Lake Atitlian

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Does anybody know what time it is? More on that later. We left Copan for Lake Atitlian a day later due to some very poor service from Aventuras Turistica who was to provide shuttle service from Copan to Lake Atilian. Fifteen minutes after they were supposed to pick us up in Copan, we called and said they would be there in 20 minutes. 25 minutes later they said the van was full and we would have to stand or go the next day. This was after a prepaid voucher from two days prior. So we said “Hell no, we won’t go!” and stayed another day in Copan and booked with Adrenalina Tours. We got into Panajachel in Lake Atilian at 6:30 PM and the van driver tried to help his buddy have us take a private lancha (boat) to Lomas Tzununa for $40. We finally got to the right pier for the public lancha. We were able to get the last lancha for the evening at 7:30 for a much more reasonable $5. We were the third stop and we were left off at the hotels dock. A forbidding 300 meters straight up the hillside was the hotel. All of sudden, Leona says” Where is my watch?” Apparently, some kind soul who helped her on or off the boat rewarded themselves with the watch since Leona had noted at 7:25 the boat was leaving soon. We soon saw a flashlight on the steps of the hillside and a 125 lb hotel staff member had come down to aid us in carrying our stuff up the 30 stories of steps built into the hillside to the hotel. In what seemed like a fair trade, Frank took the two small backpacks, and the hotel staff member took the two large pieces. At 5000 ft, I do not know how that little guy did it, but we huffed and puffed ourselves up there.

Lomas Tzunana is a fairly new hotel with fantastic views of the lake and a very nice staff and owners. We primarily took day trips to the little villages and enjoyed the natural beauty of the place. We went to Jabalito, where Spanish is their second language as a Mayan dialect is the primary language, so their pronunciation of Spanish was as poor as ours. We went to Panajachel, the biggest city on Lake Atilian for some shopping. Also, went to Santa Cruz la Laguna, home to a bunch of yoga and spiritual centers. On the way back, one lady noticed that her phone was missing. A Willie Nelson look a like told the lady she had too much negative energy and to hold her thumb and index finger together to release it. When we got back to the hotel, I noticed my watch was gone, and I started feeling some negative energy. I tried the thumb and forefinger thing, and even though it looks like you are making a OK sign, it wasn’t OK! So much for the spiritual guidance.

So after losing both watches, Leona and I would like to know if anybody knows what time it is?

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Photos

Lake Atitlan
View from hotel

Lake Atitlian
Going up?

Lake Atitlan
Poinsettas in village of Jabolita

Lake Atitlan
Catholic in Jabolita

Lake Atitlan
Street scenein Jabolita

Lake Atitlan
Lanchas on lake

Comments

[Wayne L. King]

trip
Hi Leona & Frank, looks like you are seeing some beautiful country--lakes & all. Also looks like you are pretty close to Belize? We are getting lots of rain here, sun did come out for alittle bit this afternoon. Sorry to hear about you time pieces...... Love, Wayne & Phyllis

[Sheila]

Loved the Chicken bus picture. Does it not appear that the more poor a people are, the more colorful they become? Also, the lakes and rivers appear to be extraordinarily beautiful! But, be careful not to bring home some bizarre water-borne parasite.