El Lago de Atitlan
Trip Start
Apr 05, 2008
1
3
Trip End
Apr 12, 2008
Panajachel, San Pedro la Laguna, Guatemala
Saturday, April 12, 2008
I woke up super early, not being able to stand the smell of the room, and enjoyed the peace of watching the sun rise over the lake. We were right on the lake, surrounded by mountains and volcanoes in what author Aldous Huxley described as "the most beautiful lake in the world," but unfortunately had arrived at the transition period between the dry and wet seasons when white haze covered the beautiful views we could only get a hint of. The whole town was connected by unique sand paths. In the morning we walked through the small town we realized that 3 days here would not be necessary, and decided to take the boat across the lake to the main tourist hub of Panajachel. So we boarded our luggage (including Cite's giant floral suitcase with matching carry-on : ) and crossed the lake.
In Panajachel we stayed two days at the great Utz-Jay hotel (pronounced utz-hi). It was a perfect mid-ranged hotel with a lovely garden that served breakfast. The hotel's staff was amazingly helpful and they had three dogs, including two German shepherds that we enjoyed playing soccer with. In Panajachel there are two main tourist streets. The street Santander, around the corner from us, had great shopping and lots of good restaurants. After settling in we did a great amount of walking - visiting the great Atitlan Reserve. The reserve had great pathways and swinging bridges that took you around the park and past beautiful waterfalls and animal habitats. We spent more than an hour viewing spider monkeys and cotamundi (also called coati, an animal that looks like a mix between a raccoon and badger). The spider monkeys were amazing gymnasts and it was amazing to see them fly through the air. We bought bananas to feed them and that really worked to get them out for pictures (especially the cotamundi).
The next day we took the so-called chicken bus to visit the highland village of Solala. There we visited the very authentic Friday village market. There we saw many Mayans (including men) in traditional highland dress. The market is geared towards the people, and not the tourists, as is the famous market in Chichicastenago, which I had hoped to visit, but I will have to catch another time. Many of the people come down from the Quiche area, the most traditionally indigenous area (and most targeted by the government of Guatemala during the Mayan genocide and civil war) of the country. It is difficult to take pictures of the local people, in their beautiful and colorful outfits, as taking pictures of the Maya can be considered offensive. So we wandered through the maze and tried to be covert about it. Hopefully I will be able to come back and travel more throughout the highlands. We spent the rest of the time shopping before catching a shuttle with some wonderful U.S. volunteers that had come down to help at and eye clinic and a guy who worked with the Department of Agriculture who came to help the Mayans develop more sustainable practices.
This was a great trip and I am very happy we went!
