do we know if Ng and this other woman both spoke a common language? I am withholding any thoughts until there is some better information- it could be that a few translations and news edits have left out some facts.
Guatemala - Nancy Ng, 29, from Monterey Park CA, missing during Yoga Retreat, 19 Oct 2023
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AzPistonsGirl
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2 kilometers? That is well over a mile - that is a long way to go in that lake, no?
it's a big deep lake
Lake Atitlán
Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org › wiki › Lake_Atitlán
I believe I read somewhere that some people swim away from the shore because the shore is more likely to have pollutants from resorts-
The Truth About The Water Quality Of Lake Atitlan
Just one look at Lake Atitlan is enough to fall in love. The lake is 340 meters deep, 18 kilometers long, and approximately 84,000 years old. The waves ripple between the bases of three massive vol…
atitlanliving.com
(article only says that there are currently some water quality situations)
Geography edit ... The lake has a maximum depth of about 340 metres (1,120 ft) and an average depth of 154 metres (505 ft). ... Its surface area is 130.1 km2 (50.2 ...
AzPistonsGirl
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Thank you, I know it is big, but how long does it take to paddle 1.3 miles? I know I can walk it pretty quickly, so they can paddle it quicker, so maybe it's not that far. Not sure why it struck me at first, just assumed they stayed closer to shore I guess. I try not to make assumptions but it can be hard.
All depends on the chop and the currents. I'm not sure it would be much quicker than walking - although with the wind at your back, on a kayak or paddleboard, it would be at least as fast as walking (so let's say 10-12 minutes?)
Swimming that distance, though, is an entirely different matter. People with larger amounts of body fat are, well, more buoyant. Knowing how to float on one's back and being able to backstroke a little is a crucial skill, IMO. No room for panic. And if there was someone else in a nearby kayak, that should have been used to advantage, because NN should have been able to at least cling to the outside of the kayak. Unless of course, she dove off the back when it was moving rapidly. Sometimes, when there are two paddlers, they're each focusing on strokes on one side (to move the kayak evenly). The person who remained in the kayak would have had to pivot in a scenario like this one.
But if someone else was out there and saw her fail to surface, it could be that she couldn't get her body properly oriented for swimming and panicked. Poor girl.
IMO
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You have a good point regarding languages and the possibility of a translation error or summary. The area she disappeared from is a mountain area (increased chance of being an indigenous area, though some mountain areas can be mainly non indigenous / "Ladino".
It is fairly common for indigenous Guatemalans not to speak Spanish. Rather, they will be monolingual in a Mayan language. Others can have varying degrees of fluency in Spanish ranging from broken to fully fluent.
So.... it is possible that the choppy translation was the result of going from: Mayan (several languages) -to- Spanish -to- English.
Or... Mayan to local colloquial Spanish to formal Spanish (once the National Police got involved) to English. Even more room for a "telephone game" type error.
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The lake is very large. The winds are more than gentle so you are either paddling into the wind or with the wind--- either way, you are going to be paddling hard on one part of journey. Even with a small chop to the water and the wind, your kayak is going to travel away fairly fast. Also those waves are going to make you work pretty hard at staying afloat.
There is something major missing in this story. Hope we find out. Hope her family finds out. I think we know that she is deceased if she was on that boat, in those conditions.
ifindedout
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The Mayan languages spoken in the area are Kaqchikel and Tz'utujil, as described in the Wikipedia entry for Lake Atitlan posted upthread on this page by @acutename.
Languages of Guatemala - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
“According to a statement Guatemalan prosecutor's office provided to ABC News, Ng was traveling with a U.S.-based tour group.” (ABC7)
Since she was with a U.S.-based group, I feel like it is probable the other kayaker spoke English. MOO
ifindedout
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I found a bathymetric map for Lake Atitlán, from the Maps page on the website of the Atitlán Nature Reserve.
Atitlan Maps 1696-2018 | Atitlan Reserva
Historical maps from the region of Lake Atitlán.en.atitlanreserva.com
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We don't know how close they were to one another. The friend might not have been close enough to see what was happening.
maybe she was-sometimes at resorts there are people from a lot of different places so I am not assuming anything
insearchoflight
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She was close enough to be talking to Nancy according to her statement Nancy tells her she’s going to swim.
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Yes, at one point they were close enough to talk, but it's possible they didn't continue paddling together.
Ah, so they are in two separate kayaks?
