On to Antigua

After a few days of sitting in the rain at Lago Atitlan, we decided to go sit in the rain in Antigua. In Atitlan, we met Kyle and Justin – two other folks driving down to Argentina. Their ride of choice was a ’74 Chevy camper van. The beast actually has an oven and 4-burner stove inside. They’ve never used it. There’s no telling what this thing weighs, but they claim they have lost 50 pounds in rust since they left. I took a look at their rocker panels and I don’t doubt it.

They were headed to Antigua as well, so we followed until we got lost.

The rain had made the waterfalls really rage on the roadsides, and we drove through more and more landslide debris and road and lane closures. It was still a nice ride. Once we were up and away from the lake and the weather cleared, we pulled over for a nice view of the volcanoes ringing the lake. Nice.

This is also where we learned that stuffed squirrels make a great roadside souvenir. We decided there was no room in the bus.

After an hour or so diversion in Chimaltenango due to construction and detours (where we lost Justin and Kyle,) we finally made it to Antigua in late afternoon. Although the weather is nice and mild, there’s no real camping around here. Several folks mentioned camping at the police station, but we deferred and decided to get a room.

Since parking is a big deal here (never leave your car on the street overnight is the overwhelming recommendation of everyone) our hotel actually allowed us to pull the bus into the hotel lobby, where they closed the gates behind us. We barely fit. All I had to do was move it back out when the first guests woke up and were ready to leave the next morning.