Hotel Utz Jay Panajachel

... by a giant bus tire, a goat (yay!), and a smallish (but not that small) potted tropical tree of some sort. <br><br> Nueva Alizana is a former coffee plantation turned cooperative that also as a purified water plant, harvests macadamia nuts, makes bamboo furniture and has a biodesil project. It is made up of about 10 families and I estimate that about 150 live in the community, which is spread out a bit around the mountain. People are ...

... of cyanobacteria, called lyngba, but she warned that if we didn't take care of the lake now, it cannot be saved. The food chain is already affected very badly.<br>The cooperative of Mayan fisherman are trying to alleviate the problem by replanting the tul, a reed-like plant, in more areas of the perimeter shore of the lake because tul helps oxygenate the water.<br>At the meeting, the 8 sub-groups introduced constructive ...

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... asked Susan whether she<br>went to church, she panicked and said yes. Then Elena asked her what<br>kind of church, and Susan's brillz response was "General Christian."<br>Does that even exist? Didn´t think so. <br><br>For lunch, we had some kind of veggie sopa with... what looked like an<br>ear floating in it. When Susan inquired what type of meat it was, Maria<br>told us it was a "special part" of the chicken. Needless to say, it was<br ...

... activity and a video on anthropology in the area, both of which I decided not to do as my spanish was not at a level that could understand what was being said. Al said that I should be glad I didnt attend the talk as it was quite boring and he had to really feign interest! <br><br>The activities that we did enjoy were the salsa lessons and the Friday night dinner. Luis, our guide from the kayaking tour, was also the salsa teacher. Now, in my opinion, a ...

... are really terrified of people becoming skinny down here. I wasn't feeling well anyhow, and I asked the women at the house what was for lunch, because I wasn't sure if I was going to eat. She replied that it was just a little pasta and some sauce. OK, I see the sauce simmering away on the stove full of what I think are whole carrots. The carrots here are really good. I was happy. Then I was served a HUGE plate of food and discovered that it was in fact not carrots that were ...

... plants and an awesome waterfall. The trail leads you up the cliffs by way of stone and dirt stairways and a number of really cool hanging bridges. <br><br>For those who are daring there is an option to go to the top of the cliff and come down by way of 8 zip lines. As we are both very daring people ;) we decided that zip lining in Guatemala was a great idea. Thus we both strapped on ...

... vertically up steep winding mountain tracks that were barely carved out of the side of the mountain. Having a pack on your back severely affects your balance, but I had done hikes like this before with a big pack, I couldn&#8217;t understand why I couldn&#8217;t catch my breath, then I had a light bulb moment, I was fighting off a cold. The first sign of me coming down with a cold has traditionally been a sore throat and losing my voice, well both those boxes were ...

... the Catholic Church. As part of the walking tour, Pablo explained to me that the building was build by a Baptist ministry and that there are a lot of evangelical Christians in the town. We climbed to the top of the building to get a great view of the lake and Volcano San Pedro. To provide some balance, we then ventured to the Catholic Church but the structure was not as impressive. Finally, Pablo showed me where the ...

Actually it's been some twelve-odd (s-v-o!) years since I last showed my face in Panajachel, but much more than that since the first time, more like thirty years. Ouch! There&#8217;s nothing like growing old, nothing like it at all. No one&#8217;s ever accused me of growing old gracefully, yet the alternative would be far worse. Eternal life? No, you don&#8217;t really want that, another plane maybe, but not old-fashioned biology. But I&#8217;ll get ...