This still leaves the question, then, of what happened to NN's kayak. I suppose it could have drifted and been grabbed by a passerby on a boat, thinking it was lost.
Are there fish and fishermen in that lake? Because someone who had taken home an apparently abandoned kayak might not want to contact LE.
IMO
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According to the NYPost, the empty kayak was found. The story seems so odd, as if she left her kayak to swim, and just never came up from the water.
"The Guatemalan prosecutor’s office said that a woman with Ng told authorities that they advanced “approximately two kilometers deeper into the lake, where the missing woman tells” the witness that “she wants to swim.”
"“And that is when she drowns,” prosecutors told ABC News, with rescuers saying they found her empty kayak."
Haunting last video of missing Nancy Ng as family challenges claim she drowned on Guatemala yoga retreat
Relatives of the California woman who vanished during a yoga retreat in Guatemala have released a haunting last video of her paddling from shore in a kayak — while challenging local authoriti…
nypost.com
According to the NYPost, the empty kayak was found. The story seems so odd, as if she left her kayak to swim, and just never came up from the water.
"The Guatemalan prosecutor’s office said that a woman with Ng told authorities that they advanced “approximately two kilometers deeper into the lake, where the missing woman tells” the witness that “she wants to swim.”
"“And that is when she drowns,” prosecutors told ABC News, with rescuers saying they found her empty kayak."
Haunting last video of missing Nancy Ng as family challenges claim she drowned on Guatemala yoga retreat
Relatives of the California woman who vanished during a yoga retreat in Guatemala have released a haunting last video of her paddling from shore in a kayak — while challenging local authoriti…
Who filmed the video???
According to the NYPost, the empty kayak was found. The story seems so odd, as if she left her kayak to swim, and just never came up from the water.
"The Guatemalan prosecutor’s office said that a woman with Ng told authorities that they advanced “approximately two kilometers deeper into the lake, where the missing woman tells” the witness that “she wants to swim.”
"“And that is when she drowns,” prosecutors told ABC News, with rescuers saying they found her empty kayak."
Haunting last video of missing Nancy Ng as family challenges claim she drowned on Guatemala yoga retreat
Relatives of the California woman who vanished during a yoga retreat in Guatemala have released a haunting last video of her paddling from shore in a kayak — while challenging local authoriti…
Well, actually, that makes more sense to me. Kayak drifted one way, she swam another - and no ability to stop swimming as the lake is too deep and she was too far from shore. Catching up with one's own kayak can be quite difficult. I assume she wasn't wearing a life jacket.
It's hard to get back into a kayak, IME. Sounds like someone nearby saw what she was doing, but went on to do their own thing, as people do.
Once a person is scared or panicky (seeing their kayak out ahead of them, not able to catch up to it), drowning is often the outcome. Lakes are scary as heck, compared to beaches (where one walks slowly into the water, and if there's a big drop off - that's when a person decides whether they are a good enough swimmer to manage going further).
Jumping into a deep lake from a kayak (most don't use a leash) is always risky - better to be with a group, IMO.
Since they've found the kayak, it seems obvious to me that this was an accidental drowning.
Very sad.
Dhighsmith
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I took a deep dive into Lake Atitlan searching for any info on suspicious drowning. There are numerous unexplained drownings of visitors enjoying a day of recreation on the Lake- so down the rabbit hole I went and I’m not sure what to make of the information.
A study of Lake Atitlan identified toxic levels of Microcystin in the deeper waters.
Microcystin is a toxin in freshwater produced by certain algal blooms. Studies indicate the toxins primarily accumulate in the liver but can spread to the kidneys, muscle, brain, and intestines through blood circulation. Acute exposure to the toxins can lead to hepatomegaly, hemorrhage, and even death. Researchers published a study revealing animals often die prior to arriving at vet clinic for treatment.
There’s a basic universal statement attached to every study almost as a warning that risks associated with human toxic exposure are yet to be determined.
So the research continues.
A study of Lake Atitlan identified toxic levels of Microcystin in the deeper waters.
Microcystin is a toxin in freshwater produced by certain algal blooms. Studies indicate the toxins primarily accumulate in the liver but can spread to the kidneys, muscle, brain, and intestines through blood circulation. Acute exposure to the toxins can lead to hepatomegaly, hemorrhage, and even death. Researchers published a study revealing animals often die prior to arriving at vet clinic for treatment.
There’s a basic universal statement attached to every study almost as a warning that risks associated with human toxic exposure are yet to be determined.
So the research continues.
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