I kept a diary and this is what I wrote:
This is Sunday the 26th of February and I am writing this in Antigua.
Since getting to Guatemala we have done what seems an awful lot. But I had better start from the beginning.
23rd February
We got to Gatwick just as we should do. The trains ran to time, connections were met and we checked in without anything untoward. The plane was a Boeing 777 and the airline Continental. The flight took us over Labrador, Montral, Lake Erie and we arrived in Houston virtually on time.
The George Bush Intercontinental Airport is huge. We had a long walk to US immigration who are very thorough. They checked our passports - machine readable, fingerprinted our left and right index fingers, photographed us and generally made sure we were who we said we were. We got our luggage and checked it in for the Guatemala flight. When we went through they checked us again and x-rayed all our stuff including our shoes! We had a little while to spend on the departure side and browsed bookshops and had a coffee. Getting on to our flight was rather chaotic, but we eventually got on but not sitting together - we were one behind the other. The flight was packed.
We got to Guatemala City on time and found George the Exodus group leader just as we should. Everybody was there and off we set for Antigua. We were in two mini-buses and were introduced to Guatemalan roads and drivers. Our (female) driver just stayed in the fast lane all the way!
Got to Antigua and into our hotel and off to bed.
24th February
Friday morning we got up, had breakfast and explored Antigua. Its a UNESCO World Heritage site - and deservedley so. It is on a grid pattern and all the streets are cobbled. Lots of the buildings are ruined - it was abandoned as the capital because of a massive earthquake. We were tempted by a Mayan jade mask. More of which anon.
Scenes in the streets of Antigua. Note the looming presence of the volcanoes.
We met George in restaurant and had a pleasant chat with him. We explained about Alasdair and he said that he would try to fit him into the programme - which he did. Then we set off for Panajachel, braving the Pan American Highway on the way. We saw lots of signs of landslide damage on the way, but it is hardly surprising as the slopes are so steep.
Our routes from Guatemala City to Antigua to Panajachel and back again. Taken from Google Earth
We got to our hotel in Pana and as soon as I started a shower, Alasdair arrived. It was good to see him again. He is very well and seems to be enjoying being on his own. He has made lots of friends and is prospering. We went out for a meal on our own and chatted all about what he had done and what we had been doing. Then we went for a wander throught the town and had some drinks in a place overlooking the lake. Then home to bed.
25th February
The next morning we were told that nobody objected to Alasdair spending the day with the group. So off to the lake and caught our boat and guide.
The volcanoes round Lake Atitlan, Alasdair and boarding our boat.
He took us along the north shore of the lake and we landed at Santa Caterina. From there we walked along the lake shore to the next village. It was a good opportunity for us to get to know each other. - possibly a characteristic ploy of Exodus.
On the boat and along the shore
The lake shore is very hilly and has lots of large houses. We got to the next village, got back onto the boat and retraced our course to a spot where there are hot springs at the edge of the lake. The waves were dispersing the hot water, but if you sat in the right place it could get very warm. I suspect the lake is a caldera which has collapsed with a ring fracture marking the edge of the lake. Then ground water circulation gets hot water to upwell round the lake. Apparently the lake has no surface outlet. But it is fresh water. There are underground outlets to the Pacific.
Lake Atitlan, its volcanoes, the outline of the original caldera (in red) and the approximate route of our boat trip (in blue)
Back on the boat, then the discovery that all was not well with the engine. Eventually we got a replacement boat to come out and transferred to it and crossed the lake to Santiago. On the way the wind got under my hat and away it went! The boat was stopped and a search made but, ALAS, my hat was gone.
Scenes around the lake and in Santiago Atitlan
In Santiago we walked up to a restaurant at the top of the village dined, and while the other went to look at a Mayan God (aka Plastic Doll) we went hat and T-shirt hunting - succeeded in both.
Back in Panajachel we sorted out various things with Alasdair and then dined in a Thai restaurant.
On Sunday morning we eventually got our stuff out of the hotel safe. Said goodbye to A and drove back to Antigua.
26th February
I had discovered that the recharger for my camera batteries needed 240 volts and the hotel was 110 volts. So now I am down to one working battery - tragedy! Chris will take the tourist pictures and I will take the geological ones. Hopefully something will turn up before too long.
In Antigua we got our Mayan Mask ($420) and variuos textiles. Also sun glasses. Then a communal meal and off to bed.
27th February
This was our big day for travelling. We set off about 9 and got to Guatemala City to have a look around the main square. The town looks very unsafe. I saw a Copy Shop where the workers were separated from the customers by thick metal bars!
We passed several favelas - slums built on steep slopes with only precipitous footpaths leading down to them.
Then we left the highlands. For the next few hours it was a steady downhill progress dropping from 2000m. to 200m. in a very short distance. Mind you, the lowlands may be relatively low but they are not by any means flat. Actually they are very hilly.
We stopped for lunch at a large hotel just before we turned off for the Honduran border at Rio Hondo. We got a good lunch and the opportunity for a swim in a rather nice swimming pool. It may not be the largest swimming pool in the world (according to George, the group leader) but it was pretty good.
Our route from Guatemala City to Copan
We crossed the Honduran border at some tiny place not very far from Copan. We changed our Quetzals for Lempira, paid our exit tax - or was it entrance tax? and proceeded to the village of Copan Ruinas.