Hello to everyone who has been waiting for our next post since New Years! We have been dong a lot but haven´t had a computer to get things up to date recently. Just going to write here today and add the pics later, so check back soon.
01-01 Fri
Today was my birthday and Kylie got me the very thoughtful gift of a spa treatment and Swedish massage. We went just outside Xela to Las Cumbres, a type of resort establishment. The spa was heated from a volcano below. The whole experience was just the right gift to help me forget I was a year older.
05-01 Tues
It was Kylie´s last time with the kids at the day care. We spent quite some time getting our things together and cleaning up the apartment. Some of the stuff we bought over the last month that we wouldn´t need anymore we gave to the school (glass baking pan and random cooking stuffs) and said goodbye to our friends there. We also bought Marvin a bottle of Quetzalteca as a gift for being very helpful during our stay. More than once now we´ve had questions about something and thought, "If only we could ask Marvin!" We got take out from an Indian restaurant, El Sabor de India, the same place that we ate on our first night in Xela. They had moved from their old location to one closer to the park and right next to our apartment; if only they had moved sooner I´m sure we´ve eaten there more often.
06-01 Wen
We got our whole deposit back from our landlady! We were a little concerned since in the lease it clearly states no parties. After our little social event we didn´t think we´d be seeing that money again. We got hugs each from our landlady and managed to catch the one o´clock direct bus out of Xela to San Pedro. Lake Atitlàn looked quite impressive from the views we had driving down towards town.
We must have looked like typical backpackers since our bus porter suggested a cheap hotel in town, Hotel San Fransico; we ended up sleeping there the rest of our stay. By the time we settled in it was getting dark. We got a few drinks at The Reggae Bar and a local´s welcome to life in San Pedro.
07-01 Thurs
You do not need to know any Spainsh to get by in San Pedro; it is full of ex-pats and hippies that have choosen to make here thier home.
It reminded us of Cape Cod, since the main entertainment is drinking and smoking. The prices for food and drinks is very cheap compared to what we were used to in Xela and as a result we ate out for each meal (even though we had a ktichen at the hotel) and by the end of our stay we had tried almost every place. By the afternoon, Kylie and I took a ferry ride
across the lake to nearby San Marcos, a very laid-back town with holistic attitudes. Later, we caught up with local wandorers at The Budda Bar and spent the night trading tales of travels.08-01 Fri
We had an early rise. This morning we climbed Volcàn San Pedro, staring by seven. It was only us and our guide and we made great time. By 9:00 we reached the summit, when most people do the climb in three hours. It is a straight shot to the top, with very few switchbacks. Our guide told us that we were very lucky, usually it is clouded over at the top, but we had clear skies to veiw the lake and plenty of sun to keep us warm.
The decent was very difficult; a rare rainshower the night before left mud all over the trails and I lost my footing plenty of times. By the time we were done, we were very dirty. That evening we attended a Mayan shamman´s blessing of the lake. It was centered around a fire and everyone was given candles to toss into the flames.09-01 Sat
Today we crossed to the other side of Lake Atitlàn to Panajachel. The market there was very touristy and many security guards were around since the Guatemalan president was there too. Just outside of town, we walked though a rainforest reserve. It consisted of several bridges crossing over streams and a waterfall, with spider monkeys and a butterfly atrium.
10-01 Sun
I took a cooking class in the morning, learing how to make typical Guatemalan dishes, pepian, chile relleno. After 12, we had a slow boat ride over to Santiago, where we would catch a mornig bus away from the lake to the coast.
11-01 Mon
We got a direct bus to Sipicate, feeling the warmth of the lower altitude as we approached. To reach the surf camp in El Paredon, we took a ten minute boat ride through mangroves
and were dropped of in a very quite town, without streetsigns or any sense of where we needed to go. The camp was very simple
and right on the beach. 
Our nights consisted of card playing and drinking beer.12-01 Tues
Our first sufing lessons were at 4, after a lazy morning of reading in hammocks on the beach. 
The water here is warm like bathwater, with waves over five feet plus.
15-01 Fri
We leave the camp and get a ride out with some New Yorkers who rented a car. The feeling of airconditioning was wonderful. After a chickenbus, tuk-tuk, boatride, and shuttle, we made it to Hawaii and the ARCAS turtle reserve.
The nesting season ends by January and there were few volenterrs at the reserve. Kylie and I got housed up in our own cabin on the beach. Tonight, we learned to measure, log and release two hatchlings into the surf.
16-01 Sat
We walked to nearby Monterrico, 7 kms away. Almost there, we got a ride by a local with a motorcycle the remaining distance. The town here is quiet but the milkshakes are delicious and cheap. Back at the reserve by dusk, some locals had set up huge telescopes and were getting ready to view the night stars and planets since it was a new moon. I met Dr. Roberto Monterrso, a dentist with a passion for the heavens, the founder of ARCAS and Guatemalan Astronomy club. He gave me lessons well into the night until by three AM I couldn´t stay awake any longer.
17-01 Sun
Tonight when Kylie and I went to check on the turtles we found over nintey of the hatchlings crawling all over the pen.
It was our biggest release yet, unfortunatly during the night so we have no pictures.
