Rainy Day Walk to the Mirador

Woke up late today and decided to go for a walk to the lookout on the way to Santa Catarina. I chose to ignore the dark blue clouds on the horizon as I set out.

Didn't huff and puff too badly on the long upward walk to the mirador. I remember the first time I walked up there, six years ago, and I hadn't yet adjusted to the altitude and felt like I had a bad hangover -- dizzy, breathless, and pain in the back of my head. Now it's just regular pain from being out of shape and climbing a big hill for 45 minutes. Totally worth it though, as you can see from this picture.

View from the lookout (mirador) near Santa Catarina Palopó, Guatemala

Just as I arrived at the viewing area, the rain started. I took some video, gazed around a bit, then figured I should start walking back. The thing with rain in Guatemala is that it could stop in 10 minutes or it go on all night, and it's hard to predict which is going to happen. So it's often just best to get it over with, even if you get soaked.

The rain got heavier as I walked downhill at a brisk pace. It's the end of dry season, all the leaves are brown, (hmm, that's a song, isn't it?), so it feels warm like summer but it smells like fall. I was wearing a tank top and shorts, but it wasn't that cold until I entered an open area where the wind blew off the lake. Brrr. I was happy I wore a baseball hat too as it kept the rain off my head. I'm sure I would have been a lot colder if my hair was wet. As it was, the most irritating part of walking in the rain was that my feet slipped around in my sandals.

About halfway home, it actually hailed for a little bit. The hailstones were pretty small, about the size of Nerds candy (weird size reference, sorry) and they pinged off the steamy asphalt and stung my arms as they fell. I figure that's the closest I've been to a snowstorm in six years. Luckily, it didn't last for long. I think I would have taken shelter if I was going to get pelted with hail for more than a few minutes.

Was soaked to the skin by the time I got home. It was nice to warm up with a hot coffee. It's a weird thing here when the weather is so nice all the time. Any change, even a supposed negative one like getting caught in the rain, seems exciting. I always thought that winter makes summer feel better. Here in Guatemala, the rainy season makes you appreciate the dry season. 

So here's some video for your enjoyment.

Hard To Believe It's December

I know there are tons of people around the world who celebrate Christmas without snow, but it just doesn't seem right to me! I love the summery weather but at Xmas time I just need teensy bit of Winter Wonderland. ❄⛄❄

Who among you would trade their white Christmas for my sunny one? 

Eeks Super Rainy!

It's been raining for EVER, it seems. There are tropical storms off both coasts so we've been hit with some big downpours and just steady cloud cover and rain from morning to night.

Bert went out to take some video of the swollen "chocolate milk" river by my house. He also got this cute picture of the piggies that live down the road. They didn't seem to mind the rain one bit!

Fat happy piggies...and their ducky friend.

It's a wonderful day for hot soup and grilled cheese sandwiches. 😊

Rainy Season Is So Dramatic

We've had quite a bit of rain over the last few days here in Panajachel due to tropical storms off of both coasts. You have to plan your outings carefully to not get caught in a downpour. But honestly, the rain is pretty warm and it's no big deal if you compare it to a blizzard in Canada! 😊

When I get a few spare dollars, I'm going to buy another webcam to replace the one that broke. I'm gonna get a weather-proof one this time! Then I will set up my live cam again with a view of Lake Atitlan so you all can see the storm clouds as they push their way around the volcanoes. It's quite mesmerizing.

Stay dry, my friends! ☔

Little Bit O' Rain

When they talk about rainy season in Guatemala, they're not kidding!

Here is a video I took of the river in Panajachel a few minutes after a big rainstorm just passed. Crazy!

For comparison purposes, here is a picture of "Bert" crossing the river just the day before the storm. Pretty tame, right?

And here is a video I got from the local news channel of the waterfall that is about halfway up the hill between Pana and Sololá. There are reports from all over this area of landslides (derrumbes) and flooding.

The bonus to all this? The hills are so lush and green right now. It's gorgeous. Plus our lawn has grown back with a vengeance and is about a foot high, with flowers blooming everywhere. :D

Dusty Days and a Pregnant Cat

Here's something you may not know about Guatemala: sandstorms in the Sahara Desert -- yes, in Africa -- blow all the way across the ocean and dump sand on us here! Wild, eh?
It is technically rainy season here, but we've had an early canicula, which is the term for a hot, dry stretch in the middle of rainy season. It's been super nice, but it also came with some high winds and the polvo del Sahara.

