Laguna Chicabal

Saturday morning we met at the pharmacy/fire station round-a-bout at 6:30am. After a short walk, we boarded a micro toward the trail head. Upon our arrival, several people bought water for the hike ahead and camping overnight (5 people). We started the first part of the walk to the trail head down and back up from a creek. Luckily, we encountered a pickup that was willing to give us a lift to the trail. It was about a 20 minute bumpy ride with lots of inclines and drops. 13 of us girls piled (including Kate) climbed in the truck bed and the boys squeezed in the cab. We all sat quite uncomfortably but were grateful to avoid exhausting ourselves before the actual hike.

At the trail head, there were a few huts surrounded by farms and lots of the trees. The majority of the hike to the Laguna was straight up. There were a few switchbacks and a few flatter resting areas. This hike was much easier than my experience last weekend with Tajumulco. About an hour later, we reached a view point of the Laguna. It is a mountain lake surrounded by trees on all sides. This is the site of Mayan rituals and prayers. You are not allowed to swim or fish in the lake, although we heard some rumors about the fish and the water. From the viewpoint, we descended some 600 stairs to the lake. It was incredibly still and calm. There were a few ripples from some fish or animals. As we walked around the bank, the clouds began to descend over the water. Within 15 minutes, you could no longer see a few feet in front of you. Our adventure around the lake was not too adventurous. We had to climb over some fallen logs and walk gently through swampy marsh but nothing too radical. We saw several prayer alters around the lake with signs reminding people not to disturb them.

After our walk, 10 of us began the challenge of climbing back up 600 stairs. I served as Harim’s primary cheerleader as we stepped 24 steps at a time – in honor of her 24^th birthday today. The other 5 camped the night (I heard was very wet and cold but the fog cleared for a bit). The walk down the trail was more difficult then up because it was quite steep and slick. We chatted all the way to the huts. The same truck was waiting to take us the rest of the way down. We took another micro back to Xela and enjoyed some sandwiches with Carlos at Artesano.

Saturday afternoon we all spent separately and then reunited in the late afternoon. To celebrate Harim’s birthday we went to Megapaca (GIANT second hand clothing store), ate dinner in the Hiper food court – I had Dominos which didn’t quite taste like Dominos, and saw Bad Teacher at the movie theater with popcorn and skittles.