We kicked off our Guatemalan Easter Week in Santiago Atitlan, along the shores of Lake Atitlan. The town is also the home of the venerated statue of Maximon: an indigenous, fictional half-breed - part Judas, part Spanish conquistador. On the Monday evening following Palm Sunday, we watched - along with the the women and children of the village - the men wash Maximon's clothes in the lake's waters.
After laundry night, we sped back to Antigua for the main attraction - one of the most lavish Holy Week celebrations in all of Central America. Each day during Semana Santa, procession participants - carrying giant apparitions of suffering Christs and weeping Marys - trudge for hours along the city's sawdust- and flower-carpeted streets. The Lenten activities culminate with the largest and most somber procession on Good Friday evening.
But for us, the high point (figuratively and literally) of the week was the long-anticipated hike up Pacaya Volcano. Pacaya is one of the few active volcanoes that can be climbed. It is a dangerous and potentially lethal ascent: fascinating, nightmarish - like walking over hell. And we have the melted shoes to prove it.
Date(s): March/April 2010. Album by David Kohl. Photos by David Kohl & Ross Rosenberg. 1 - 100 of 100 Total. 4914 Visits.
1 View of San Pedro Volcano View of San Pedro Volcano (about 10,000 feet tall)from the dock at the Posada Santiago, Santiago Atitlan.
2 Wash Day at Santiago Atitlan Every day is wash day along the shores of Lake Atitlan outside the village of Santiago Atitlan.
3 Fisherman on Lake Atitlan Early morning on Lake Atitlan.
4 Fisherman Close Up View of a fisherman drawing in his net from his dugout boat on Lake Atitlan.
5 Walking man A Santiago man in the traditional striped calzones (trousers) with a a faja (cloth sash) and caites (sandals), on his way to work early one morning.
6 View from Panajachel A view across Lake Atitlan from the dock at Panajachel with Volcan Toliman on the left and Volcan San Pedro on the right.
7 Lake Atitlan woman A woman using her kaperraj (an all-purpose cloth) to afford her some privacy on a lancha (small boat) crossing Lake Atitlan.
8 Let's talk Two kids chatting on the deck of a lancha during a crossing on Lake Atitlan.
9 Posada Santiago The restaurant and common area of the Posada Santiago.
10 Night scene The restaurant at the Posada Santiago on a Saturday night during a folk music performance.
11 Church view The Iglesia Parroquial Santiago Apostol - built between 1572 and 1581 - supposedly has (at the center of its nave) a hole to the underworld. This hole is only uncovered on Good Friday. On that day, a cross - bearing a statue of Christ - is lowered into it.
12 Church view with volcano Volcan Toliman can be glimpsed behind the church. The Mayans believed that the volcanoes represent the first dry land to emerge from the seas at the time of creation.
13 Don't do that here! A sign on a wall outside the church prohibiting urination at this spot - unless you want to risk a Q100 fine. Hey, when you have to go...
14 Palm Sunday - Santiago Local men decorating the cross in the church's plaza with palms early Palm Sunday morning.
15 Local women Local women of Santiago crossing the church plaza. The Spanish imposed different colored striped clothing on each town to help them differentiate and ultimately control the indigenous people. The women embellished the striped clothing with their own distinctive and creative embroidery.
16 Mural at San Juan La Laguna One of the many murals on the exterior walls of the lake town of San Juan La Laguna. This mural was created as a joint project between Indiana school kids and local San Juan artists.
18 San Juan mural A depiction of the horrific flooding and mudslide - caused by Hurricane Stan - that buried the nearby town of Panabaj in 2005.
19 Mural (with gringo) Another San Juan mural.
20 San Juan mural San Juan mural recreating a coffee harvesting scene.
21 San Juan mural San Juan mural depicting local wildlife.
22 Volcano mural San Juan lake scene mural of a boy flying a kite. A local boy (with cap pulled down) was captured in this photo along with the mural.
23 Washing ceremony Once a year, on the Monday following Palm Sunday, the members of confradia (local brotherhood) wash Maximon's clothes at the lakeside.
