Chuchitos

Today we made chuchitos with our cooking teacher. They're very similar to tamales, but much much easier to make. Having never attempted tamales, I can't speak for the effort involved in making them, but apparently they require much more cooking and stirring of the corn dough. For chuchitos, we didn't need to cook the dough first; simply mixed it up, flattened it (we were amused to learn that tortillar is a verb: we tortilla, you tortilla, she is tortilla-ing!):


Then we placed the sauce & chicken inside:

Wrapped it up in the corn husks:

And steamed for an hour:

Deliciosos!!!!

Monterrico

Sultry. That's the kindest word I have for Monterrico. Other adjectives that come to mind are: mucky, muggy, torrid, scorching, sizzling, sweltering, smothering, stifling. But still we had a delightful time visiting the black sand beach. As long as we either had some fragment of our skin in the water, or no fragment of skin in the sun, we were just fine! Luckily, we learned of a restaurant/hotel called Johnny's Place where we were able to hang out and get out of the sun. Here's the pics everyone playing in the water:


p.s. Update on Pacaya: One of the travelers on our bus climbed the Pacaya volcano 2 days ago. He said they weren't allowed to get any closer than 100 yards to the hot lava because an explosion on Tuesday or Wednesday injured some tourists. Since we climbed on Monday, sounds like we were lucky to both avoid the explosion and to be able to get right up to the lava. I don't know whether the guides at the volcano will relax after a little while, or whether they'll keep the restrictions as tight as they are.....will update as I hear news!

Semuc Champey

As one walks around Antigua, hawkers are constantly handing out fliers for bars, restaurants, and tours. Last week, we got one that said (typos NOT corrected by me!), "Visit the pools and Waterfalls of Semuc Champey. Hike to a spectacular viewpoint and swin in the turquoise water. for the adventureus, Rapel down a Small cliff and climb up a Waterfull. Explore the k'amba cave, a Natural wonder of Underground rivers and pools, lighting your way by candle finally, relax in an inner tube on the beautiful Chahabon River." Hmmm, sounds like it has potential, and for only $70 a person for 2 nights/3 days, why not?

So last Tuesday, the 5 of us hopped on a minibus with 5 other women, jammed our luggage into the back seat, and embarked on our little adventure with our "brave explorer hats" on (code for: we don't exactly know what's going to happen, so stay flexible and enthusiastic!) Initially, I was crammed up front between the driver and guide, but at our first stop, they shifted the luggage to the roof rack and made extra seat space. I'm thinking they weren't too thrilled to have the gringa crammed in between them any more than the gringa was thrilled to be there. We honestly didn't even know how long our journey was, and weren't too excited to learn it was 6+ hours. Luckily for us, our driver was a newbie to this particular road so he didn't terrify us with crazy passing maneuvers or launch us back and forth as he screamed around hairpin turns. After about 7 hours on a decent highway, the scenery eventually became more jungle like with fantastic vistas of high green hills continually unfolding before us.


We came to a turn where we took an 11K twisty dirt road off the highway to the village of Lanquin. There we spent the night in what can best be compared to prison cells, but after the long wearisome drive, none of us had any trouble sleeping.


We were sleeping very soundly in fact when at 5:00 am, the hotel's laundry crew woke some of us up with their chattering, slapping of clothes on the sink, pouring of water, and scrubbing with soap. After walking to the nearby restaurant, Comedor Shalom, we feasted on wonderful typical Guatemalan breakfast of eggs, refried black beans, fried plantain, tortillas, cheese, cream, and salsa (for about $2.50!). We were then informed that we'd need to pile into the back of a pickup truck to travel to the caves because the minivan couldn't navigate the road. So pile in we did, and grip tightly we did also as the truck bounced over another 10K or so of more twisty dirt road.


For the first part of our tour, we climbed to a viewpoint to look down over Semuc Champey. This natural geologic feature was formed by many large limestone rocks falling from the cliffs and bridging the river in the canyon below. The limestone rocks create beautifully blue pools and an unusual formation where the river flows below the rocks, emerging in a series of caves and waterfalls downstream. As we came around the corner to capture our initial view of the pools below, our whole group of chicas exclaimed, "Oh my God!". I'm afraid my photos don't capture how spectacular the sight was, but it was truly jaw dropping gorgeous.


And our day was just beginning..... After descending from the viewpoint, we then hiked to the point where the river dives below the limestone. We swam at these upper pools for a while, and when the girls saw the guide climbing a tree to jump off, they were compelled to ask if it was okay if they did it too. Before I saw how high he was climbing, I agreed. Only after he plummeted off into the pools did I realize that it was about a 35 foot drop! "Oh well", I thought. "The girls will start to climb up and then chicken out". Fraid not - those crazy kiddos (all three of them) shimmied up the darn tree and hurled themselves off too!


