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Published: February 10th 2011
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Lake Atiltan is situated high in the Guatemalan highlands; a Mecca for Spanish students and backpackers alike, ringed by small tranquil villages interspersed amongst volcanoes towering over 3000m, the area has been inhabited since pre-hispanic times and for most locals Mayan is still the first language. Like so many areas in Guatemala the Lake is situated over a Volcanic hotspot and the amazing scenery results largely from past (and present) volcanic activity.
About 150,000 years ago a magmatic batholith formed - this is a vast subterranean pocket filled with magma - then 84,000 years ago "Los Chocoyos Batholith" blew its top and left a huge empty cavity which then collapsed under its own weight taking with it the surrounding volcanoes. The remaining hole or Caldera was over 18km across and resulted in the formation of the lake. Until recently the lake was very deep but much smaller then in 1457 Volcan Atitlan erupted and blocked the surface exit causing the lake to expand and flood the surrounding Mayan villages, permantly raising the water level to the current 1562m above sea level.
I chose the small town of San Pedro la Laguna to continue my studies, the town is quite
Flooding
The lake level has risen by 3m in the last year flooding out many lakeside properties and farms tourist oriented, the locals even call the area near the lake "Gringoville", quite apt really. The town is well known for the quality of its Spanish schools and I chose the Cooperativa because it invests its profits back into the local community, the school is perched on a hill half way up the town where each student has an individual Cabana (treehouse type things) set in an extensive garden with a panoramic view accross the lake... nice. Over the course of my two weeks in the area I made two excursions; one above and one below the lake.
Volcan San Pedro
Veering up directly adjacent to San Pedro is the tree clad peak of Volcano of the same name, it just begs to be climbed so early one morning together with a local guide I headed up yet another Volcano (I think this might be a recurring theme of this trip). Being almost perfectly conical San Pedro proved to be an exhausting climb, it was steps, hundreds of uneven, unrelenting, winding steps - for three and a half hours and 1500 vertical meters we marched upwards ( it didn´t help that my ridiculously healthy 51 year old guide
River Valley
The side of Volcan San Pedro is cut with these vast channels which only fill during tropical storms or hurricanes. could seemingly have skipped up carrying his numerous grandchildren, I suppose he does it three times a week). On the ascent we passed through large coffee plantations and over a wide rocky river bed bisecting the mountain and which is only filled when tropical storms hit Guatemala. Beyond the the lowland farms we entered dense woodland (which obscured the views all the way to the summit), as we climbed the forest became more and more lush with every surface and tree covered in lichen and thick moss, I assume this is what is meant by cloud forest.
The views from the summit were spectacular, from our vantage we could see the entire lake laid out before us with all the small towns and villages nestled alongside the lakeside in the distance. It was lovely to recover in the sunshine for half an hour with the whole summit to ourselves and the lake below us before the 2 1/2 hike back down. I was exhausted at the end of it, not sure my teacher had my full attention in school that afternoon.
High Altitude Diving in Santa Cruz
Across the water from San Pedro is the small hamlet
Cloud Forest
High up the Volcano everything gets covered in greenery of Santa Cruz which is home to ATI divers, this small set up offers scuba diving excursions into the lake. Never having dived at altitude, in fresh water or in a lake above an active volcanic fault line I thought it would be a good spot to pass the weekend. Unusually for a high altitude lake Atitlan is not glacially fed which makes it quite temperate and suitable for Scuba Diving in only a wetsuit, ideal. I went on two dives with ATI, together they gave me a completely unique diving experience, one of my dive sites is above an area of volcanic activity and the the mud 20m down is warm on the surface and extremely hot a hands breadth below. As well as large volcanic rock formations we saw strange green volcano weed formations where blankets of plantlife are raised by bubbles of oxygen collecting underneath. Many of the flooded Mayan villages remained undiscovered until recently and divers are still pulling up pottery and other artifacts, they have even started a museum to house it all. All in all a fascinating experience, one of the nicest things was the fresh water, coming out clean and refreshed after each
dive.
I will finish my months Spanish at the end of this week, its been a great experience learning from local teachers and staying with a host families both here and in Antigua, I was welcomed into their homes and despite the turnover of students they must have, all made a real effort to talk to me despite my limited Spanish. It was fascinating seeing daily family life over here, Guatemalans in my experience are a friendly forthcoming people and impeccable hosts. I´m almost sorry to be re-entering the Gringotrail.
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George
non-member comment
Hola
Fascinating, lucky you. keep writing.