We arrived in San Pedro on Monday, travelling first by van and then by boat across Lake Atitlan. The town is encapsulated by a mountain range, of which Volcan de San Pedro, a 3000 meter or so behemoth, is the peak. At the center of the range is Lake Atitlan, and there are a handful of towns on the lake´s shore. On a usual day, the lake is crystal clear, perfect for swimming and sunbathing. We, however, arrived during a very unusual time because an algae bloom has filled the lake. I won´t go into much detail because it is hard to understand what is happening or why it is happening but you can read about it for yourself (link below). The locals are in somewhat of a panic, but no one has a good answer on what to do about it. Some tourists (including myself) helped the locals clean the lake with nets and baskets but to be honest, it was about as useful as putting out a forest fire with a water bottle. Very sad and an important lesson for us all.
In town, we are staying with a local family and have Spanish lessons 5 days a week from 8 am to 12 pm, and homework afterwards. Apart from studying Spanish, exploring the different towns on the lake, and climbing the mountains, there is not a lot that happens in San Pedro. In a way, it's a nice change of pace from the hustle and bustle of life in the states, but we are also both anxious to see more and travel to other places. I think one or two more weeks here and we will move on to Tikal and other towns along the way. I will try to post some videos so that you can get a good sense of the town and our living situation, but not today. Adios for now.
Warning... do not swimm or touch the waters during the algea bloom... the government informed that at the moment they are still doing analyses of the water this cianobacteria Lyngbya hieronymusii is very rare and they don't know yet what kind of toxins it will produce...
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It is almost impossible not to touch the water...and for now everyone seems to be in good health. From my understanding, the toxins will come when the algae dies. So for now, there is no need to panic. For tourists, this is acceptable since tourists can leave but for the people that live here this is a disaster. This seems to be the irony of tourism...we bring money into the towns but when real help is neccessary, we leave.
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