The town fair is on right now to celebrate Panajachel's patron saint, San Francisco. I missed the big shenanigans but was lucky to catch the horse parade today. I smiled so much my face hurt! 😄 I took some shaky video for you to experience the chaos of noise that was going on.
At 2 minutes in the video, the guy noticed me filming and showed off for me. If you look closely, you can see his hands are disabled but he manages his horse quite well! Impressive!
Pics below of some of the horses. Literally watched people get bumped by horse butts, almost run over, all sorts of fun. Drunks staggering around, dogs scooting in and out -- total madness!
I wonder if the guys braided the horses' manes and tails ... or if their womenfolk did it for them?
Sorry my pics are bad. Lots of people in the way and the horses were moving around constantly.
I was actually impressed I didn't see more people get hurt in this madness. Horses are skittish creatures. There was so much chaos going on. They did well -- but most were frothing and sweaty. :(
The little guy! That pony is so wide for his tiny legs!! Ha ha!
Also notice the grey horse in the right of the picture above. Sway-necked, skinny, ears back. That's a typical Guatemalan horse that we see in rural areas. Compare him to the show horses below. Big difference!
Fancy show horses from the city. So beautiful, healthy, and strong.
This handsome horse was doing tricks.
Dulces! Gotta buy candy when you go to the fair. Each bag is Q5. We got fudge fingers and coconut triangles.
Churros!! A must have -- although we were a bit disappointed with the ones we chose. Not as tasty as we remember.
Cooking potato chips -- good thing hot oil kills all the germs.
Roscas (circle cookies?) and bagged peanuts. Feria traditions.
Amazing BBQs everywhere that smell sooooooooo good.
I didn't go down to the waterfront for the Ferris Wheel of Death or other rides, but I can see the lights and hear the screaming from my house! 😆 Nice to have the fair back in full swing. I've missed it.