24 Washing scene This is the only time of the year when Santiago men can be seen doing laundry. They believe that Maximon's clothes hold the sins that were confessed to him throughout the year - as well as all that smoke and dirt.
25 Washing ceremony Maximon - a small wooden statue/effigy of a man dressed in western clothes - is part Judas, part Pedro Alvarado, and part unknowable. Throughout the year he is housed with a member of the confradia.
26 Washing ceremony A local woman takes a drink (alcoholic, of course) as she watches the men wash Maximon's clothes.
27 Washing scene The women of Santiago wear a unique hair belt or xk'op (in the local tzutujil language). The cloth is usually at least 60 feet long and wrapped tightly around the head. It has the look of a colorful thick-brimmed hat.
28 Washing scene After the clothes are washed - on special stones carried to the site - they are ceremoniously dried by the sun throughout the following day. From the amount of alcohol consumed, the participants also needed to spend the next day "drying out".
29 Washing scene Throughout the year, you can visit Maximon. But make sure to bring an offering of cigarettes or alcohol. Make a virtual contribution to Maximon.
30 Washing scene This photo - taken without a flash - shows how dark it really was at the lakeside ceremony that night.
31 Antigua street scene Looking south - down 1 Avenida Sur - toward San Fransisco Church and Volcan Agua looming behind it.
32 Municipalidad The Municipalidad building fronting Parque Central. The government building is decked in purple bunting in honor of Holy Week.
33 Velacion at San Fransisco Church A Velacion or Holy Vigil take place the day before the church's procession. A colored, sawdust carpet is laid out in the nave of the church.
34 Carpet at San Francisco Church This colored, sawdust carpet - created by the hermandad (brotherhood) of the church - is laid out in front of the sculpture. Offerings of fruits and vegetables border the carpet
35 Velacion close up The church's sculpture of Christ is placed in front of a large painted, paper backdrop. The following day, the sculpture is used in the main float in the church's procession.
36 Alfombra Creation - Maundy Thursday We participated - along with members of the Colegio Americano de Guatemala and the owner of the wonderful La Casa de Los Gigantes - in creating a carpet (alfombra) on early Thursday morning. The process begins with the spreading and wetting of pine needles.
37 Ross and Rachel The alfombra was created on 7 Calle Oriente - in front of the Casa de Los Gigantes store and on the north side of San Fransisco church.
38 Maundy Thursday - Alfombra Creation Business owners and homeowners - usually with the assistance of family and friends - create a carpet in the area of the street in front of their business or residence.
39 Alfombra Creation Carpets are usually made with either sawdust or a combination of flowers, pine needles or other plant forms. Some are created free-form - like this one - while others are formed by using stencils.
40 Alfombra Completion The name given to our carpet was "tree of life" or "arbol de la vida". The tree form (to the left) is created by flowers to mimic the four seasons. There is a wreath in the center and a white dove to the lower right.
41 Maundy Thursday Alfombreros Group photo of all the enegetic alfombreros (carpet makers) who helped create the carpet. The carpet was assembled in about 3 hours time.
42 A pair of alfomberos After the carpet was completed, we grabbed our own photo opp: close up, yes, but a little out of focus.
43 The Procession Begins The procession leaves from the church (seen in the background) and winds throughout the city before returning to the church later - much later - that evening.
44 Procession member Brochures, with maps of the procession routes, are available on the morning of the procession. They are handed out for free from tourist kiosks throughout the city.
45 Incense carriers The procession starts with the incense carriers dressed in purple robes and headcloths. They are not allowed to walk on the alfombras until the float with the Christ sculpture traverses it.
46 The Floats The largest float (anda) in the procession carries the Christ sculpture. Some floats can weigh up to 7,000 pounds! These processions have been celebrated in Guatemala for 4 1/2 centuries.
47 Grand Float The cucuruchos (the male processional carriers) carry the float for a block or more and then another group of cucuruchos take over. Click here to watch the video
48 Procession continues Originally, the cucuruchos covered their faces while carrying the floats because they were participating solely for penance. Now, it is an honor and tradition to be a cucurucho - passed down from generation to generation.
