kite flying on Lake Atitlan

Saturday 5th October 1985

Watch and learn as Rosa's boys make kites. The usual design is a hexagon made from three crossed grass straws, cotton thread around the edge and brightly coloured tissue paper in fill. They use a sticky plant bulb for glue. In the late afternoon sun San Pedro has a colourful barrage flying on the rising wind before the evening rain, like a host of dancing butterflies.

Finish weaving. 4Q in total. Mega disaster on the last day as I drop all the odds in the weft. Have to unpick a lot and start again.

Two English guys at the Ultima Cena cafe (couldn't resist a eating at the last supper restaurant) where I usually eat, and two Argentinians. The pommes are heading south. Sounds expensive as Nicaragua demand $60 at the border, and there is a forced currency exchange at a bad rate. Hear of a Guatemalan airline flight to Columbia for $120 and news of fighting at the Nicaragua / Costa Rica border. Think I will fly from Costa Rica to Ecuador.