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Atitlan, Guatemala

Rain, rain and more rain. What can I say? It is excellent weather! The weather here in Atitlan is comparable to Hawaii. Not quite as humid as we are at 5000’ feet above sea level.
A word about the rainfall… There has been a lot of deforestation going on in recent years and it is causing a lot of mudslides. There was a mudslide about three months ago in Atitlan and 25 people were killed. We also drove by a house that was hit by a boulder from a mudslide. I can only image how freaked out the family was when all 20 of them woke up when the boulder came through their bedroom. Mud and bricks houses with corrugated metal for a roof doesn’t provide much defense from a two ton boulder. By the way, the boulder is still there. I guess they are using it as a wall right now. Rock on!
We arrived in Atitlan yesterday in the late afternoon. During our bus ride into town, we passed through the marketplace. Most of the stuff is for tourists but the locals buy items here as well. Michelle bought a pair of shorts. Michelle thinks that they are a little big (they look fine) so I told her that the shorts can work as a parachute on the zip line tour tomorrow. She was not amused. I on the other hand was (and still am).
The vendors are not too bad to deal with. They only follow you for about ten booths or so before they give up. It is always best to not make eye contact or touch any of the merchandise. If you touch it, you pretty much bought it
I bought a T-Shirt with the “Gallo” beer logo. Gallo beer is one of the popular beers here in Guatemala. Quite tasty. The other local favorite is Brahva. Unfortunately, I have not tasted it yet. I pointed to the Brahva beer twice in the menu while ordering dinner in the restaurants but the waiter kept bringing me the Gallo. Maybe the next time I will order the Gallo and will luckily get the Brahva.
Michelle spotted a few scarfs and table cloth items but decided to wait until Carlos was with us to ensure that we were getting the best price. Carlos will be taking the group out tomorrow to Panajachel to visit a church, graveyard, market and most importantly, our zip line tour through the jungle. The zip line tour is definitely a high point on our list of things to do.









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