31 Jan--Casa Del Mundo

Tues, 31 Jan awoke early on our first full day in Panajachel. i took a few photos of the view from our room of the gardens and pool below. it's a nice little hotel, good location, and quiet. we have WiFi here, but for whatever reason i cannot get the signal in my room ... so i need to go down to the 'lobby' and pick it up there. Panajackel is usually referred to as Pana. it is the largest, or most popular, village around the lake. it is where the tour buses stop; then people take the lanchas (boats) from there to the other villages around the lake. Lonnie and Jolene were treating Eddi and i today to lunch at Bill's restaurant across the lake. they picked us up around noon after they finished their Spanish Lessons. we headed down to the boat launch and were just in time to catch the little boat just as it was about to leave. these boats are called 'lanchas'; they do not run on a schedule, but leave whenever they have a full load. we were lucky that they were just about full, so on board we climbed and took off. Bill's place is called La Casa Del Mundo Hotel and Cafe. it is a beautiful setting and plantings, with well thought-out arrangement of buildings, with special touches and all on the side of a volcano ! for my gardening friends glad to see they are recycling .. what an attractive way of doing it ! inside the restaurant. the food was very good. Bill's wife, Rosie, prepares all the menus we had lunch and then Bill gave us a personal tour of the 'facilities'. it is incredible that he designed, engineer, and built this himself .... with local workers who have become like family. he is an incredibly kind and generous, talented person who had a vision and was able to make it happen. he started building in 1989 and added buildings as it was possible and continues to have ideas for more. he now has 20 rooms, the restaurant, wood heated hot tub (on request), and is building a sauna at the water's edge. a view from the terrace from one of the rooms beautiful stone terraces and wood work with incredible views he has so much of himself in everything you see around here .... this wonderful stone bench this would be a wonderful place to relax and stay for awhile. i would highly recommend it! as you can see, we are quite high on the side of the volcano. it's incredible he has built this all the way up here Bill has really given a lot of thought to the layout: the rooms have balconies with a beautiful views, as well as a 'quiet' place in the back ... with hammock he took us back to Panajachel in his boat ... view of La Casa Del Mundo ... you can see how it is built up the side of the volcano another small village built on the edge of the lake there is one unfortunate example of bad taste around the lake ... somehow someone managed to get permission to build this ugly out of place complex on the lake .... what an eye-sore ! Thank you Lonnie and Jolene for a wonderful day ! Eddi is one of those unfortunate persons who react severely to bug bites. needless to mention, the was eaten alive in Caye Caulker. today her ankles were quite swollen and looked infected. we decided it was time to visit the Farmacia. the Dr was not in, but his son was, who seemed to know what he was talking about. he prescribed an antiobiotic for her. the Dr will return in the morning and Eddi will speak with him then. we strolled further along the shoreline for a sunset drink at a different restaurant. as the case these days ... there aren't many tourists around. most places have few people in them. and most of the vendors sit all day with few sales. i don't know how they make it. the women approach you with their beautiful colorful handmade scarves, blankets, belts, eye glass holders, you name it .... we all feel so bad not buying from them ... they are asking ridiculous low prices for these items and still, few people buy ..... it is heartbreaking ... i ordered a rum and coke, then changed my mind to a Cuba Libre, with no lime. the waiter returned with TWO rum and cokes for me, both with limes ... i have to work on my Spanish :) no problem, i drank them both :) it had gotten quite cloudy, the wind picked up, and it appeared like there wasn't going to be a sunset tonight. we were all cold, cold, yes, cold ! .....this is the part i don't like about being here :( so Eddi and i returned to our hotel to get jackets and regroup later for dinner. Lonnie and Jolene picked us back up for dinner and said that yes, indeed, there was another beautiful red sunset ... we just didn't wait long enough. good lesson there. Eddi declined on dinner, wisely deciding to keep her feet elevated and take it easy. i had the Tilapia for dinner, it was good. it is inexpensive to live and eat here in Guatemala. there are 7.5 quetzales to 1US$. our room is US$23/night split between us. my dinner last night was US$7, and my fish tonight was US$8. i am really enjoying it here with Lonnie and Jolene ... and it's wonderful to have our own personal tour guides !