Blogs from Panajachel, Western Highlands, Guatemala, Central America Caribbean - page 3

We took a tourist shuttle to Lake Atitlan. For once I must disagree with Huxley, it did not make me long for the Home Counties although, to be honest, the volcanoes were shrouded in mist. The lake is very pretty though Panajachel (where we were taken) is a total tourist trap and somewhat tacky. We refused a number of trips on lanchas (although some were very reasonably priced) and headed for one of the restaurants built out over the lake for breakfast. After breakfast we managed to find the wildlife reserve. This is, I think, privately owned. It used to be a shaded coffee plantation but they have allowed the jungle to grow back and they encourage the wildlife. They have some coatis from a zoo breeding programme and a small group of spider monkeys hang ... read more

We are now camped on the shores of the beautiful Lago de (Lake) Atitlan high in the Guatemalan mountains with three majestic volcanoes in full view across the lake. The nearest village is Panajachel. True to his word, Ramon showed up at 9:30 and helped us thru the bureaucratic maze of exiting Mexico and entering Guatemala. It cost the four of us 250 pesos each to get the Mexicans to stamp our passports so we could enter Guatemala. We will still have to purchase Mexican tourist cards on our return. Had we done the right thing in the first place, entering, exiting and then reentering Mexico would only have cost us a one time 260 peso fee. John had to pay the Mexican officials 400 pesos to get his truck out of the country in order ... read more

Originally, we were thinking of going to Antiqua but heard it was full of tourists. Hoping to bypass the tourist scene, we opted to skip Antigua for Panajachel on Lake Atitlan. Bad move ... there are TONS of tourist here. If you want the market scene, this is the place. Blocks and blocks and blocks of street vendors and street urchins trying to sell you stuff. And, they all are selling the same things. I´m not sure how anyone makes any money here. You don´t even need to negotiate. All you have to do is say ´no thanks´and immediately they start dropping the price. I had one little girl who started at 30 quetzels (around $3.50) for a little purse and within a minute (and several "no gracias mi preciosa's" it was down to 1 Quetzal! ... read more

17th MAY 2009 - A DAY AT THE LAKE! I woke up at around 6am. Our bus pick up was at 7.15am and we had to be downstairs 15 minutes prior. Once ready, we headed down, picked our pre-made sandwiches up (no substitute for the free breakfast...I mean who wants a ham and cheese sandwich at 6am when they could have had pancakes?!!) and then sat in the bar waiting for the bus. Again, security was paramount and the night watchman kept lookout through his peephole for us until the bus pulled up. It was early...7am and we were on the road. On the bus, I ate my sandwich and listened to my music for the 3 hour journey to Panajachel - a small town by Lake Atitlan. The town was really busy and consisted on ... read more

Panajachel is a different kind of town. The weather is great year round. Not too hot, not cold at all. The weekends bring hordes of tourists but the weekdays are relatively quiet. It has tourist areas and others which are more authentic. It is surrounded by volcanoes and situated on the shore of the beautiful lake Atitlan. You also got to interact more with the local population than with tourists and speaking Spanish is useful. I like it and it seems like a great place to spend a few months. I may just have to come back. My beautiful apartment is right on main street with a balcony and a roof top patio that Steve took great advantage of to work on his tan. It is fun just to be outside to read and watch people ... read more