Today’s adventure was the extended director’s cut of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. In the words of our advisor Ron Skalko, “When the machetes come out, they mean business.”
After breakfast, we traveled to Panimaquib to meet with a group of 8 men, who introduced themselves and thanked us for coming to examine their water supply. They lead us into the jungle, and we embarked on what became a two hour long hike along the Guatemalan mountains. After a careful journey, our group arrived at the water supply, nestled 3 kilometers into the jungle. As steam evaporated from Patrick’s drenched shirt, the engineers from Agua del Pueblo checked the water piping system. After 30 minutes we began our return trip along the same route. The locals used their machetes to fashion bamboo walking sticks for us gringos. After climbing and climbing for another two hours, we finally reached our van and drove to their town. Our journey was rewarded with the muoy delicioso home cooked meals, provided by the families of Panimaquib. The engineers of AdP then diagnosed the problems with their water tank, and we drove safely home after perhaps the most impressive hike of our lives.