Sunday, June 15, 2008
A Finca Village, somewhere out there in Guatemala, just past the volcano...
Occasionally our Spanish Language School (CBA) organizes worthwhile social and cultural excursions... this particular Sunday we spun out on a bus to a small finca village somewhere just beyond the volcano and on the other side of the mountain range. As far as I can tell, a Finca is a small farming community that subsists primarily off of the land, and earns cash from the crops that they sell. Our tour was led by a member of the village who only spoke Spanish. Lucy translated from his Spanish into 'our' Spanish, and I was still left not knowing what was being said!
We trekked through the jungle into their farmland, past the coffee beans, across a stream to the rubber trees slowly dripping their sap, and back up into the village after convincing fresh avacodos to drop from the tree. We were fed pineapple, which was the sweetest and best tasting I have ever had in my life, followed by a feast of meat cooked over coals with potatoes and green onions... and of course, muchas tortillas!
Finca Village, Guatemala. The forest where the villagers lived and worked, and home to the best pineapple I have EVER tried in my life!
Finca Village, Guatemala. Our Spanish tour guide that lives and works in the village. He was a nice guy, but I think he's a bit bananas.
Finca Village, Guatemala. Our tour guide needed Lucy to interpret from Spanish into Spanish, which left me needing one more level of interpretation into English!!
Finca Village, Guatemala. Johanna showing a little leg as she crosses the river.
Finca Village, Guatemala. Our Spanish guide crossing the stream, followed fearlessly by our Spanish class and Spanish teachers.
Finca Village, Guatemala. Some of them needed a little bit of help not to fall in...
Finca Village, Guatemala. Some needed a LOT of help!
Finca Village, Guatemala. For some, the help didnt matter anyhow!
Finca Village, Guatemala. How's the water, Lesly!
Finca Village, Guatemala. Nery wasnt afraid of the water... or scaling the avacodo trees!
Finca Village, Guatemala. This bunch made it across the river... more or less!
Finca Village, Guatemala. Tom and Kyle (Kee Lay) crossing fearlessly.
Finca Village, Guatemala. Rachel, and her Canon camera who both went for a little dip!
Finca Village, Guatemala. Johanna chilling out!
Finca Village, Guatemala. More river crossings...
Finca Village, Guatemala. Lots of steak!!! Onions, potatoes, and of course, tortillas!
Sunday, June 15, 2008
I Finca I'm In a Village
Sunday, June 8, 2008
On Top of Maria
June 8 & June 18, 2008
Volcan Santa Maria, Guatemala
It takes a really good reason to want to climb Volcan Santa Maria twice in relatively rapid succession. I was motivated heavily by the fact that the first time I trudged up to the top, there was no view at all, save for my friends who were being extraordinarily silly. It must have been the altitude, because there seems to be no other logical excuse!
Since the Guatemalan skies usually cloud up in the late morning/early afternoon, I decided that if I were to go up Santa Maria again, I would make sure to get my butt up there early. As it turned out, the Quetzaltrekkers had organized a midnight hike during the full moon, which guaranteed that I would be on top of Santa Maria by sunrise. At midnight it was threatening of rain and lightning with no full moon in sight, but luckily nothing of much consequence arose. Upon arriving at the summit, we looked down in time to see the nearby active volcano Santiaguito spewing lava and smoke into the dark skies while roaring like a jet engine. The morning sun rose slowly over the mountainous landscape and finally offered up amazing views of beautiful Guatemala.
Xela, Guatemala. This is the city that I have been studying Spanish in. Admittedly, the weather has been terrible, but this place really has some of the most amazing clouds I've seen in my life!
Volcan Santa Maria, Guatemala. There she is in the distance... it doesn't look like much, but part of that illusion is the lens I used for this photo.
Volcan Santa Maria, Guatemala. A view of the clouds rolling through the valley.
On Top of Volcan Santa Maria, Guatemala. A beautiful view of the sky and the sacrificial Mayan altar... I'm just kidding.... I think...
Volcan Santa Maria, Guatemala. The sun rising over the mountain ranges.
Volcan Santa Maria, Guatemala. More clouds engulfing the valley.
Volcan Santa Maria, Guatemala. The still active Santiaguito seen spurting lava... or is it magma... as seen just before sunrise.
Volcan Santa Maria, Guatemala. The volcano beginning to erupt and belch smoke.
Santiaguito, a still active volcano that spews smoke every half hour or so.
On Top of Santa Maria, Guatemala. Myself, Trevor... and Tom and Frog getting friendly.
On Top of Santa Maria, Guatemala. Top-of-the-world Trevor...
On Top of Santa Maria, Guatemala. The only excuse for this is the altitude...
On Top of Santa Maria, Guatemala. Trevor and Tom.
On Top of Santa Maria, Guatemala. Tom doing a Top Gun fly-by...
On Top of Santa Maria, Guatemala. Trevor getting his hand taken off by 'Rocky', the local mountain dog who climbs the hill for food.
On Top of Santa Maria, Guatemala. Well, I've got a couple questions about this... but what in the world are you doing with an umbrella on the top of a mountain, Mary Poppins??!!
