  After a lot of rest and some meds I felt better.

Ruins of a hotel on the cliffs of Playa Carazillo

Playa Carazillio

We did get a couple trips to the beach in before I got sick. Playa Carazillo is a rock cove that is walking distance from where we were staying. We hung out there for a bit until it started to rain. We headed back right when the rain started to pour down and the thunder and lightning was so close. Nev got a little scared and didn't like being wet so I had to carry him and cover him with my sarong. He hugged my shoulder tightly and quietly the whole way back.


Cool hand sculpture at Playa Zicatella. Nev really wanted to climb it.

Chillin at Playa Zicatella, watching surfers

Just like Papa.  Making silly faces for the camera.

Playing in the sand.  So handsome with his new haircut.

We also hung out in Zicatella one morning and watch the surf while Nev played in the sand.
After I was feeling better, Micah took off for a couple of days to go on a surf trip to Chachaua.  We didn't all go because it seemed like it may not have been the best trip for Nev to go on for safety reasons, plus we had already paid for the apartment.  Turns out the place was pretty safe and Micah had a lot of fun and wished we had all gone.  Well maybe next time.  I can definitely see myself returning here.

Nev and I had a good time together.  We went to the beach both days.  One day at Playa Zicatella and one day at Playa Angelita.  It was pretty relaxing!

Our last night at Puerto Escondido was on Micah's birthday.  That evening we went to the beach because we heard they would be releasing a bunch of baby sea turtles on the beach and the kids get to release them.  There were a lot of people there and unfortunately Nev did not get one of the turtles but a lady next to us let him touch the one she had.  Then they were all let go and we watched them make there break for the water.  It was pretty amazing seeing these little turtles (they can fit in the palm of your hand) scurry there way towards the water and for some only to get washed back up shore to try it again.  Once they got in the water they take off swimming.  It was a pretty cool experience!


Nev petting a baby sea turtle



Baby heading towards the water

Afterwards, we took Nev on a little horseback ride down the beach.  Nev thought that was pretty cool but he kept saying "I don't have a hat".  He wanted to look like a real cowboy.  And the night ended with a gorgeous sunset!

All in all our stay in PE was comfortable and relaxing!  The next morning we left Puerto Escondido on an early bus.  Sonia the women who owns the place where we stayed came out to see us off and say good-bye.  That was very sweet of her.  She, her husband and their daughter Sylvia who ran the restaurant really enjoyed having Nev around.  We told her "Hasta Luego" because I think we shall return someday.