I had a good nights sleep at the Tequila sunrise hostel. I woke up around 6 AM. Tried to go back to sleep, but didn’t have much luck with that.

I took a shower, got dressed, and went upstairs to get breakfast. They had delicious pancakes and fruit to eat. I also had three cups of coffee.  After that I feel like I’d returned to the land of the living. 

I had a good talk with my buddy Anthony. He’s always good for a laugh. 

Also, had a great time with Jessi. I’d been trying to contact her several times during the trip. I was glad I finally got to talk to her today. Always interesting and conversation. 

I paid for my taxi driver earlier that morning. I told the reception guy that I needed to have him there about 10 AM. I was talking with Jessi and kind of lost track of time and realized it was already 10 till 10! I told Jessi I had to go, got the last of my stuff in my bags, went outside my door and sure enough the taxi driver was already there.

Got my bags into the car and about 20 minutes later we arrived at the airport. Nice smooth ride with no blockades. 

I got my bag checked in with no problem. I had to fill out some forms online before I went through Immigration. That was no big deal. Got all through the administration side of things very easily, and efficiently. I thought that airport was actually good.

I had saved some money to maybe buy some curios for the girls. But I looked through all that stuff and I thought I can find every bit of this in Plaza Fiesta. So why should I carry more of it in my bag? I didn’t think they’d really care one way or the other. 

I went off to a solitary part of the airport, and studied Spanish for about an hour. It’s the way of life. 

Later, I saw an officer that was dressed like the captain. I greeted him and found out that he was definitely the captain of our flight. 

We had a nice conversation. Later on, I saw him and the copilot sitting together. I asked them if they wanted Coke and chips. They said they had had a big breakfast and they weren’t hungry. Later, I went back to talk to them.

 I found out that the copilot was from South Africa. It was very interesting to swap stories from our days in the bush. Of course I had a lot of snake stories, and so did he. 

I boarded the flight no problem. The captain told me that the plane was only about halfway full. I’d say it was 95% Guatemalans. Hardly any tourists. 

I saw lots of helicopters at the airport. Apparently, there has been quite a lot of tourist evacuated by helicopter. I think they decided that that was better than trying to drive through blockades on mountain roads.

It’s hard to believe that this adventure is coming to an end. I’m sorry I didn’t get to climb the volcano. During my stay at Lake Atitlan I was glad that I had done a 12 mile hike. It took me about five hours up and down the hills between the villages. So I felt like I had done my due diligence and pushed myself as hard as I could.

I’m sorry that Guatemala is going through such political turmoil right now. Gives me insight into the people that I work with at Azalea. 

I do hope to go back to Guatemala one day. There are lots of areas yet to be explored. That includes Tikal with the Mayan pyramids and Flores, which has some unbelievable jungle from what I read. 

All in all it was a terrific trip. But I sure am ready to be home with my family. Amen.