Oh Monterrico...[UPDATED]

[Update 6:00 pm GMT]
Buenas!

As we said in our last post, after Esquintla we made our way to Monterrico--a beautiful black sand beach on the Pacific coast of Guatemala. Monterrico and the surrounding pueblos are famous for their sea turtle conservatories and we were hoping to mix a little business with a lot of pleasure for the weekend.

The two hour ride to Monterrico took about 6 hours via Chicken Bus and was our first time venturing to the coast. We are used to the cooler climate of the mountains and the combination of mosquitos nets and muggy weather made for sweaty sleeping. The hustle-bustle of the hostel was pretty consistent at all hours of the night and the thunderstorms blotted out our view of the sunset. The first day we awoke early to enjoy the sunny weather and the 9 foot waves. The novelty of the black sand wears off at about 11 am when the scorching sun makes it too hot to walk on the beach without sandals and a bag of ice.

Having earned a pretty bad sun burn despite the obscene amount of sunscreen we were wearing and seeing as the waves were too high to go swimming, we spent our day drinking pina coladas, reading in hammocks and watching the locals walk by.

All in all, it was great to get out of the city, and to see the amazing cultural, geographical and bio diversity that Guatemala has to offer. Guatemala truly is un gran pais en un pequeno lugar. However, the magnificence of this beautiful beach lies in stark contrast with the local poverty, and even the tourist industry (which is one of few in the region) is far from thriving. We sat in awe contemplating how privileged we were to even be here and how much different our own life experiences could have been.

The bus ride reminded us what an opportunity we've been given to see the full range of human experience. Daydreaming about living in this sleepy little want-to-be tourist town made us realize how the world can really be as big or as small as you want it to be. Between the cheap prices, the thatched roofs, the palm trees and the fact that there was only one ATM (which was not working :) within a 50 mile radius, we got a new perspective on living and traveling in a developing country. Having gotten the information we traveled there to collect, no money for food, and coming within 50 yards of being mugged the night before, we decided to shorten our trip and travel back to Antigua the next day. Yet, looking back, our concerns over not having enough money to make it through the weekend seem ridiculous given the fact that the cash we did have left was probably more than most of the locals make in a month.

We sat lazily looking out the window on the bus ride back, feeling accomplished and motivated to get a lot of work done this week. We had our fair share of adventures, but the perspective we gained kicked us into gear a bit. The need for MEOG is clear and its time has come. We spoke with organizations who are in desperate need of this kind of website, and we saw first hand the conditions of the people that those organizations help. It was a clear window for us into what development is all about, and reminded us why we are here in the first place.

Inspired,

Justin and Maura

UPDATED: A comment worth mentioning in the main post:
One of the bright spots I found in Montericco was the turtle guide community. To give some good press to a deserving guy, my guide was named Estuardo. He had a very sound environmental philosophy and genuinely cared about the impact people were having on the habitats. There is certainly a lot of poverty, but at 50Q per person per 2 hour tour, I feel like the guides must do okay? -Anonymous