The Gel of Panajachel

Our first big stopover of the trip has been amazing!

We arrived in Pana and were immediately welcomed by the never-ending hospitality of Christian and Stefanie of Real World Paragliding. We have been amazed from start to finish by their generous spirits and their sweet spot on Lake Atitlan. They gave us work, fed us daily, hooked us up with the local knowledge, and even let us park the chalk van in the garden and crash their house for our two week stay! It’s been nice to slow down and sleep in the same place for a little bit and get to know Christian and Stephanie and their son Liam. Rok was right at home at the house too and found his place among their loyal pooches—Zoey, Corazon and Mofo.

We took advantage of the good weather we were given and had some amazing solo and tandem flights—playing in the clouds over Lake Atitlan, soaking up the sun, and making some gas money…. It was good to get back to work again and to pull the acro gliders out of the bag too! We have had an awesome crew of international tandem pilots—Jenni and Graham from the UK, Tomy from Venezuela/ Peru, Christian and Tono from Guate and us! from the USA. On the good days, the sea breeze blows in across the lake from the South around 11 or 12 and lasts until sunset! We were even lucky enough to be there for a record setting day for Real World. We can't wait to get back for some more fun.

 A few jumbled memories from the last two weeks: Fun squished rides up to launch in the back of Mike’s shiny blue lowrider pickup (hola aguacates!), piñata bashing, yummy Asian, Italian, and típico meals in Pana. Limonadas, cappuccinos from Café Loco, a moist boat ride across the lake to San Pedro, frolicking in the Care Bear cloudy land above takeoff. Choconoya hiding in the corner of the office, long walks with Rok, fresh fruit con limón y chile, avocado sandwiches, shopping at the mercado, little red tuktuks stuffed full of paragliders zooming around cobblestone streets, tamales, salsa picante, happy music, falling avocadoes, cooking epic feasts with Stefanie and creating mountains of dishes for the boys to wash. Fireworks to the third dimension, camping on top of the world, hippies wandering, happy passenger smiles, Cards Against Humanity for English as a Second Language speakers. Epic chalk van art, crepes, chocolate, Nein!, fresh fruit smoothies, yoga in the garden, and beautiful sunsets enjoyed from the aterrizaje, el despegue, the back of the pickup, the shore of the lake and the sky.