Saharan dust making the volcanoes at Lake Atitlan all hazy.

The local newspapers and news stations put out warnings when the dust gets bad. It can be hazardous to asthmas sufferers. Here is an article (in Spanish, of course) from Prensa Libra about the Saharan Dust in Guatemala. (Hint: if you're using Chrome as your browsers, you can right-click the text and choose "translate to English".)

I watched the two-minute video below from NASA and it says the Saharan dust is important because it brings phosphorus to the rainforest. Pretty cool!

Revue Magazine has a neat article about the canicula here if you'd like to learn more about that. (In English.) 

I have to restate though that the weather is 99.9% super nice here all the time. I think I may have said this before, but being a Canadian, weather is such an important thing in my life. It still baffles me that I can wear shorts and t-shirts and sandals YEAR ROUND. Time stands still because there are not winters to mark the years. It's always summer! 

Speaking of summer, here's a picture of my newest foster cat, who I named Summer! She is such a sweet girl. And she's pregnant! She is due is maybe two weeks or so. The poor thing has to stay cooped up in my bedroom because she's not vaccinated and can't get vaccinated until after her kittens are born and weaned. So she can't interact with my other cats. I will for sure update when she has her babies! I've had a lot of cats in my life but never a pregnant one because they've all been sterilized. Summer will have her kitty-babies and then get fixed after that and be adopted out to a loving family. 

Summer, my foster kitty, who is gonna have kitty-babies! Yes, she has something wrong with her left eye as well, but we can't do anything about it until after the kittens are weaned.

To those who are enjoying my webcam, sorry that it keeps falling over! Like I said, the winds have been high and they keep knocking the camera pole askew. I have made a wooden brace for the cam but have yet to get up there and attach it. Stay tuned! 😊

Green and Lovely and Rainy

The rain stopped briefly this afternoon so I scooted out to the tienda (corner store) to get some dog food. I had my camera with me and took some snapshots of the lovely droplets of water on everything. Enjoy. 

Raindrops on grass.

This corn was probably 10 feet tall! I'm looking waaaay up.

English ivy in Guatemala.

Bananas!

Lovely red flower.

I took some seeds from the vines of this plant to try to get some to grow in my garden.
I believe it is called Black-Eyed Susan Vine.

No rain in this one but I just couldn't walk past this colour and not take a photo.

Happy Father's Day to all dads out there, especially my Dad who is an awesome photographer and taught me to "really look through the lens". I love you, Dad! 💜

Rainy Season Has Arrived

There are two seasons in Guatemala: rainy and dry. It's either raining every day and green as a grasshopper's butt, or it's sunny and dry as dust. And those two seasons last for months at a time. This last dry season, I don't think we saw a single drop of rain for five months straight.

I did a blog post about the weather here in Panajachel if you're looking for more details and numbers and fancy charts. 😎

I took a picture from approximately the same spot a few months apart to show you the difference. This is in Panajachel near the river, looking east, at 5pm.

Antes y después (Before and after)

Every time I walk out my gate, I am shocked at how green the hills are now! They were so brown and barren for so many months. I'm not used to seeing all the jungly-ness yet.

Back in January, I did a video of my garden, me just walking around chatting about the different plants and such. Well, this morning I decided to do a quick video update of what my garden looks like now. The transformation is amazing!

The flowers on the frangipani tree. They smell beautiful.

For a long time now, I've been hearing my neighbour's ducks quacking from their yard. The other morning I finally got to meet them! They were puttering about on the road, snacking on bugs and stuff.

Weird male duck. He could raise and lower the black crest on his head.

Momma duck and her half-grown babies!

They also have one beautiful chicken. I've only ever seen this one. Maybe there are more in the yard, but this one is the only one who ventures out.

Very pretty chicken.

Even though it is rainy season, it is usually sunny for a few hours in the morning. All the animals go outside and soak it up. Me, I go outside and try to get everything dried on the clothesline before the rains come again in the early afternoon. Then I run around like crazy taking everything back inside again so it doesn't get wet!

Noodles napping in the rain gutter.

