[Above: Todd Borgie relaxes on the peaceful shores of Lake Atitlan, Guatemala.]

Journal by Todd Borgie

I woke up this morning on the majestic volcanic shores of Lake Atitlan, put on a pair of jeans and a shirt, and stepped out onto the front porch of the hotel. I sat down on a wicker chair and looked out upon a wonderful tropical garden and a bright shining sun. I reflected upon the day before and the some of the traveling fears we experienced in order to get where we were today. Travel warnings have been issued for Guatemala and many of us have heard of stories that would curl your hair. As to how much truth there is to these stories no one really knows. It is just up to the traveler to use their best judgment when analyzing stories and information about any particular place.

In any case, the uneasiness was behind us and I sat drinking coffee in the sunlight. Early morning thirst motivated me to walk to the Land Rovers to get one of my bottles of water. On my way I met a Spanish fellow who greeted me and asked me where I was from. Only half awake at this point, I answered his questions and asked a few of my own. Soon we found ourselves drinking coffee on a balcony overlooking the Lago de Atitlan. It was a crystal blue lake flanked by volcanoes. These volcanoes had been extinct and evidence of this was the fact that their cones had been covered in a blanket of green flora.

Jose, the Spaniard (who I later found out was the owner of the Bambu Hotel in Santiago), answered my questions about Guatemala and allayed many of my fears of traveling here. He had traveled all over Latin America and finally settled in Guatemala about 12 years previous. During the course of conversations he mentioned that during the Reagan years American Travel to Latin America had drastically declined. He knew there had been travel warnings, but was not quite sure why they had been issued. This is something I will have to think about.

After awhile a couple from Northern Ireland came down to the lakeside balcony to have breakfast. We all talked together about where we were from and why we liked travel. It is so much fun meeting people and sharing perspectives on things. You can always learn interesting things when you listen to people.

As time went on the rest of the team showed up. It was so nice that we could have the morning to ourselves, not having to be anywhere. I was learning a lot in an incredibly beautiful place. It was like the day took my hand as I left my room and has been acting as my guide ever since. Everywhere I looked I saw something beautiful; everyone I met seemed to be interesting, and the coffee was wonderful as well!

Later, Miguel, a man who worked at the restaurant came and talked to us. He told us some history of the area. He spoke Tjutil (one of the native Mayan languages spoken in the region) to us, which has a fascinating sound to it.

As noon was approaching we were packing up to head to Antigua and an Australian couple came boating up to the dock. We became chatting with them and decided to have lunch with them in the town of Santiago. After lunch we parted, but continued to shop our way back to where we parked our vehicles. In the middle of a purchase Skye and Ben (the Australian couple) came running up and asked us if we could take them back to Antigua. We said we had plenty of room and they would be welcome to join us.

After making our way back to the vehicles we spent the remainder of the daylight hours weaving our way out of the hills and into the valley where Antigua is situated. We saw unbelievable scenery as we looked from the hilltops, switchbacks and up from the valleys. We saw livestock small farms, families walking in a row with hoes slung over their shoulders. The kids as well as the older folks work in order to put enough food on the table. It was an amazing drive.

These kinds of days are what traveling is all about. I had no idea what was in store for me when I woke up. However, by the time the day was through I had made a number of new friends, learned an incredible amount about Guatemala, improved my Spanish, and saw some incredible scenery.

When you are traveling your days will never be the same twice. You always have opportunities to meet new people, see new sites, and gather new perspectives. These are the trophy days of traveling and why I recommend traveling for everyone. I believe if everyone traveled and sought to understand and listen the world would be much more peaceful place.

Logbook for November 25th
Start: Santiago Atitlan, Guatemala
Finish: Antigua, Guatemala
Mileage: 75

Help support our cause: Drive Around the World aims to raise money for Parkinson’s Disease research by taking four certified pre-owned Land Rover Discoverys around the globe following lines of longitude. Readers are encouraged to pledge small amounts of money per expedition-mile via a pledge form that can be found on our Parkinson’s page by clicking here. Everyone making a pledge of $10 or more to raise money for the Parkinson’s Institute will be put in a raffle to win an expedition-style Land Rover.