Laguna Chicabal, Guatemala. November 23, 2009.
Lake in the clouds. Laguna Chicabal sits placidly inside the crater of an extinct volcano, about 25 kms. by bus southwest of Quetzaltenango. You need to be vigilant and make sure the driver knows where you want to go. He'll drop you off at a side road with a large brown and yellow sign announcing 'Parque Laguna Chicabal'. Keep following the signs through the farming community and just stay on the same track all the way to the park entrance.
Quetzaltenango's bus station isn't a station at all, it's a large ill-defined paved space a few kms. west of the centro district. You might want to spend the extra quetzales and have a taxi take you there. I tried the regular city micro-bus (it said 'terminal', so I figured...), but was dropped, confused and disoriented, in the unvarnished streets somewhere far away and needed a taxi to complete part one of the journey. The pick-up point is an ear-splitting, lung-threatening vision of hell, but don't worry, bus touts will find you and put you on the right bus as long as you specify 'Laguna Chicabal' or 'San Martin Chiliverde'.
Where I took the photo above is about a third of the way up a fairly hilly track to the park entrance. The highway where the hike starts is at the bottom of the far hills. A freshly-poured concrete road takes you through a well-ordered, friendly village to reach this point. The real climbing starts after you pay the entrance fee, albeit on a 2.5-meter-wide graded dirt trail all the way up to the mirador (lookout).
Now you're at the top! There are two rickety wooden platforms - one lets you look inside the crater at the laguna (below), the other allows a look across the landscape back towards Xela at Volcan Santa Maria. The little offshoot cone you see there apparently erupts every hour or so. There are hikes and camping trips you can arrange to see the fiery spectacle at night.
Start down the wooden steps beside the platforms and you're inside the crater. There are hundreds of steps, landing very close to the shore of the lake. This is considered sacred Mayan ground - there are signs marking altar points and you might see floral offerings at the water's edge. As a matter of respect, no swimming is allowed. I only learned this after I took off my shoes and blithely waded in up to my knees to cool my feet. My apologies.
In the afternoon, clouds roll in from the coast and drop into the crater, creating a dramatic luminous effect. I thought the fog would darken things, so I was surprised to learn from my light meter that the clouds were actually bringing light in. Photography in these changing conditions was a little unpredictable.
A good trail circumnavigates the laguna, maybe a 45 minute walk around. There's no elevator out of the crater - you'll need to take the stairs.
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