Trip to Guatemala :: Kirsten Koza :: Misadventure Travel Author

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	Kirsten Koza Pics and Notes from Kirsten Kirsten found five gal-pal travel partners to go caving, kayaking and volcano-ing, in Guatemala.
	Pic 1: Kayaking Rio Dulce Guatemala Leslie Belson and Saida Abdulali were returning trip partners in Guatemala. I'd met them for the first time just 5 months earlier, when we braved the Andes of Peru together. This photo is before Saida mastered the art of upside-down paddling under the Rio Dulce.
	Pic 2: Finca Paraíso, thermal waterfall I was very pleased during my pre-trip research to discover that the candirú does not exist in Guatemala. This is a parasitic, eel-shaped, little catfish that will swim up your urethra (most likely only when you pee in the water--most likely). It lives in the Amazon. We swam under the thermal waterfall at Finca Paraíso pleased to know that nothing would swim up our urethras if we peed--our only concern was being downstream from a peeing companion.
	Pic 3 : Booze-soaked grapes in chocolate bowl. Fine dining in Antigua Booze-soaked grapes in a chocolate bowl. Fine dining in Antigua. As good as it was; I still like a man :~)
	Pic 4: mountain bike Guatemala: Luisa Zea, our Guatemalan guide has just safely mountain biked across Poo Creek. Saida was not so successful and found herself immersed in bubbling human sewage. The fecal-streams maybe why Las Tierras Altas is famous for "killer broccoli".
	Pic 5: typical Guatemalan women's attire This is not a floral hat. This is how Guatemalan women carry everything from firewood to propane tanks.
	Pic 6: El Mirador, Lake Atitlan I was so happy with my photos of Lake Atitlan that when I finished snapping away, I waltzed over to a couple of gun-toting Carabineros and showed them this shot. Because you know, Carabineros are people too...
	Pic 7: Guatemalan taxis, Panajachel After a fabulous mountain bike descent, we sat waiting for our boat taxi and we took photos of land taxis and fed the starving street dogs of Panajachel
	Pic 8: Casa del Mundo, Lake Atitlan, Guatemala Casa del Mundo is a lovely hotel perched above Lake Atitlan. But there are a few catches! I struggled with my backpack down several flights of winding, rough-hewn, stone steps, to my room. My room was glorious -- hanging out over the water -- windows on two sides. As I looked around I realized something was missing -- the toilet. There wasn't a bathroom. And I thought about the steep stone steps in the pitch black with trepidation. That night as I lay in bed, I could hear the couple through the stone wall, in the room next to me, having a discussion. They were breaking rules. You see, there was a huge book of rules on the bedside tables next to the beds. This bible of hotel rules put me off even more than my dangerous journey to the toilet. There was no talking after 9:00 pm according to the rules. The woman next door shouted to her husband, "Make sure you don't hit the villagers below!" They didn't have a toilet either and quite sensibly the man was peeing off the hotel balcony down to the hot tub below. I flipped through the book of rules. It didn't say anything about pissing off the balconies.
	Pic 9: Mayan featured woman, Guatemalan weaving An indigenous woman with Mayan features shows us her hand woven goods she's created with her back-strap loom.
	Pic 10: Guatemala Guide, Old Town Outfitters, AdventureGuatemala Luisa Zea, Guatemalan Guide Extraordinaire, makes a muscle for us! She also taught us some very useful expressions, like Que de a huevo. And, My testicle! Always one huevo -- never 2.
	Pic 11: Pacaya Volcano Leslie and Saida recline on the blistering hot, freshly-hardening, lava-crust, of Pacaya Volcano. We went up at sunset as the regular tours departed the cone. What's that smell? It's my Merrell hiking boots melting.
	Pic 12: Roasting marshmallows over lava, Volcan Pacaya Michelle Lemeiux, a Vancouver make-up artist for both TV and film, roasts a marshmallow and singes off her body hair in the process. And I cried on Pacaya. Yup I cried crossing fissures like this one, which blasted furnace-breath fire, as we leapt. I was terrified my quick dry sports fabrics were going to fuse to my skin. Pacaya has claimed the life of one Canadian thus far -- but he was struck my lightning.
	Pic 13: Lava leaping, jump Terri Whitehead, a field researcher who counts and studies bats and caribou and other critters for University of Calgary, bounced across Guatemala. She's a lava leaping loon :~) As I stumbled up the lava, that left shards of volcanic glass in my palms -- Terri jumped.
	Pic 14: Fuego Volcano As we climbed Pacaya, neighbouring Volcano Fuego, erupted. It took a second to realize that the explosion wasn't coming from below our feet. It was one of those moments when you realize that sometimes -- you're just lucky.
	Pic 15: Guatemala bus The chicken bus.
	Pic 16: Livingston Guatemala, Garifuna I entered this man's thatched hut and once again exclaimed -- what's that smell? This Garinagu man of Livingston pointed to the tree root he was burning "It just makes you feel good!" he grinned. It's menthol fumes put a grin on my face. UNESCO says that the language, dance, etc of the Garifuna is a "masterpiece of the oral and intangible heritage of humanity."
	Pic 17: Livingston Guatemala, Pina Colada and Rum I never do anything in a small way!
	Pic 18: Livingston Guatemala, fishing boats We paddled down the Rio Dulce to where it meets the Carribean in Livingston.
	Pic 19: Finca Tatin I lived at number Scorpion in the jungle lodge of Finca Tatin for 1 night. Many other travellers seem not to be able to leave and end up working at Finca Tatin.
	Pic 20: Hacienda Tijax I did battle with mosquito netting at Hacienda Tijax until finally in the night I tossed it over the bathroom wall and decided to risk mosquitoes instead.
	Pic 21: No armas, no guns, sign I marvelled that we were to leave our guns with the guard at the gate of Castillo de San Felipe, now a museum. As we departed the castle, we saw the guards were removing the sign that I'd photographed and laughed at. So I suppose because I laughed at a sign -- people will now bring their guns into the museum. Sorry everyone.
	Pic 22: bat cave, caving Guatemala We squelched ankle deep in guano, the hot bat poop oozing between our toes. Deeper and deeper we ducked through the bat cave by the lights of headlamps. We screamed and gasped as the winged fox-like creatures swooped past our faces. Terri handed her fabulous little Lumix off to one of our teenage spelunking-guides. As Vancouver resident and outdoor guru Cindy Maw hitches up her pants -- the flash also illuminates Count Fox-ula flying over her head.
	Behind a picture is a thousand words
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