in atitlan

Imagine if you will waking up to the sound of birds, slowly rousing and then going out to check on your horses and moving them to better grass, giving them a few pats. Returning and making a nice cup of coffee and contemplating where you will go today. When the sun burns off the mist of the night bring each horse over to water them and pack then for the days ride. Packing is a very important process and must be done the same way so everything fits and more importantly will not fall off. The horses can be possesive about their space. Despite being very social creatures they can and will bite and kick each other. So each one must be brought over by themselves. We have learned this at the cost of being in the middle and narrowly avoided serious injury. Then its time to go. We have four young ladies with very differnt personalities. Glens Angelitta (Angie) the cafe or buckskin is the calm one, she remains always close by and has seen some very traumatic events and remained amazingly calm, she does have some problems when she gets tired tho. Then there is Gabriella (Gaby) I would call her a bay but the locals call her a Colorado she and Angie are truly bonded and get along very well, Gaby is a goer and usually the pack horse will continue when Gaby balks. Next is Genesis (Genee) My paint but the locals call her a pinta. She is high spirited and the dominant Mare. She lets everyone know it. She is extremely smart and will go anywhere and runs like the wind. Where she leads the others follow. Last but not least is Exodus (Exee) another Bay, my pack horse. She is the smallest of the horses but always faithfull, she is my chow hound and will eat seemingly everything. Learning them and their ways has been wonderfull.

The days on the road have been so varied. The country changes with the altitude which is constant since it is so rugged. We have crossed two passes over 10,000 feet and gone down to as low as 3,500 feet. There are valleys much like the black hills of south Dakota with coniferous trees to Bamboo forrests so dense one cannot get thru them. Cultivated fields of potatoes and cabbage and forrests of huge deciduous trees that must be ancient. The girls methodically move along single track paths some so rocky and precipitous that they must be led, to 4 lane highways with 18 wheelers screaming past within inches honking their horns. They don't freak out and give us everything we ask of them. They are truly the ultimate all terrain vehicle. Their plod of about 3 miles an hour gives one a chance to truly observe the country and villages and people we encounter and plenty of time to think. The people we encounter always give or return the greeting of the day and usually there are smiles and the gathering of children with shouts of cabayo! Most often the language is spanish but in more remote areas they speak in Indian dialects and do not speak spanish. We have encountered at least two that I can tell. Our presence as two grey bearded Gringo's is an anomoly but is softened by the presence of our horses. When we initially try to make contact it people are shy and often just turn away or even run. However when we ask for food or water for the horses they respond and before you know it they often give us food as well and then want to know from whence we came and where we are going and if we will stay there. Mostly the young boys want to communicate and of course ride the horses. Many horse rides have been given.

The afternoon begins almost always with clouds forming especially at high altitude. After typically hot hours it is a refreshing relief and the cool feel of the mist passing around is welcomed. The late afternoon is usually sunny and pleasant while we look for a place to camp. This can be trying since it requires grass and water and a level place to set up the tent (an issue). It takes time to remove all the gear and water the horses and get them ready for the night. Then we can set up our own camp, gather firewood and begin dinner. Glen and i alternate trying to fix something to tastes good, so far everything has been palatable. After dark the fire is started and is the entertainment along with talking about the days events and other things that come to mind. Often the conversation is about spiritual issues or relationships or politics. It is quite a change from watching TV or being intertained in some other fashion. Bedtime is early and the nights are long it seems. Listening to the girls grazing we fall into slumber.

The weather is amazingly moderate with temperatures in the 70s average. only a slight amount of rain but some very heavy fog in the valleys. The humidity is not too high but the smell of things growing pungent. Flowers and crops are in bloom. The land of eternal spring is an adequate phrase for this land. I am truly amazed at the places we find small settlements in rugged seemingly inhospitable landscapes on precipitous slopes. Water is abundant and great effort has been put into piping the many springs into homes and irrigation. We need only to stop at a house along the road where they have dirt floors and no windows but almost always have running water. The women are usually home making cloths with looms or tending to or watching the livestock or i have seen them tending the fields with the men with babies wrapped on their backs. They are always dressed in wonderful colorfull dresses that they obviously make themselves. Some are barefoot. I have seen the whole family loaded down with firewood on thier backs walking together. Curious also is often one or more person in a village will have a toyota truck (usually 4 wheel). These I think are men who have made the perilous journey north to the U.S. Not all them learned English on their grand adventure but many have. These trucks must negotiate the most arduous steep roads i have ever seen and often loaded far beyond their rated capacity. It is not unusuall to see a toyota truck like my own a tacoma with up to 20 people in the back!! Some get used till there is nothing left --- a couple of lug nuts on each wheel and the axles splayed out still going strong. They are truly hard working people and expect the same of their vehicles.

Lake Attitland our first major destination is awesome, a huge inland lake in a high basin at the seat of a couple of volcanoes. The water is clear and i would like to know more about it ie depth and does it have an outlet (none show on the map). We are currently taking a rest at a town called San Pedro on its banks, seems many expatriots have found this little mecca and it gives us all the amenities that come with lots of Gringos invading. I leave you at this point till next time.   Randy the high plains drifter