Lake Atitlan

The hotel porch where you can wade in the water

I am so lucky to have had the opportunity to visit this amazing landmark in Guatemala!  This unique lake was formed when the surrounding volcanoes erupted and the land below sunk down.  This newly formed low-land area then filled with rain water creating what is now know as Lake Atitlan.  There are several small towns that surround the lake, many of which are only easily accessible by boat.  Our hotel was located next to one of these small towns and was right on the water.  One of their porches was literally in the water, and you could wade in the lake water using the porch.  Our hotel room was up several long flights of stairs.  Because the hotel is built on a hill, there are layers of rooms separated by winding flights of stairs surrounded by a lush landscaping.  From our hotel room we couldn’t see the land underneath us and it looked like we were floating on the lake.  I tried to capture the view of the lake as the sun faded, but I’m afraid a camera just couldn’t do it justice.

The view from one of many hotel balconies 

Thomas and I horseback ridding

The next morning we took another boat (which you catch by standing on the dock and waving your arms when the boat is in sight) over to San Pedro la Laguna, a larger town across the lake.  Thomas and I decided to go horseback riding-something I have been dying to do since we arrived in Guatemala.   After negotiating a price with the tourism office, a man road up on a horse pulling another one behind him.  Unlike in the U.S. we did not receive instruction on how to ride the horses safely; luckily Thomas and I have ridden horses before.  The horses took off on their own and followed an apparently well-known path back to the stables where they are kept.  Our tour guide then saddled-up another horse for himself to ride and we began our adventure out of the city.  We got to ride on the horses part-way up one of the volcanoes.  The views were beautiful and the horses were so much fun.   However, the best part of the journey was on the way back when it started to rain.  I’m not sure if the horse was just anxious to get back to its stable, or if the rain somehow excited her, but my horse decided to take off trotting… and then galloping.  Some people might have been really scared at this point, but I couldn’t stop laughing and smiling.  You see, I have always had a secret desire feel what it was like to ride a horse when it was galloping.  So for me, this was a dream come true.  It was AMAZING!!!  (I would also like to note that our guide was not the least bit concerned that his horse took off running—in the U.S. the guide would have stopped the horse in a matter of seconds). This experience was so thrilling that the next day, when I couldn’t sit down because by butt was bruised so badly, I didn’t even complain (well, I barely complained). 

Our last day on the lake, we woke up early, had a delicious breakfast at the hotel, and rented a tandem sea kayak for the morning.  Thomas and I had a lot of fun paddling around the lake and catching the waves made by the boats passing by.  It was a nice way to spend time enjoying our surroundings before having to head back to Panajachel and go home.  We managed to spend some time in Panajachel walking around and purchased a few gifts for family before taking a shuttle back to Tecpan.  I really enjoyed getting to see the beauty created in part by the tourism around the lake.  It has been an interesting, but welcomed contrast to working in the small aldea (rural village) called Pakip where people are struggling to make a living… more on that later.