Volcanic Lake and the beginning of the end

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In all honesty, I really felt like our travel came to a close with our hike up the volcano and the day trip from Antigua. By the time we got to Lago de Atitlan, I was ready to curl up in a hammock, read, get caught up on e-mails and relax. It was a great place for that. The town is very low key. Lots of Spanish schools, which ironically meant that everyone spoke a little English. We stayed at the Hotel Sakcari . Nice place with nice rooms. My time there consisted of doing very little. We hung out at Cafe Zoola, I went kayaking at least twice a day, and once we got situated, really enjoyed the little town.

Our arrival was somewhat chaotic, every other individual offering us 'information.' Once we settled down and parked our backpacks, the locals had much less information to share. The climate here was really nice. Warm during the day, but pleasant warm. At night, a blanket was useful. No heating or AC used the entire time. Bugs were not a big problem. I killed a few here and there, but nothing bad.

I did catch the sunrise every morning. I think I slept much better now that it was cooler, and felt rested by 5:30/6 am. I really enjoyed taking the kayak our first thing. The front gate was locked, but since the wall was built into the hillside, it was easy to get up on the lawn, walk to the wall, and then drop the kayak onto the path and hop down after it. The whole process involved a few extra steps, but was well worth the effort. We both enjoyed the stay enough to skip the 2nd largest city in Guatemala (Xela) and ended up staying here for 4 days.

We woke up on the 4th day, and caught the 6am ferry across to start our journey to Mexico.

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