volcan san pedro

september 3, 2012

oh crap i'm tired.  i meant to get up at 6 this morning and get to san pedro by 7 to have breakfast and start climbing the volcano by 8.  but i didn't get out of bed until 7, then decided to have breakfast here.  but the women had just started a major cleaning project and i didn't want to disturb them so i went to the dock and the guys were fixing the boat that was supposed to go to san pedro.  i finally left at 9, grumpy, coffeeless, and of course today was the day that everyone at every stop had a gazillion things to load onto the boat.  at tzunana there were 2 girls that were taking flat tires to get fixed (most towns on the lake don't have roads to the other side of the mountains), those took forever to load onto the boat, at san marcos there were boys with a load of lumber.  i was irritated because the last boat back to san pedro leaves at 5pm and i still needed to have breakfast, climb the volcano, and get back before then.  shawna told me that there was a guy staying here that missed the last boat, talked a tuktuk driver into driving him to san marcos, then tried to walk the trail back to santa cruz without a flashlite or shoes.  he ended up talking some guy into letting him sleep in his barn.  so i wanted to get home by the last boat.  i packed my headlamp just in case.

so i finally get to san pedro and find a place for breakfast, they say there's wifi but i can't connect (i've been almost 2 weeks with only 2 days of wifi, i think i'm at my limit) and find a tuktuk up to the volcano park.  its 100q to enter and it includes a guide so i start up with benito (i think that's his name, old age is really getting to my short term memory).  its great at first, i wanna run all the way up.  that lasts for about 20 minutes uphill.  breathing hard, going slower and slower, i'm no longer on his ass trying to make better time.  there's a lookout (mirador) about 40 minutes up and i'm so happy, i can sit there and stare at the amazing view and concentrate on breathing and drinking water.  

shortly after the mirador it goes from uphill paths to steps, either carved in the volcano or built with logs.  i was still making good time but it was almost 2 hours of steps.  i went from slightly slow walking to super slow walking, gasping for air, then coughing up the hundred bugs i just breathed in, to needing regular breaks.  i didn't want benito to know what a hard time i was having (yay ego) so i'd pretend to be fascinated by a tree or bug and stop to take a picture and breathe.  i have a hundred pictures of random plants, insects, whatever, if you're interested in a detailed documentation of the local environment let me know, otherwise i'm going to delete them.

one fascinating aspect was that the local people farm a lot of the land on the way up.  we passed loads of coffee plants and multiple maize plantings.  i saw men doing work at that elevation (started at 5500 feet) and they had cords of firewood that they were carrying down, i can't imagine what work it would take to harvest up there.  the men had giant crates filled with wood and it was attached to them by a thick belt, which they looped over their foreheads to carry down.  to digress, pedro had me reading local stories in my spanish class, and one mentioned that when he (the author) could stop carrying crops by forehead maybe he'd grow a bit taller.  

back to the trail.  several times i wanted to tell benito that i had to stop and go back down.  we were so high i lost feeling in my hands, my fingers were swollen and my head was spinning.  but i just couldn't.  so up i trudged, barely walking up the steps, benito having to wait for me every couple of minutes.  one guy came running up the trail and flew past me and i really wanted to stop at that point.  but it turned into a battle, there's no way i would stop till i got to the top.

2 and a half hours from the start i finally made the top.  2 and a half hours of uphill, mostly straight up on stairs.  i sat at the pinnacle and thought i might sit there till i died.  but the view was amazing, i could see almost the entire lake, the other volcanoes, the mountains in every direction.  unbelievable.  i found a pack of shot bloks in my backpack and was so happy.  there were only 4 of us at the top and it was quite peaceful.

after almost half an hour it was time to go back.  feeling pretty good again, benito let me lead and i started at a run.  down was fun.  it was like a barely controlled free fall.  the fun lasted for about 40 minutes before my down muscles started getting upset with me.  and then i started noticing that my newly acquired beer belly was jiggling way more than i was comfortable with (reminded me of the simpsons episode when homer gets hit in the stomach with something (a bowling ball?) and his fat jiggles in slo mo).  new resolution to drink less (which didn't last cuz i'm kinda drunk right now).  for once, though, my boobs didn't hurt while i ran since they've obviously gained beer weight too but my bras haven't gotten any bigger. 

still made good time down, about an hour.  benito stopped about three quarters of the way down and called a tuktuk so my ride was waiting when i got to the base.  when i finally got back to the boat dock it was only almost 3pm and there was a boat waiting to leave.  which made me forget that i needed to go to an atm (there isn't one at santa cruz), so instead of paying cash for my 12 days here i get to pay by credit card with a 7% fee.  boo.  

tomorrow i leave for antigua and since its my last nite here i've been buying the staff drinks and shots.  the women that clean and cook get paid but the staff is all volunteer (with free food and boarding).  which is why i'm a bit tipsy.  

a family of 17 just checked in (15 kids?  really??  over half are red heads which is sorta cool).  and a little mayan girl was combing my hair and talking to me in spanish, asking why my hair is so short and blond and what's up with the tattoo on my arm.  this blog would have been done while i was still sober but there's so many distractions here.

anyway, antigua tomorrow.  i was thinking about another week of spanish class and hiking some more, i think there are more volcanoes to climb.  there's a huge party on september 15, lasting for days, i think its independence?  not quite sure, benito was telling me but i would only let him speak in spanish so i don't have all my facts straight.  so i'll stay in antigua for the fiestas then head to semuc champay (yes, i came south, then north, then south again, direction isn't my thing).  then honduras for some scuba time.  

life is still good.

sittin on a volcano