I don't mind the rains much. Only if I forget to plan my day and end up huddled under the eaves at Despensa trying to find an available tuc-tuc. The roads get flooded and muddy and trucks splash you when you're walking. But it's just water. And it's actually kinda warm, so it's no big deal. Nothing like months of snow back in Canada! I think I can handle it here. 😊🌴☔

It's C-C-C-Cold!!

Oh my! I thought when I moved from Canada to Guatemala that I would never say the word "cold" again unless it was in reference to my frozen margarita! But these past few days and nights it's been really chilly here in Panajachel. The winds are CRAZY. Doesn't help that our house is made of wood and the wind just whooshes right through the half-inch cracks around the windows. 💨😲

This weather station says it's going to go down to 5°C (41°F) tonight. Brrrr.

So what do we do to keep warm? Lots of hot chocolates and lots of blankets.

Our new doggie, Mia. Rob put a blankie on her cuz she was cold and she hasn't moved since. :)

When Calvin gets really cold, he puts his tail over his nose. Not quite there yet!

Queso and Noodles sharing a pillow and some warmth.

Every doggie gets a pillow to sleep on. Gus guards his quite zealously.

Rui loves to go out and run around in the wind, but comes in to eat, drink, and warm up his toes.
Wait? Where are his legs?? Ha ha! He's "meatloafing". 😆

Willow says, "Cold? BAH! I'm a Canadian kitty. I gots me the FUR." 💗

Bert all bundled up and doing mosaics at the kitchen table.

My solution to late-night work sessions -- a candle to warm up my fingers. 

What do Guatemalans do about the cold? Lots of families have wood stoves in the houses for cooking, and I imagine they use them to heat their homes on nights like these. Families share beds to keep warm. There are lots of wool blankets for sale everywhere. We see a lot of locals wearing wool toques and scarves and big winter jackets.
Here in the highlands and the higher elevations, there is actually a real danger of hypothermia for those who are unprepared. Many municipalities have "warming centers" where people can stay overnight. We've seen news stories of homeless or drunk people found frozen to death in the morning. :(

Here's to warmer temperatures in a few days! And my condolences to my family and friends back in Canada who have months and months and MONTHS more of this to look forward to. 😰

I'm Not Made of Sugar

Yesterday afternoon, around 2:30, Bert and I were getting our act together to go to the store. We stepped out into the yard and felt the first drops of rain fall. We said, "Hmm, let's wait until it passes." Good thing we did! It downpoured for TWO HOURS! :D

When it was letting up a bit, I went out into our awesome new garden and took some pictures with my amazing waterproof camera. (Thanks again, Mom and Dad!) The cats sat on the step watching me with confused faces.

Sheltering under the big leaf!

When it truly stopped raining, we got our butts in gear and went to the store. Our feet got soaked from the water running down the streets and puddling everywhere. There's not much in the way of gutters or drainage systems on most streets here.
On the way home, I took this short video of the river, and then the photo below that I took just outside the gate of our house.

Notice the guy standing in the river on the bottom right!

The rainy season is coming to an end but there will probably be a few more stormy days for me to enjoy the greenery, the clouds, and the amazing sunsets. :)

Rainy Season Travel Tips for Guatemala

It's rainy season and the tourists seem to have disappeared. Why? Too many travel websites and guidebooks warning travelers to stay away. Pfft! I'm gonna tell ya why rainy season can be an awesome time to visit Guatemala.

INFO ➠ The rainy season in Guatemala generally runs from May to the end of October.

Keep in mind that even though Guatemala is a small country by most standards, it does touch two coasts and has massive variations in elevation. Therefore, the weather can be wildly different from place to place. It can be hailing in a high mountain town while at the same be steaming hot on the Caribbean coast. Here at Lake Atitlan in the Western Highlands, the weather can even vary from town to town. It can be rainy, windy, and cold in San Pedro but partly cloudy and warm in Panajachel.

1. Don't let the rainy season deter you from coming here.
Airfares and hotels are cheaper. Tourists sites are not overflowing with people. Also, the countryside is absolutely stunning! Waterfalls become glorious rushing cascades, rather than the sad trickles they are in the dry season. Flowers bloom everywhere. Dusty fields morph into vast swathes of green. The dramatic hills of the Highlands are suddenly covered in lush jungle. It's beautiful!

