Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
An excellent road, of recent construction, that wound and twisted over mountains took us
safely to San Marcos, a quaint village near the top of a mountain in the extreme north-west of
the Guatemalan republic.
Before I reached that place I spent a very uncomfortable night in a small settlement along
the route. I had accommo-dated the horses in a fenced-in backyard and was sweeping the rub-
bishanddirtoutoftheroomwhereIthoughtofsleeping,whentwovillainous-lookingfellows
arrived and began to watch me. After a while one of them approached and offered me some
guaro
out of a bottle. Naturally I refused to drink any of it, and so the man returned to his
companion and both began to whisper in low tones. When a second attempt to make me drink
had again failed, both began to insult me, using such a vocabulary that I almost admired them
fortheircommand ofthelanguage. Itooknochances thatnight,and,needless tosay,Ididnot
sleepinside,butunderalowshedmadeofoldpetrolcansnearthehorses.Ihadnotbeenlying
there long when Mancha began to snort and, peeping out of my shelter, I could distinctly see
the shape of a man who was sneaking along in the dark. I waited until he had almost reached
me, and then fired a shot into the air. My .45 Smith & Wesson was within a foot of the un-
suspecting man's head when I pulled the trigger, and I should not be surprised if he was still
running when daylight appeared.
San Marcos was the last village we touched in Guatemala. Thanks to its elevation above
sea level the climate is very cool, in fact, after sunset it gets quite chilly, and the nights are
often cold. There are several volcanoes near here, some of which show great activity at times
andhavebeenknowntocausegreatlossesoflivesandproperty.TheTajumalco(some12,500
feet) is the highest in the republic.
When we left San Marcos a short climb brought us to the top of a mountain whence we
startedonaverysteepdescentoveraroughandstonytrail.Vegetationtypicalofcoolclimates
covered the mountainside, but as we gradually came lower the plants - according to the elev-
ation - were those of the semi-tropics or tropics.
I had been invited to stay in a coffee plantation belonging to a German settler, situated
about halfway down the steep slope. The hospitality extended to me was as delightful as the
glorious view from this lovely spot. Above towered the mighty Tajumalco; in the far distance
below the steamy tropical lowland of Mexico could be seen, and occasionally the glimmer of
thePacificOceanpenetratedthecurtainofmists.Totheright,i.e.,tothenorth-west,thepeaks
of the mountain range extended until they faded away in the distance in the direction of the
Isthmus of Tehuantepec, and in the opposite direction they continued towards San Salvador.