For our next adventure, we rappelled down a waterfall at the downstream side of the pools so we could see where the river emerged from underground. This was fairly tame rappelling - more like rope-assisted descent except for something going on right at the end. From above, the folks who hadn't gone knew something odd was going on as each gal disappeared and didn't reappear for an inordinate amount of time. What was happening was that we were getting hit in the face with the waterfall and had to make one last, blind stretch with our feet to get out. But we all successfully descended and then crawled into a cave to see where the river emerged. On the other side of the waterfall was a picture of what I imagine idyllic paradise to look like. Lush green cliffs disappearing into pools of blue water, waterfall gently cascading down to a brilliant pool. Brilliant blue sky. Unfortunately, none of us got pics because we didn't bring our cameras down the wet rappel. But trust me, it was another one of those OMG moments! From here, we returned to the upper pools for lunch. We feasted on sandwiches of wonderbread, velveeta cheese, bologna, and ketchup. I think it was the most disgusting sandwich I've ever consumed, but by this time we were all so famished, we were ready to eat anything!

Next up was the cave tour, and we walked down the road and across the bridge to the cave area. On the way, the guide mentioned that it was possible to safely jump off of the bridge into the river below. I took a peak, thought "No Way!" and kept walking. Crazy Kelsey, on the other hand, decided that looked like a good idea and after revealing to me that it was only a little higher than the tree she had already dropped from, I relented. Again I thought she may chicken out. She did hesitate, but finally convinced herself to launch.


After a pretty good slap on the water below (and a bit off a wedgie), we decided that was enough BASE jumping for the day! Before the cave tour, the guide had just one more little surprise for us. This time it was to be flying over the river on a swing and then dropping in. Looked fun - the only hitch was that one absolutely could NOT swing back because the return trip would smash one back into the tree or river bank. Of course the girls had to do this adventure also. Here's Larissa flying off of the swing:


At the cave entrance, the guide tied our flip flops and sandals on so we wouldn't lose them while swimming through the cave water.


Then the guide handed us lighted candles, and away we were ready to embark on our non-OSHA approved tour of the cave.


Once again, it was an enjoyable adventure of climbing up and down ladders, swimming (with candles in hand), and scaling the inner rock formations to explore deep into the cave. After a while of doing this, we were thoroughly chilled (and some of us wimpier ones actually had chattering teeth) so we turned around and trekked back out. As we were exiting the cave, we encountered our first group of other tourists - with the exception of an occasional person on the road for the entire day, we had seen only our little group of 10. It felt like our own little adventure in paradise.


To top off the day, we jumped into inner tubes and floated down the river. At this point, we were all so chilled that we welcomed the warm sun on our backs. Between the bone chilling we'd already had and the low temp of the river, we didn't realize until much later that our backs were getting scorched by the intense tropical sun.


After the tubing, we piled back into the truck, bounced along our twisty dirt road back to the hotel, inhaled some dinner, and collapsed into our prison cells. We'd be bruised, bounced, burned and chilled. We'd had a vile sandwich, woken up at o'dark hundred, been half terrified while rappelling or jumping, and had been exhausted. And we all agreed it was without exaggeration or hyperbole, one of the best tours we'd ever taken!

Fuego Erupting

While on a tour of Antigua today, we saw Volcan Fuego erupting. The tour guide who has lived in Antigua for 40 years, said it was the most impressive eruption of Fuego that she's ever seen. I think the clear day added to the spectacular nature of the display.

Illicit Activities

Part of what makes the Guatemalan experience enjoyable is the overall more relaxed nature of their rules. We find ourselves really appreciating the opportunity to hike up and actually touch lava (if we're stupid enough to do it), ride crammed in the back of a pickup truck (if we're desperate enough for the transportation), jump out of tall trees into pools of water, and jump off of high bridges into the river (if we're crazy enough). Here's a collection of our amusing illicit activities.

Roasting marshmallows on Pacaya:


Pickup truck transport:


Larissa jumping out of a tree (it was HIGH - about 35 feet!):


Kelsey jumping off of a bridge that was even higher:


Riding backwards in cars:


Riding unbuckled in cars:



Jumping out of tree swings:



In an age when every city park has been sanitized and sterilized to the point of being dull, I'm glad we can break out a little bit and do some thrilling/risky things without anybody stopping us because they're worried about being sued!

Visitors

We've had visitors for the past week (my sis-in-law Nancy & niece Allison) and have been busy showing them the sights of Antigua and Guatemala. Climbing Pacaya again was a must and we were glad we did because we got some great views of the lava. The volcano can be different every day as the lava shifts and the eruption points change. On this excursion, we were able to get right up to the lava, roast our marshmallows, and really toast our skin.


K&L have been having a great time messing around with their cousin too:

Back in Antigua

We just arrived back in Antigua yesterday. It feels great to be here after Mexico! We just spent a week at my timeshare near Playa del Carmen and although it's not the crazy party town Cancun is, it was crazy enough for us. The resort was full and by the time we left, I had seen enough lobster back drunken tourists!

