An early morning haze caused by the mist and cloud that hover at this altitude mellowed the early morning sunshine. Although I was a little jaded by the 7 hour journey the day before and a relatively late night, I was more than ready for a good trek, in fact, I was in my element. In the last few years I have really begun to appreciate trekking and after seeing some of the surrounding countryside on the way in to Todos Santos I was very excited to traipse across some first hand. I had no idea just how amazing the trek was going to be nor the diversity of landscape that Guatemala has to offer.
We caught one of the local buses that come between 4.30am and 7.30am. There is no rush in Guatemala; if you miss a bus another will roll up soon enough. There is no timetable or official company, the bus moves off when it's almost full. You don't need a ticket as the driver's right hand man will collect payment in transit. So we began our ascent in 'la Flor de Maria' chicken bus to the hamlet of La Ventosa, a 20 minute ride away. We were the only strangers on the bus as the locals piled in and exchanged warm greetings to each other in the Mayan dialect of 'Mam'; very different from the 'Tz'utujil' spoken around the lake Atitlan area. It sounds completely different from anything I've heard before with broken syllables, whispers and guttural sounds that a European tongue would have difficulty pronouncing. I felt like a giant packed into the bus full of little brown people and their special language, the experience intensified by the fairy tale mountains visible through the windows now dripping with condensation.
I had never seen a landscape like it; rugged and green, with moss covered outbreaks of rock and twisted trees that reminded me of olive trees from the Mediterranean. I was elated and thanked our guide, Liam, enthusiastically for bringing us here. The slope from La Ventosa was steep but well-trodden so it was easy to walk up although the altitude was making me short of breath. On our way we passed a local man collecting firewood. The Mam people are not known for their friendliness and are generally timid, especially those from the surrounding hamlets, and Liam our guide was surprised by the openness of this chap. He asked for a copy of the photo which we later sent to Liam – I hope he gets it!
After we climbed the first few hundred metres the path become less obvious and our surroundings turned into denser forest with more rock and formations the like of which I had not seen before. As we came across an outcrop of moss covered rocks I felt like I'd stepped through the wardrobe into Narnia, just without the snow.
From this quite magical point things just got better. I was miles away from man-made cities and literally entranced by the unfolding landscape. We came across a flat area that was wild and even stumbled upon some naturally forming quartz in amongst the grasses. It was here that we made friends with a roaming dog who became quite friendly after he woofed down a bit of cake. He decided he would come with us all the way, he even bought a mate along for a bit.
Upon reaching the peak at La Torre, the highest non volcanic point in Central America, we could see the cloud below whose drift from the mountains made it look like the plains were ablaze. The misty formations were now beginning to engulf us as we started our descent near a large ridge. Liam took us down via la Maseta and before we arrived there we passed trees covered in spaghetti like growths; this climate really produced some amazing natural growth. (See the blog entitled, 'High Altitude Flora and Fauna')
La Masetta has become more of a trodden path and the locals have actually made steps and a refuge hut. They are now going to begin to charge for those who pass. This saddens me as both the path and payment interrupt the natural course that this hike takes. I am sorry to say that this appears to be a project whose sole purpose is to get money from tourists. At our destination, the main road back to Todos Santos, we waited on a bend in the mountain road until someone passed who was willing to take us into town.
Some local men were clearing scrub from the side of the road, dressed in their colourful red stripes and colourful jackets. One of them approached us and my fear quickly dissolved as this very friendly man asked us where we were from; he boasted with some English he knew. He had lived in a community in Michigan, one of the pockets of Todos Santos' (illegal) immigrants in the USA.
Finally a truck stopped for us and the driver was really enthusiastic to learn about us too. These people are friendly and honest and once more I am led to believe that the real violence in Guatemala is in the city. Liam, thank you, this is one of the most amazing treks I have been on. Thank you also for your patience with my photography and our lack of breath at times!
uauuuu increible!!! y muy interesante :)
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