The waterfall on the road between Sololá and Panajachel.
Photo courtesy of: Rob And Carley

2. Pack your rain gear -- but expect to get wet anyway.
I have an awesome raincoat (thanks, Mumsy!) but I've found that the rain runs down the coat and soaks my pants. I also have an amazing giant rainbow umbrella (thanks, big sister!) but that doesn't help when a passing pickup splashes your legs! 😆
I have rubber boots for really rainy days but I prefer to wear waterproof hiking sandals or crocs for most trips out and about. If you forgot your gear, don't worry! There are tons of smart vendors who bring out umbrellas and ponchos for sale when the rain starts.

Some smart folks handling the rain with aplomb. This was on my walk to the grocery store today.

3. Plan your day and be flexible. 
A typical day during the rainy season in Guatemala is a lovely partly cloudy morning, followed by rains moving in around 2 or 3 pm and continuing all night. Therefore, you can plan to do all your outdoor activities in the morning and then find a cozy cafe, museum, restaurant, or bar to spend your afternoons and evenings. There are some days where it rains from morning to night, but there are other days where it's full sun all day. To be clear, I'm only speaking from my experience here in Panajachel on Lake Atitlan. You can almost set your watch to the rains! It could be different in other areas of the country. Post in the comments if you have some more info about weather trends in a specific area of Guatemala.

4. Watch the weather, especially tropical storms.
If you're planning something special that requires good weather, keep a close eye on the weather reports. If a tropical storm or hurricane is hitting either coast, it causes heavier rainfall or full days of dreary drizzle. I like Weather Underground, which also has a section for hurricanes.

Volcán San Pedro being all dramatic and stuff. :)

5. Enjoy the rain.
It's part of what makes Guatemala so great! Plus, Guate has some of the best coffees in the world to warm you up, as well as a vast array of traditional soups and stews. Yum!

Hot, thick, flavourful Pepian stew. Yum!
Click the pic to go to Chowhound's article about Guatemalan soups.

BONUS TIP: Do not walk barefoot. No matter how much you hate having wet shoes or how much your hippie soul yearns to connect with Mother Earth, keep your shoes on! The water in the streets is literally loaded with feces and urine, both animal and human. Plus there are the dangers of broken glass and other garbage. And to top it off, there are parasites that can enter your body through your feet and make you sick. Be smart!

Flooding today in San Pedro Ayampuc, north of Guate City.

Okay, so with all this cheery "glass half full" optimism, I feel obligated to warn you that rainy season can SUCK. Roads flood. Flights get canceled. Hiking trails become muddy trenches. Boat rides across the Lake are wet, cold, and rough. It can get kinda depressing. So I would advise that if you're looking for that perfect sun-all-day-every-day vacation to Guatemala, visit during the dry season from late November to April. And bring sunscreen! 😊

Rain is Life!

The rainy season has arrived and everything is getting green and lovely. It's not such a hardship as some people make it out to be. Usually, it's clear and dry in the mornings and the rains start at around 3 pm every day. This morning we had rain because Tropical Storm Adrian was mucking about at the coast. As soon as it let up, I took Mr. Calvin out for a walk to the beach!

I love when raindrops collect on flowers.

Corn growing at light speed!

Moody Volcán San Pedro

Echo! One of my doggie friends from the neighbourhood.

Layna! Remember her? She was the one that had all the puppies in the den. She looks good!
She was even wagging her tail at me. Unfortunately, I didn't have any food for her.

Fishermen. They use just a line and a hook and maybe bait, no rod.
They fish at that spot because that's where the sewage runs into the lake -- no joke -- and the fish love the runoff. That's also why there is a no swimming sign there. Gross.

Calvin checking out the dock. There are two volcanoes behind those clouds!

Really wanted to push him in!!

It's even more striking in real life. (Have I mentioned how you all should come visit?)

Jucanya beach and boats and gorgeous hills.

A green heron, I think.

No party boats today!

Volcanoes starting to peek out from behind the clouds. The lump in front of the clouds is Cerro de Oro (gold hill). Legend has it that there is gold buried inside it -- treasure!!

It's so dark and dramatic when the rains come. I love it! And everything gets cleaned and refreshed and the hills turn all green again. I wish my pictures were better. I don't feel they really capture the lighting and contrast... and of course they don't capture the temperature and humidity and smells. I tell ya, ya just gotta visit! 😁