LOOK, ITS A CHOCOLATE MILK WAVE

After our month long hiatus in Antigua, we were chomping at the bit to get going.  We were a tad nervous about driving again, we felt rusty.  We had no idea where we were going to spend our last days in Guatemala.  Then all of a sudden we were at the El Salvador border - unprepared.

Usually on border crossing days we have all of our paperwork at the ready and have read up on the procedures of that border but not this time.  While we worked on trying to get our documents out of there secret hiding places, we were mobbed by the coyotes (aka border crossing helpers).  Once we were ready and started going through Guatemala customs I had to draw a number for my placement.  I drew number twenty-four, they were serving number six and there was a five inch stack of paperwork in front of the female border official.  Oh good, it's going to be a long day.

you don't have to zoom, he's not giving us the finger!

So I turned to the most persistent coyote and gave him a look.  He caught my drift and proceeded to sweet talk the girl at the counter and suddenly I was next in line.  Best five bucks I ever spent.  The persistent coyote stuck with us and helped us with the crossing into El Salvador.  For the first time we had to declare Anna and she got a stamp in her paperwork.  She is not an illegal for once.

El Salvadors beautiful countryside

El Salvadors roads are great.  They are smooth, have shoulders and they seem to be properly engineered. They have enough room for vehicles, bikes, horses, chickens, cows, vendors and ox carts.  We have found that people are following the rules of driving, such a switch from other countries.

whoo-hoo! the Pacific Ocean

After three months and 5626 km, crisscrossing through countries, we were finally back at the Pacific Ocean. We were both excited, we really missed it.  The last time we saw it we were in Manzanillo, Mexico.

El Tunco

Our first stop was El Tunco.  This is a 'surfers only' kind of place.  The waves are big, the people are nice but the ants and mosquitoes are unrelenting.

gecko decorated light fixture

This is the first time we have experienced a real tropical storm, in Central America.  In the evening you could see the lightning in the distance and we would know we were going to be in for it.  It would turn the parking lot into a lake, the road into a river and the pool would overflow, all in about ten minutes.  Tree limbs blow down, leaves everywhere, power outages, water outages and thunder that shook the building. This would force the ants and the ants with wings into our tree-house.  They were everywhere, it was so bad even Anna wouldn't get off the safety of the bed.

the chocolate milk wave - the ocean turns brown from run-off after a storm

And we just had to show you......

this is what seven months of travel can do to you!  I use to wear size 34"  now who knows 

WHOS IDEA WAS THIS ANYWAY?

volcan Agua in the foreground and volcan Fuego in the background

Long ago, when planning this trip and we were pouring through blogs and travel books, we came upon Volcano Pacaya.  Photos of people walking around fiery magma and roasting marshmallows over a river of flowing lava looked like a fun thing to do.  So once we got to Antigua we knew we had to book it.  We almost never went on this tour.  We ended up booking this trip twice and drivers showed up at our door three times. The first time, they showed up at six a.m., waking our entire building and we weren't even booked.  The following day, when we were suppose to go, there was a roaring party that went until thirty minutes before we were suppose to get up, we ended up sleeping in and missing the tour bus.  The third time we thought it wasn't going to happen either as the driver was forty-five minutes late.  During that wait, we wondered if this was a sign and if we really should be going at all.

some of the lava from the last eruption spilling out into the valley

me and my saviour Camaron

We were happy we didn't drive there ourselves.  It was an hour and a half of chaos and treacherously steep roads.  Once we arrived and peeled our fingers off of the dash we took a look at the volcano we were about to climb and said - oh good, this is going to hurt.

As our group was getting ready to start the climb, many men with horses came up to us and told us, "muy dificil".  The majority of our group said nah, we don't need a horse.  After about ten minutes of a vertical climb, almost everybody was on a horse.  Justin being stubborn, hiked.  For me, it was the best money ever spent.

During the hike I looked at Justin and saw his purple face and I kept telling him to get on a horse but by then all the horses had riders.  I knew that Justin was almost at his limit when he handed me the back pack.  He would come up to me and say, "Whos f^@$! idea was this!"  I just smiled at him and handed him some gatorade.

trying to smile

We reached the lava field and I said good-bye to my horse Camaron.  We took off on foot across this vast field of rock.  It felt like we were walking across the worlds biggest barbecue, each step went crunch like the sound charcoal briquettes make.  Our guide handed us a hand blistering rock that our group played hot potato with.  He then led us to a chasm that we all entered, it felt like we were in a sauna without the steam.

entrance to the sauna

inside the sauna - very, very hot!

The lava we came to see was not there.  We have been told that there hasn't been any since it erupted in May 2010.

priceless expression 

trying to smile, about to die

We thought we were done with being mountain goats but then our guide said that we were going to another peak higher up.  The group collectively sighed and dropped their shoulders and we began to follow him, begrudgingly.

near the peak,  Justin trying to catch his breath

The second leg was a killer.  Straight up, with ankle deep soft volcanic rock.  We stopped many times to catch our breath and to try and slow our heart rate.  Once we reached the top we were rewarded with incredible views of the valley below.

What goes up must come down.  It was a knee jarring, tumbling, stumbling experience shared by our group. You could feel the temperature rise as we were descending.  Once we reached the bottom we were starved and shared our snacks with some of the local kids.

Five kilometers up and five kilometers down.  At the highest we were about eight thousand feet.  Incredible views and an experience like no other.  It was a tough day and one that we will not soon repeat.

WANDERING THE STREETS OF ANTIGUA

We never planned to spend a month here but as we drove into town and took a look around we said to each other, "Let's stay for awhile."  We've both loved all of the colonial areas we have been in and to combine it with comfortable temperatures has made this a perfect place to rejuvenate.

We are definitely in a tourist town.  We hear as much English as we do Spanish.  There are bizillions of hotels, restaurants and tourist agencies.  At every corner someone is either trying to shine your shoes or sell you the local textiles.  The difference here though is that everyone is low key - no one is pushy, not very much, anyway.  There are horse-drawn carriages, musicians playing in the street and a massive center square.  There is even a McDonalds here which all others pale in comparison to.  Of all the McDonalds we have been to around the world none beat the setting of this one.  Yes, I think we eat there too much!

eating our egg mcmuffins with a killer view (pardon the pun)

We've been practising our Spanish with the locals.  Something seems to of clicked lately and we are understanding so much more.  It still takes loads of brain power and super human concentration but we seem to be getting it.  They do speak slower here and our conversations are very simple but still it feels good. Whenever we make a mistake they correct us, its like having Spanish teachers wherever we go.

We originally had a lot planned for this area but to be honest we've been really lazy.  Everyday we sleep in, walk into town for coffee, people watch inside the square and find new areas of the city to wander around. I'm sure we've covered every inch of this place.  We have felt so comfortable and relaxed here all the stresses of driving have melted away.  The most difficult part of the day is crossing the streets - its like being in the old video game frogger.

market day

traditional textiles

Antigua is full of crumbling churches, monasteries and convents.  We've spent hours wandering through the rubble.  This is a major seismic zone and Antigua has had its fair share of devastation.  We've been told that they're not going to restore the structures but they are just trying to ensure they aren't damaged further.

in the spooky crypt

the convent

the monastery 

We've really been enjoying our time up in the mountains.  Its so different here than what we have become accustomed to.  The bugs are smaller, the temperatures are cooler, theres storms almost every night.  Its peaceful and quiet.  We are soaking it all up because we know that when we leave here we are going to learn what the rainy season is all about.  We still have some time left here and we're planning on seeing more of the area outside of Antigua.

walking in the rain