miracle here) even ate good food a few times! Tikal and Lago de Atitlán easily surpassed their reputations. The temples of Tikal are surrounded by a living, breathing jungle filled with howler monkeys, toucans, and coatimundis. Risking the climb up rickety wooden ladders to the top of the tallest pre-Columbian structure in the Western Hemisphere, we were confronted by hundreds of miles of thick jungle, its canopy disturbed only by the tops of other temples and the roars of howler monkeys.
After a few days in Xela, where the highlight was El Día de Todos los Santos on November 1st (a sober Guatemalan take on Día de los Muertos), we crammed into a little car and headed to Lago de Atitlán. Even though it is widely known as "one of the most beautiful lakes in the world," the first view from the road into Panajachel from the Interamerican Highway shocked us into silence. The lake formed 85,000 years ago, after the Chokoyos eruption spewed rocks and ash as far as Florida and Ecuador. Today, at 1000 feet deep and ringed by three perfect volcanoes, it looks like a lost world where dinosaurs might still graze among the bougainvillea. We spent a "cosmic" (thanks, mom) two days at La Casa del Mundo jumping off of rocks into the blue water, soaking in a wood-heated hot tub, and eating such traditional Guatemalan delicacies as tofu burgers.Before Carl and Pam showed up, I had a three day cooperative visit in the central desert area of Guatemala, and Kunal came along to see how the magic happens. Or doesn't, in my case. This visit was notable only for the fact that the cooperative manager and I got in a motorcycle crash on a remote mountain road. Luckily we came away with nothing but bruises and a broken side mirror. Next time I need to ascend a 45 degree slope covered in slippery rocks and mud wallows, I'm going to stick with the mule option.
Since Kunal and I can never sit still, we used our free 24 hours to visit
the Garífuna community of Lívingston, on the Caribbean coast of Guatemala. We ate Calcutta-style Indian food (the world really is a handkerchief, as they say in Spanish) and drank coconuts filled with rum while contemplating the impossible task of showing Pam and Carl the highlights of Central America in two and a half days. Naturally we took them directly from the airport to Lago de Atitlán. Our main activity was jumping into the lake from the hotel's balconies, so many times that Carl gave himself a bloody nose. Twice. OK, really I just wanted an excuse to post this photo. On Sunday we took a 4am shuttle to Copán, in Honduras, and wandered for a few hours among crumbling temples and massive, intricately carved stelae. After a hectic trip back to Guatemala City in seven different vehicles, it was time for our visitors to head back to the States, and for us to re-enter Guatemalan reality.Last but not least, Auntie-ji and Sam, we wished you could have been here with us this past weekend. You were missed! Lots of photos from the last month can been seen here.
