Guatemala: Day 10 - Panajachel Part 3

January 18

Did I say Monday would be relaxing? Okay, okay. It was, for the most part.

I started the day lounging in bed and planning my day. After that, my first priority was to find something for my lingering cough and my problemas femininas. I went to a farmacia for these needs. Everything was in glass cases, so it was hard to find what I needed. I almost bought a pregnancy test because the box looked about the right size for tampons (which I was surprised by, because tampons are supposedly hard to find in Guatemala). Luckily I saw the image with little check boxes marking "si" or "no" and moved on to different products. I got what I needed, plus a pack of strawberry cream cough drops.

I walked to a cafe to enjoy a morning coffee. I strolled through town in hopes of finding something worth buying as a souvenir, which I did.

Me, and the lake, and my awesome new hand-stitched skirt

I continued to walk through town and somehow walked full-circle. I was not at all interested in being lost this time, so I caught a tuc-tuc to take me to the playa publica. My next goal was to figure out where I could actually dip my feet into the water. So I wandered about and continued to pass through shops and lake views.

One dog adopted me and started walking with me. I happened upon 2 more dogs who had their rear-ends touching and I tried to figure out what could possibly be going on in this position.

I knew better than to interfere with what might be a sensitive situation. The dog that was tagging along with me went over for a sniff and quickly got growled away. I had a good guess about what was happening, or had happened, but is this what normally happens? I don't think so. I waited for a while and then continued onward.

I found an entrance to the lake and dipped my feet in and took some pictures. A man came along to make small talk. I wasn't interested in conversation, so I headed back to find a new quiet spot. I sat on a nice little bench and knitted while looking at the water. Some women passing by showed a lot of interest in the knitting.

Then I went to find lunch. The attached dogs were separated and a new male was already expressing interest in the female, who was NOT in the mood. 

A little further along, I found myself a lake-front restaurant.

A few salespeople came through trying to convince me to buy bracelets and other trinkets. I had to say "no gracias" many many times. I accidentally said, "si" to one woman who asked if I might want something later. I instantly kicked myself for this, because I'd already learned that they will follow through. When Chris admired some goods outside the school earlier in the week, she told them that she'd come back another day. The woman asked which day and held Chris to it. In my case, I just repeated some more "no gracias" and she finally gave up on me.

As beautiful as the lake was, there wasn't an easy place to set up for the day, so I headed back to one of my wrong turns from the previous day to explore the Nature Preserve, which was about a mile and a half away. 

I paid my admission and took a look at the map. I decided to head for the monkeys first. After seeing the monkeys high up in the trees, I hoped to continue on the path to see the waterfall, some other stuff, and then end with the butterflies. To continue this hike, I had to cross a rickety bridge about 15 feet across. About 3-4 inches of space separated each plank, which meant that scaredy-cat Laura needed to carefully step on each plank of wood.

I approached another bridge and started walking before I realized what I was in for. By the time I realized that this bridge was at least three times as long, I was committed. I knew I should put away my tablet, which I had been using as a camera, but coordinating that action while on a rickety bridge seemed far too difficult. So I continued to carefully cross the scary bridge, clinging on to my belongings.

As I arrived at the middle of the bridge, my tablet slipped from my hand. Crap!

But it landed on the bridge inches in front of my feet. Thank God!

And bounced. Super Crap!

And gracefully dove between the wood planks to the ground 20 feet below. Super Duper Crap!!!

Suddenly, I had a reason to walk faster on the bridge. I got to the other end and scurried down the hill of dirt and branches to the ground. I climbed over a giant pile of other Lost Forever items before eyeing my bright orange tablet on the ground. I retrieved it, and climbed my way back up, thankful for the branches that I used to hoist myself up because flip flops are not the best hiking shoes.

And then I continued on. For about 10 feet. Until I arrived at another long, rickety bridge. Screw this, I said. I cut my losses, PUT MY TABLET IN MY BACKPACK, and then headed back across the 2 previous bridges. 

This turned out to be a good call, because when I got back to the monkey area, there were some new animals hanging out. I wasn't sure what they were, but when I approached one, it bolted away like a cat. So I was fairly certain it was harmless. This one was brave enough to continue to approach me. I couldn't get a still shot of him, because he moved like this.

Then I was off to sit in the butterfly sanctuary for a bit. I also happened to catch some peacocks. After that, I headed back to the beach to enjoy the sunset.

Don't mind us. We're just hanging out on our car.

At the beach, I found some concrete steps to sit and relax. Children came to play and 2 of the younger ones sheepishly stripped off most of their clothes to swim in the lake, giggling the entire time. I made small talk with a man collecting cans. A young girl selling trinkets admired my knitting and asked about it.
"Para usted?" she asked.
"Si," I responded.
"Para mi?" she asked.
"No."
Which prompted her to leave.

An older woman selling items sat next to me. We talked about my knitting and her beading. We talked about the sunset and the clouds. She pointed as a crane flew by and I asked her what it was called in Spanish.

"Grua," She replied. Soon after that she continued on her way.

At around 6:30, it began to get cold and the clouds had ended the sunset early. So I went to the public bathrooms, paid dos quetzales for my share of toilet paper, and then headed in the direction of my hostel. The streets that had been bustling with pedestrians and vendors had turned into a ghost town, so I flagged down a tuc tuc for a ride home.

I packed up, wound down, chatted with Craig, and got some sleep before my early morning shuttle to the airport.

My host sister, Daniella, liked to ask about English words and phrases that she saw on signs and TV. One phrase she asked about was THE END.