Swimming with Aliens at the Lake
Trip Start
Jan 01, 2007
1
52
141
Trip End
Ongoing
Lago de Coatepeque,
El Salvador
Friday, March 30, 2007
Lago de Coatepeque is a large blue volcanic lake, deep inside an old volcanic crater. It is 6 km wide and 120 meters deep, surrrounded by green tree-covered slopes of the crater. As you can see several nearby volcanoes (Santa Ana and Izalco) and mountains (Cerro Verde National Park) are nearby. Large private houses, estates, and guarded compounds line the edges of the volcano as this lake is a popular weekend getaway for San Salvador´s elite. There are a small handful of hotels as well.
Our hotel host, Javier, took us to the lake for the day to go for a swim in the cool lake on his family´s property. He has a rather large family (He has 10 siblings, and his mother has 10 siblings as well) and they own about 7 houses in a row along the lake shore. We pull into the compound and walk down to one of the many docks. The water is a very deep blue and very refreshing. We dive right in and enjoy the cool water on the hot day. While sitting on the dock looking at the lake a helicopter flies overhead. Javier tells us that in the helicopter is the President of El Salvador. He owns a house on the lake right next to his families property. Thats right the President of the country is his neighbor. A few minutes later the helicopter drops below the tree line and lands next door. No kidding. Who are we and where are we.
It starts to get late so Javier suggest we go for a beer at a little place on the lake. We arrive at the local hostel (Amacuilco Guest House) grab a few beers and sit on the lake enjoying the view.
another view of the lake
Javier is friends with the hostel owner, Mauricio, and hangs out here often. On our way out of the hostel we stop by the main house and meet Mauricio. When we enter the house Mauricio is playing chess by himself with a large bottle of alcohol next to him. We look around and notice a postcard that shows alien spaceships landing at Lago Atitlan in Guatemala in 2012. Mauricio notices us looking at it and asks us if we ¨Believe to see or see to Believe¨. I respond Believe to see (Kay says "See to Believe")and this opens a huge can of worms. He proceeds to tell me an incredible story about picking up aliens in his truck on the way home one night 10 years ago. Here is the brief synopsis: He and friend are coming home in the rain and what he thinks are two children on the side of the road. It is raining really hard and he decides to back up and offer them a ride. He asks them where they live but they say nothing. He asks if they want a ride but they say nothing. Somehow he finally gets them to get in the truck. (the how is unclear as this is all in Spanish and Mauricio is probably drunk) While driving down the hill he and his friend ask many questions but never get a response. Finally when he looks in the mirror he realizes that they are not wearing clothes, and are completely dry even though it is pouring, look exactly alike and do not have any genitalia. I´m trying to figure out how it took him this long to notice but then realize that logic does not fit into this equation. At this point, Mauricio offers me a drink and I decide to pass.
Frank and Florian hanging out at the lake
He continues with the story - he drove down the hill to his house and lets them in. Sadly this is as far as I got becuase Javier decides to save me and get us out of there. Maruicio says another day he will tell me the rest of this story. On the way out they give Kay some of the brochures of the hostel and sure enough they have a picture of an Alien on the front. Mauricio says that the Mayan calendar ends in 2012 and that is when he believes the aliens will return to the area and he is waiting for them. He believes he has been contacted.
I believe he has been contacted by the many chemicals that nature has to offer and is really enjoying himself. He was a very interesting guy and I enjoyed his tale. He is the first person I have ever met who thinks they have seen or been contacted by aliens and I was curious to hear his tale. In the car on the way home Javier tells me that he is a bit crazy and we all get a good laugh as I tell the story to them.
On the way back we hit the supermarket where Javier purchase about 5lbs of the most incredible filet mignon steak I have seen in months. He would not let us pay for any of it so we purchase wine and veggies to go with it. Javier cooked an amazing steak for dinner, and we prepared some salad and roasted potatoes. We enjoyed a great dinner that evening with our friends at the hostel (Florian and the Swedish couple) and Javier. His steak was amazing - the best meal we have had on our journey!
Today must be the day of crazy people. Jose, a friend of Javier´s, shows up after dinner with a bottle of Vodka and proceeds to talk non stop for the next 3 hours. In English! He has lived in the US for 15 years and is in town visiting his family. Javier sent him out to pick up some really good Rum and we continue the evening drinking rum & cokes and talking. And Jose kept on talking. And For some reason he tries to prove himself with every breath and his tales get wilder and wilder. At one point he tells us that he has 3 Ph.Ds and is some super biochemist. Sure. A couple hours later, he suddenly starts talking about leaving. I ask him if he is ok to drive, he is not, and he says don´t worry my dad is the ex-president. Javier confirms that he is not. After a few minutes of silence and in true teenage drama queen fashion he leaves in a huff without saying a word. We all get a very good laugh from this and decide it has been a long day with some strange charachters and we should head to bed.
Another fun adventure in El Salvador!
If you are ever in El Salvador, definitely come by Casa Frolaz. Javier is an amazing host and his house is really beautiful. www.casafrolaz.com
Cheers,
Frank
