Chillin by the Lakeside
Trip Start
Jan 01, 2007
1
26
141
Trip End
Ongoing
Santa Cruz La Laguna,
Guatemala
Saturday, February 3, 2007
On Saturday morning, we packed up and caught a morning ferry to Santa Cruz, across the lake.
Santa Cruz is much smaller and quieter than San Pedro or San Marcos. There are only 3 hotels, with an additional 2 just outside of the town (accessible by boat only). The local village is up a very long and steep road on the hillside. The gringo part is on the water by the pier, and very small.
There are a couple small tiendas in the village on the hill. There are no restaurants, only those within the hotels.
The first night, we stayed at the Iguana Perdida, a somewhat famous hostel
Arc de Noa bedroom
. They are known for the cross-dressing Saturday night bar-b-que parties. Our room was a tiny, dark, old room above the bar. Very loud all night long... And the bed had bugs - so we moved the next day to a different hotel.On the positive side, the Iguana Perdida was fun and festive. They had computers with internet, a large book selection (we swiped a couple good ones including Love in the Time of Cholera), and lots of outside patio areas and hammocks.
We went for a stroll up to the village, not realizing just how far and steep it was! What a great Stairmaster workout! The village was sprawling on the hillside, mostly made up of tin-roof shacks with (of course) several brightly painted Evangelical churches throughout. We found the town square and sat on a curb watching a couple dozen local young boys play soccer in the concrete square. Then we joined the boys in munching on Papas Fritas. There are many things I love about Guatemala. The first is the friendly and smiling people, always smiling and saying Buenos Dias. The second thing is the Papas Fritas! They have these little stands everywhere, and you can get a bag of freshly cut and fried potatoes for only 1 or 2 Quetzales (about 12 to 25 cents US). Oh I am in heaven!
Arc de Noa bedroom building
That night, we joined the rest of the hostel clients and searched in their used clothes pile for the most outrageous cross-dressing outfits. I found a red Guatemalan pullover (which Frank later swiped to add to his personal clothing collection). Frank scored a sexy little number: a bright purple floral dress with capped sleeves and a deep, cleavage revealing neckline. And my headwrap to cover his lovely mane. Oh did he look stunning! Unfortunately we have no pictures to prove this! Sorry Neil, Tod, Rod, and Damian - I´m sure you wish you were there to witness!
We met a great couple that we dined with during the bar-b-que - Kate and Nadeem. Kate is an American (who was born in Connecticut, raised in Africa, and lived in France recently) and Nadeem (who was born in the Middle East, but raised and lives in France). They are both currently living in Antigua while Kate works for an NGO in Guatemala. They were great companions for the evening, and we enjoyed talking with them and drinking several Moza´s (another local Guatemalan beer). Later that night, while kind of dancing (more like swaying...), the Iguana Perdida earned many points with me - they played ¨Rock DJ¨by Robbie Williams. It was the 2nd time that day I had 5 minutes of pure bliss (the first time was the papas fritas :-))
Arc de Noa flowers 1
.The next day, we moved across the road to hotel Arc de Noa (Noah´s Arc) - a great little hotel run by a German woman. Our cabana was bright and lovely, and she maintained a beautiful landscape of hibiscus flowers, other gorgeous flowers and trees. We had a great breakfast of an omelet and granola and yogurt. Later, we went for a stroll along the lake towards another town called Jiabolita. What we thought was a stroll turned into a boulder crawl up a vertical slope, climbing over the hillside to the other town. We eventually made it to an exclusive hotel called La Casa Del Mundo. If you want a nice getaway, this is the place. It is a series of lovely rooms and buildings built into the cliff. It is stunning and a lovely location as well.
Later that night, we enjoyed an amazing meal at our hotel. For only 65 Quetzales (about $9 US) per person, we enjoyed a fantastic 6 course meal consisting of: carrot and ginger soup, a traditional Mayan radish salad that was wonderful, rice paper wrapped brocolli, tuna medallions in a Mayan sauce, lime tart, coffee, fresh bread, and something else I´m forgetting... It was fantastic. We shared a communal dining table by candlelight with 4 other people: 2 women from New York City, a nurse from San Francisco named Joe (woman), and a funny Pakistani guy from New York City. They were all fun and great dinner companions.
The next morning, I unfortunately woke up to an uneasy stomach. I laid in bed for a couple hours with an aching tummy. Eventually, I got up to join Frank in the patio chairs outside
Arc de Noa flowers 2
. That proved too strenous, and naseau and dizziness set in quickly. I ran back to the room, losing my eyesight to fainting. And shortly after got incredibly sick. Let´s just leave the details at that.It was Monday morning, and we were scheduled to start classes that afternoon. We also had a reservation committed at a hotel in San Pedro. I was determined to make it back to San Pedro, but unable to walk. Frank helped me into the ferry. As luck would have it (or not), it was the local ferry so it was a very long hour to get back to San Pedro as we stopped at every village in between. That just might be the longest hour of my life so far. I think I scared everyone in the boat with my hunched over posture and moaning, but luckily didn´t subject them to any more projectiles.
We finally arrived back in San Pedro and caught a Tuk-Tuk to the hotel since I was unable to walk without assistance. (A Tuk-Tuk is a small 3 wheeled motorized cart). We checked into the hotel and I plopped myself right into bed. I came down with a fever and doddled between freezing and sweating. For 2 days I didn´t move from that bed except to run to the bathroom.
Frank went to class later that afternoon, but returned within an hour. He came down with a fever and was not able to keep his head steady in class. What is normally a 10 minute walk from the school turned into a 40 minute walk because he did not have the energy to make it very far. He finally made it back and joined me on the bed. We were quite a pathetic site, moaning and miserable for the next 48 hours. Every muscle in our bodies, especially our backs ached. We missed classes for the first 2 days.
More later! Kay
Comments
arc de noa
Hi, i don't know how often you check this,
but i was just wondering how much the arc de noa hotel would cost for a single traveler ( if you know/remember) thanks :)
lauren
Re: arc de noa
Hi Lauren,
I believe that you can get a single for about 50 Quetzales (about $7 US). Not 100% sure though! It is right across from the Iguana Perdida, which has dorm rooms for single travellers. Depending on the season you go, you should be able to walk in to either without a reservation.
Cheers,
Kay
Any ideas on what got you two sick?
Do you think it was something you ate or drank or just random timing?
Do you ever drink the water in the places you've been to, what about ice?
Re: Any ideas on what got you two sick?
We drink only bottled water. And we do drink ice, everywhere. And we use plates and utinsels and now eat fresh vegetables/fruit.
When we stayed at Arc de Noa in San Pedro, we did use their filtered/purified water which was filtered on site. This was the only time in our year of travelling to developing coutries that we drank un-bottled water. And it was the only time we got that incredibly ill. So, I think it was the water at Arc de Noa.
Thanks