Plus, there's another odd quality...I was complaining to Ben that my experiences in Mexico have always been challenging because mysterious, inexpicable and capricious things happen there. Sometimes good things happen....sometimes bad - but one never really knows how it's going to turn out. For example, this morning we were picked up at 5:00 am by a shuttle for the airport. At the next stop, 6 people with paid reservations were waiting for our shuttle that now had only 2 seats left. The answer? "Sorry - you can wait and another will come soon." Or you can take a taxi (and pay more money). It can be infuriating!!

But so far, I've never seen anything like that happen here in Guatemala. Perhaps it's because it's not a resort area and doesn't deal with herds of people? Perhaps because we're accustomed to working one on one with people we know? I dunno...it just sure was a breath of fresh air to see our friendly taxi driver's face at the airport arrival area!

Yucatan

We’re enjoying our time in the Yucatan. Yesterday we took a tour with a group called Alltournative Travel. We travelled with them a few years ago and really enjoyed the excursion. Their trips usually include a visit and lunch in a Mayan Village, some fun outdoor activities and some archeological or cultural tour. The tour group size is always small, and if they have multiple groups in an area, they do a good job of spreading them out so you never feel like you’re in a cattle herd. And they work in partnership with the Mayan Villages to ensure the villagers’ lives improve in some way and that they provide some sustainable income.

This year, we went canoeing, hiked through the jungle, rappelled down into a cenote (underground lake),


and took a zip line across a crocodile infested lagoon (later we learned that although the lagoons sometimes have crocs, the one we saw was a cute little fake!).




After eating a delicious lunch of chicken, tortillas, vegetable soup, and rice, we travelled to Coba. Coba was an ancient Mayan city built in 400 BC. At one point, more than 100,000 people lived there and they had a paved road that led 100 km to another important Mayan city in the north, Chichen Itza. The most impressive feature left is Nohoch Muul, the tallest pyramid in the Yucatan.


We walked through the ruins, climbed the pyramid and were tuckered out after our very full day. None of these pictures were taken by me because they didn’t allow cameras on the trip. Not only are cameras potentially problematic during the ziplining and rappelling, but one of the money making schemes for the villagers is taking photos. Alltournative tour group provides them with nice digital SLR cameras and the capability to make CDs of the photos. These Mayan-paparazzi follow the tour groups around all day snapping photos. At the end of the day, they provide the opportunity to buy a CD of the days pictures. So, our contribution for the day was a highly over-priced disk of photos….but with some fun shots of us on our little adventure!

Are we going to get out of here?

We’re on our way back to Guatemala and decided to stop at my time share in Mexico to spend a week (since I have to pay the blasted maintenance fees every year whether I use it or not!). So, we got to escape winter in Driggs (snow, cold, clouds, etc) for winter on the Mayan Riviera (sun, ocean breezes, green). Yippee!

But, we almost didn’t make it out of Driggs! The day before we were scheduled to leave, one of the girls had a meltdown, and while that occurrence is not completely unusual for those undergoing widely swinging hormone levels, this particular meltdown took me by surprise. Unnamed daughter was stomping around, slamming doors and responding with monosyllabic answers to our questions. Again, not completely unheard of, but when I probed about what was going on, she burst into tears and yelled, “I’m trying to be as nice as I can but I just really miss my friends and want to go see them in Boulder and I don’t want to travel!” Huh? After I recovered from my initial shock, the following thoughts were racing through my head: How could anybody NOT want to travel? Why would she rather go to grey/dreary Boulder rather than to beaches and sun and adventures? Why would a daughter of mine be having such ideas? I love to travel…shouldn’t she love it every bit as much as I do? As I bit my tongue attempting not to project all of these emotions onto her and instead asked some probing questions, I discovered that the major concern was not necessarily the travel in and of itself, but the open-ended nature of the travel. Ben and I are accustomed to traveling spontaneously, and by the nature of flying space available with his airline benefits, our travel is by necessity spontaneous and flexible. We have to wait until the last minute to check the passenger loads and make sure there will be room to carry a coupe of space available non-paying passengers. So we never have reservations and this lack of a concrete return date was troubling Miss Hunt. After some discussion, we resolved that we would not be just hanging out in Antigua for months, agreed that we would go to Mexico, then travel on to Antigua at least until after Nancy and Allison visited us in February, and re-evaluate as we go. And under no circumstances would we spend any birthday away from friends!!!

So, we headed out early Monday morning for our flight out of Jackson Hole…….where we were nearly foiled in our departure attempt once again. We’re typically pretty relaxed about checking in for flights out of Jackson since it’s such a tiny airport. So, we arrived 45 minutes before our flight only to find the airport CRAMMED with people flying out on American, United and Delta. The little security gate was overwhelmed and the gate agent fussed at us for cutting it so close. But, we sweated through the long security line and managed to board our flight without even being last on! This little adventure thoroughly bothered the other daughter so despite my best intentions, we started out the trip with both offspring slightly annoyed!