Lake Chiquibal

...or Chicabal, or Chikabal... I guess no one really knows how to spell it since it's spelled differently everywhere, maybe because it's Mam (Mayan) name and Mam didn't used to be a written language. Anyway, so this lake is... wait for it... on top of a volcano! An extinct volcano. And it happens to be within walking/hiking distance of the town where one of my friends/fellows volunteers lives. Turns out that this hike was probably the hardest hike I've ever done before - took about 2 hours to get up to the lake, and then we ran most of the way down so as not to be late for a meeting we had that afternoon. This definitely isn't among the hardest hikes in Guatemala, I'm just not in very good shape :P My goal, though, is to hike Tajumulco - the highest point in Central America, and it happens to be in my department (province). So obviously I can't leave here and not have climbed it.

Anyway, this lake has "spiritual significance" for many Mayan people, specifically the Mam people, who are the "sub-group" of Mayans that live in that area. My area is also technically considered Mam, but no one speaks the Mam language where I live, although many people do wear the traditional Mayan clothing. I don't know of many people in my area that practice Mayan traditions, though, like the ceremonies that are performed at this lake. I'm not sure what all the ceremonies entail, but we did see several small fires at "altars" around the lake.

Finally at the top!

An altar? maybe? or a picnic? who knows.

A Mam woman weaving traditional cloth (on the way up the volcano)