Lago Atitlan

Our last day in Guatemala we spent on the BEAUTIFUL Lago Atitlan.  Guatemala on the whole is an incredibly beautiful place and this certainly didn’t ruin our time in Guatemala, but the one downside we continuously ran into was cloudy, chilly weather.  God certainly answered our prayers for our Lake day—pure sun in the sky, clouds, turquoise and sparkling water, warm weather, in short, it was perfect.

The lake is surrounded by volcanoes, how sweet is that- a lake surrounded by volcanoes!  We had arranged a mini tour for our day trip to the lake so we had a boat, Glendy, to take us around to 4 different villages on the lake.  It was a fast trip and I would love to spend more time in each village, but it was the perfect way to spend a day on the lake because it gave us a lot of boat time on the actual lake, which in my opinion, is almost the best part. 

All aboard Glendy

We first took Glendy on a beautiful boat ride to San Juan de la Laguna.  Docking there was so pretty in the marsh/lagoon.  Trees and grass were sprouting out of the pristinely clear water through which I could see straight to the bottom.  San Jan was a very “earthy” town.  They had beautiful artwork and weaving.  The weaving here was different in that the woman worked in environmentally friendly and organic cooperatives, using natural dyes for their projects.  On whole the town was very organic.  During our walk around I enjoyed an organic honey stick treat and organic coffee with a lakeside view.  We also found a local church with a beautiful fruit altar. 

fruit altar...smelled so good.

Views from our coffee spot

San Juan de la Laguna

After San Juan we hopped aboard Glendy and rode to San Pedro.  San Pedro was a very hip and happening sort of town with a lot to do, entonces, MUST GO BACK.  We decided to spend our hour in San Pedro kayaking the lake.  It was great only 20 pretzels (Guatemalan money is called Quetzals, hence the pretzel nickname) or about 2.50 to kayak for an hour on the lake.  I had never solo kayaked before and am thrilled that I can say that my first solo kayak was in Guatemala on  Lago Atitlan, surrounded by volcanoes. 

black bass

Our next boat ride was a long and choppy one as the waves started picking up.  I had been dying to lie out in the front of the boat and so I was in bliss riding the waves, enjoying the sun, and marveling at the volcanoes as we passed marshes, islands, and saw Guatemalans canoeing around.  We then headed to Santiago where Lacey, Jess, Deirdre and I sought out a rooftop lunch.  We dined on a delicious meal of black bass from the lake.  So ricoooo. 

View from our margarita spot

Then we headed back to Panjachel to finish up our miraculous tour of the lake.  Our first stop was a lakeside margarita to cheers to the best day ever.  It was such a perfect day: boats, sun, kayaking, shopping, good food, lake, volcanoes….ahhhhhh.  We were just loving life. 

Cheers to the lago!

  I wish I could have spent another week just on the Lake.  It is seriously one of the most beautiful spots I’ve ever been to.  I couldn’t stop praising God for the opportunity to visit such a beautiful part of His creation.  I truly am so lucky.  Lago Atitlan, nos vemos pronto.