49 Aspirantes Children can sign up to participate in the processions. They are known as "aspirantes" because they hope to become cucuruchos when they grow up. (Look closely at the tag pinned to the older boy: you can just make out the word "aspirante".)
50 Cargadoras The cargadoras (female procession carriers) follow a block behind Jesus' float and carry a sculpture of the Virgin Mary (the Virgen de Dolores).
51 Band members Virgin Mary's float is followed by a funeral band and two smaller floats carrying St. John and Mary Magdelena.
52 After the procession passes by... After the procession tramples the carpet, the followers and watchers scurry to collect the blessed flowers and remnants of the alfombras.
53 Night procession The procession, begun in the afternoon, slowly meanders throughout the city until late in the evening.
54 Virgin Mary at night The duration of the procession is determined by how quickly the carriers can move the floats and how many stations (pasos) they stop at along the way.
55 Museum of St Pedro de San Jose Betancur At the San Francisco Church, there is a small museum dedicated to Guatemala's only saint - St Pedro Betancur (1626-1667). A prayer and a touch to his coffin -entombed in the attached church - have delivered miraculous help to many believers. The evidence of these miracles - unneeded crutches, etc. - are on display here.
56 St Pedro's underwear Where else would you be able to gaze reverentially(?) at a pair of saint's underwear from the 17th century?
57 Whipping time Or see the ropes he used for self-flagellation. Too bad they didn't have a gift shop.
58 Pomegranates In the garden and ruins outside the San Francisco Church we spotted a few pomegranate trees.
59 Good Friday Alfombra Early Good Friday morning, our group meets again to create another carpet: this time using sawdust (aserrin). The base of the carpet is formed with straw and uncolored sawdust. The straw and sawdust are leveled using a simple wood board.
60 Good Friday Alfombra The colored sawdust is applied to the base, uncolored sawdust using a sifter to insure a more uniform application. Siggy (the store owner) - on the left - guides Tony as he balances on the board.
61 Good Friday Alfombra To create the designs, the colored sawdust is pressed into openings in cardboard stencils. The design is worked on from the center out using a piece of wide-board wood and some concrete blocks for scaffolding. David, Donna and Debbie at work.
62 Good Friday Alfombra When the colored sawdust has been applied to all the open spaces in the stencil, the stencil is carefully lifted and removed. A fine mist of water (which can be glimpsed in the upper right) is regularly applied to keep the carpet from drying out and blowing away.
63 Good Friday Alfombra Once the center areas are completed, the borders are begun. Wood boards are also used as temporary borders - to create clean lines between different colored areas of the carpet.
64 Good Friday Alfombra Teamwork is essential to complete the carpet on time. In general, sawdust carpets are more time consuming than the free-form carpets. Some people work on their carpets all through the night. But we didn't.
65 Good Friday Alfombra The tradition of carpet creation can be traced back to Spain and the Canary Islands. But the Maya also created ceremonial carpets - made of pine needles, flowers and feathers - long before the Spanish arrived.
66 Good Friday Alfombra Part of the crew worked inside the Los Gigantes store to separate and arrange the pine needles used for the border.
67 Good Friday Alfombra The finished carpet. The theme was Paz (Peace), Amor (Love) and Vida (Life). The pine fringe was the last section to be assembled.
68 Good Friday Alfombra A pair of helpers and the finished carpet. The streets were beginning to get crowded and the start of the procession neared.
69 Good Friday Alfombra The team that worked on the Good Friday sawdust carpet. This carpet took about 5 hours to assemble.
70 Brushing Up Roman centurions - with the multi-purpose helmets - are assumed to be brushing up on their Latin(?) before the procession begins.
71 Good Friday Procession The centurions and Roman soldiers on horseback lead off the Good Friday procession.
73 Good Friday Procession The large float of Jesus carrying the cross hoisted by 80 cucuruchos. Each carrier pays a few quetzals to help cover some of the church's costs. Generally, women and children pay less than the men.
