Revisiting the Nature Reserve

Bert and I went to the Reserva Natural Atitlán just out side of Panajachel on a warm Wednesday afternoon. 

Photos won't upload, so I guess the short video is all ya get.

Horses and the Fair!

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.

Sunny Day Means Laundry

 

It's rainy season in Guatemala so a rare sunny day means you lay out ALL your clothes to dry on the rooftop.
This is a picture out my back window at my neighbour's house. There are clothes hanging on all the lines, plus laid out all over all the rooftops, including more to the left that I couldn't get in the picture.
I have been hand-washing my clothes for years now. It's annoying but just part of life for me. It's frustrating when you wash your fave clothes, hang them to dry... then it rains for 3 days straight so they never get dry. 😖  I took a big risk washing my duvet last week. It got a nice rain rinse one night but then managed to get dry with a full day of sun.
I could take my clothes to a washing service, which is actually pretty cheap, but sometimes they keep your clothes for a couple days, and I'm worried that some of my best clothes will mysteriously disappear. I wish there was a coin laundromat here in Panajachel -- that would be a great business to start!