Blogs from Lago de Atitlán, Western Highlands, Guatemala, Central America Caribbean - page 2

HE SAID... Today we were travelling the very short distance (7km) from Panajachel to San Jorge la Laguna. After checking out of Hotel Utz-Jay at midday, we lunched on the shoreline of Lago Atitlan. We then headed back to the hotel at 3pm, jumped into a minibus and climbed out of Panajachel to San Jorge la Laguna, the village of our host family for the night. We arrived around 3:30pm, unloaded our packs and met Dora (our host) and her eight year old son Anthony on the steps of the church in the main town square. Dora’s family is from the ethic group of the Kaqchiquel in San Jorge, and she has been welcoming travellers into her home for the past four years. We climbed the narrow and steep cobblestone path to Dora’s small concrete brick ... read more

Lago Atitlan was a stunning location to arrive on my birthday, having had birthday cake and leftover pizza for breakfast on the bus ride over. We checked into our hostel, who insisted on giving me birthday tequila, and had a pretty relaxed afternoon in front of the lake. We also visited the local women's weaving cooperative- so many beautiful handmade materials, but unfortunately no space in our bags (well, none in mine, which is ridiculously heavy and full. Amateur first time backpacking mistake...!) The next day we went on a horse trek up to a coffee plantation and factory, and to a view point just outside San Pedro with stunning views across the lake. The coffee plantation and factory was super interesting - the factory is basically owned be a cooperative of local growers, and buys ... read more

Our little bus twists and turns through the hills of Los Altos for a couple of hours. The drive is interesting but not spectacular. But then Lake Atitlan appears below us, blue and sparkling with a backdrop of cone-shaped volcanoes. Beautiful. The road drops steeply down to Panajachel, the large village on the lake shore where we are to stay. From the shore the scene is just as impressive, the cone of Volcano San Pedro standing across the lake, wreathed in cloud in an otherwise cloudless sky. The sun sets, obligingly, over the lake. Spectacular. As we watch it fade away, we order our first fajitas of the trip. It is a great way to end the day. We spend the next day on the lake, visiting four of the villages that dot its shore. Some ... read more

When the eight Indian women and their chicken got on the boat in San Marcos the water was already within a foot of the gunwales. We hugged the coast barging south through the chop towards San Pedro. The women, sitting in a huddle in the bow, laughed non-stop. Their mouths opened wide with every chicken punchline they tossed out. Their teeth were rimmed in 24 Karat gold like little tabernacle doors. The white hen rested calmly in a blue plastic milk crate pondering its future. We're on Lake Atitlan in Guatemala. We stuck Atitlan at the end of our trip when we decided to fore-go Patagonia until next year if we can last that long. We had long thought about Guatemala but I guess we put it off because it wasn't a 12-hour flight away. It's ... read more

We took a shuttle from San Cristobal back to Guatemala stopping at Panajachel on the shores of Lake Atitlan. We had organised a bike tour online prior to arriving as we thought this would be a good way to see some of the different communities around the lake. By the time we arrived we had not received a confirmation of the time or meeting place even though we had paid a deposit. They had asked where we were staying we thought they must be picking us up, but in the morning when no one arrived we phoned the office to be told we were supposed to be there half an hour ago. We took a tuk tuk to the shop as quickly as we could and were given bikes before heading off to catch a chicken ... read more