74 Good Friday Procession Each cucurucho has a numbered position that is matched by the number on the badge pinned to the front of their costumes. The carriers will change every few blocks.
75 After the procession passes by... After the last member of the procession passes, members of our group (Donna, Debbie and Phil) take a walk together over our destroyed carpet.
76 Not a moment wasted Within minutes after the procession passes, a clean-up crew is already at work shoveling up the remains of our carpet.
77 The end The sawdust is piled into this front-end loader and then poured into a nearby truck. They need at act quickly because many people create multiple carpets in the same day for different processions.
78 Most creative carpet The carpet was created in front of the restaurant Nokiate on 1 Avenida Sur #7. It made primarily of white rice and black beans.
79 Jesus poser Kyle poses alongside the Nokiate restaurant's alfombra. Was he really their model?
80 Rose carpet This alfombra was made entirely of flowers - and mainly roses.
81 Parrot-themed carpet (in process) The sawdust is colored at local mills and carpentry shops using a combination of local dyes and alcohol. After it is dyed, it is placed in large plastic bags. Because of demand, the dyed sawdust has to be ordered weeks in advance.
83 Parrot carpet Nearing completion. The Spanish word for carpet - alfombra - is of Arabic origin. Many of the sawdust carpets seemed as detailed and intricate as Turkish or Persian rugs.
84 Good Friday Velacion A Good Friday Holy Vigil. Notice that the church is now draped in black instead of the purple of the day before.
85 Night procession - Good Friday Senor Sepultado (the crucified Christ) is atop this float entombed in a glass coffin.
86 Night procession - Good Friday The carriers in this procession dressed in black robes and carry lanterns. This is the most solemn procession of the week.
87 Good Friday Night - Parque Central The crowd at the Good Friday evening procession in front of the cathedral along Parque Central. The procession was filmed and broadcasted live on Guatemalan television. Click here for this night video.
88 What's a Monkey's Ass?? This wonderfully funky juice bar -Y Tu Pina Tambien - serves up a delicious concoction of peanut butter, chocolate, bananas and milk - appropriately (we thought) named a "Monkey's Ass".
89 Ascending Pacaya Volcano Pacaya Volcano is an active volcano that visitors can climb. The ascent begins with a 1 1/2 hour steep hike to the base of the volcano. If you don't want to walk, horses - like this one here - can be rented.
90 Ascending Pacaya Volcano The volcano logs in at 7,338 feet in height. It is only about 15 miles from Antigua but it can take an hour and half to get there - because of traffic.
91 Ascending Pacaya Volcano There have been 23 recorded major eruptions of the volcano since the 16th century - the last in 2005.
92 Ascending Pacaya Volcano The volcano releases a steady stream of lava and noxious gas. Check the conditions before you ascend.
93 Ascending Pacaya Volcano When we visited - on March 31, 2010 - the volcano was active. A few weeks later we heard that two hikers were killed when the volcano erupted more violently.
94 Ascending Pacaya Volcano The temperature of lava has been estimated to be about 2200 degrees Fahrenheit. That did not seem to deter most visitors from getting an up-close view.
95 Ascending Pacaya Volcano There were too many visitors and not enough paths to cross the lava field that Wednesday evening. Melted sneakers and knapsacks were the most common souvenirs.
96 Ascending Pacaya Volcano Bloodied arms and legs were a badge of courage for most visitors that night. The sharpness of the hardened lava should not be underestimated. Great tip: bring gloves.
97 Ascending Pacaya Volcano As darkness descended, ill-prepared tourists scrambled to leave. Good hiking boots and head lamps are a must. Walking sticks are also extremely helpful.
98 Ascending Pacaya Volcano Watching the lava flow - from a safe(?) distance - is mesmerizing. Click here to see the video
99 Ascending Pacaya Volcano As darkness falls, this photo was taken of another tourist snapping one last glimpse of the volcano. Nighttime is the most dramatic time to ascend but also the most dangerous. Beware. And be prepared.
100 View of Volcan Agua from Pacaya Our last view of Volcan Agua - which hovers over Antigua - from the lava field at Pacaya.
