flying by the seat of my pants

One of my personal goals for my Central American journey was to plan less and do more on a whim. I am very proud to say I am succeeding with the challenge. So far, my best experiences have been those which happen last minute, with little or no planning. The places I decided to go an hour before I left, with no reservations for a hostel or hotel when I got there, are the best places I've been in Central America. Giving myself this flexibility in travel makes it easier to find unique adventures and even stay somewhere longer than intended.

On my last day in Xela I made one of these decisions. This time I decided to change my travel plans from Antigua to Lake Atitlan. I got on the bus headed for Panajachel, the largest city on the lake, not knowing which lakeside town I would stay in or where I would sleep that night. On the bus I asked an American couple heading the same direction for suggestions. They were the right people to ask, not only did they live at the lake, but they were good friends with people who owned a hostel in Santa Cruz (one of the smallest lakeside towns). They gave me their phone and told me to call ahead to book a bed and reserve a spot for the family style dinner.

When I arrived at the boat dock in Panajachel it began to rain, I climbed into the little boat, or launcha, which functioned much like a water taxi, and waited for others to fill the boat. At first only five people were in the boat then suddenly massive groups of locals began to fill the boat with people, sacks of vegetables, animals, anything, everything; it seemed as if this boat, the last boat leaving that day, was the "chicken bus" of the lake. I'm pretty sure the boat had way more weight and people than it was equipped to handle, this concern was proven by the less than two inches between the rim of the boat and the surface of the water, as it's little engine struggled to push us across the lake.

After a loud crack of thunder, the rain became a downpour and several people on the boat were getting soaked. Including a young pregnant woman holding a baby. Nobody seemed to offer her their seat and her baby was screaming as the cold wind and rain assaulted them. I decided to give her my slightly covered/dry seat, and shield her baby with my rain jacket, I then stood in the center of the downpour.

When I arrived in Santa Cruz I was soaking from head to toe, even my water resistant hiking boots were soggy. I looked like a wet rat/bag lady as I walked up to questionably constructed dock towards the hostel. The trash bag I wrapped my backpack in was covered in mud (how it got muddy on a boat still baffles me) and as I carried it, I became covered in mud as well. I was very thankful my hostel, La Iguana Perdida, was directly in front of the dock and I only needed to walk a bit further in the rain.

When I arrived soaked and leaving puddles of water everywhere I stood, the staff were friendly, helpful and immediately offered me a beer to relax after my eventful and wet journey. I had just enough time to change before dinner and trivia night began. I knew at this moment I had made yet another wonderful last minute decision and my one night stay at the lake might become a week or longer; right on the lake with spectacular views and a spectacular atmosphere, so many friendly travelers and a huge dinner, all for very little money.

When I woke up in the morning the views of the lake were spectacular. The sky was clear and previous nights rain left a calm feeling across the lake. I decided to hike around the lake and see what the other towns had to offer. When I reached the second small town past Santa Cruz, I was stopped by two locals who warned me to turn back, apparently many tourists had been robbed along the path in the past year. The local couple then insisted on walking me back to Santa Cruz so they knew I was safe. It totally freaked me out, how could such a quite and relaxed lake have a problem like this? So I did some research (asked more locals), and not only is there a problem with robberies on the hiking trail but, last year some of the local (Maya) caught a few of the robbers immediately after they had mugged some backpackers, and they brought them to "Mayan justice" (tied them up, and lit them on fire in the middle of Panajachel). I decided my future trips around the lake would be with others and without valuables.

That night the hostel hosted a cross dressing party (not in the mood to gender bend I wore my regular clothing) and I meet an older couple from New York. They mentioned they were headed to Antigua in the morning and offered me a ride. I decided it was a good chance to get to Antigua for free and accepted the offer. Again the chance to fly by the seat of my pants and see what happens.

I woke up the next morning to an earthquake, at first it sounded like someone was running across the tin roof, then I felt my bed begin to sway, at that moment everything shook violently and the door of my cabin flew open. It was a medium earthquake by Guatemala standards and as far as I knew did no major damage. Nonetheless, it was the biggest earthquake I've felt and the power was out at the hostel for about an hour. The couple from New York was a bit freaked out and ready to go to Antigua so, I packed my things and said goodbye to the pretty little lakeside town, then climbed into the smallest car I've even seen for my free ride to Antigua.