Lago Atitlan

in addition to being absolutely gorgeous, Lake Atitlan is a natural wonder.  the author Aldous Huxley called it (more or less) “the most beautiful lake in the world.”  it was formed in the caldera left by a volcanic eruption many moons ago and is bordered by three other volcanos. 

the lake is surrounded by a bunch of little mayan villages, but alas, no road.  the word “Atitlan” is a mayan word that translates as "the place where the rainbow gets its colors."  and this is very believable when you see the local peoples’ traditional dress, unfathomably many colors woven into fabrics which are specific designs for each town on the lake.

we were in the Guatemalan highlands, about a mile high.  in Panajachel, the main town on the lake, there are a bunch of tourists and ex-pats.  the area is very popular with backpackers and language-learners, and all manner of outdoor activity can be found – kayaking, hiking, swimming, volcano climbing, even scuba.  each town seems to have its own unique style, though they all are quiet and relaxing, outside of Pana.

La Iguana Perdida (our hotel) is located in Santa Cruz La Laguna, on the north side of the lake.  Santa Cruz is only accessible by boat (or footpath), with a single, winding road connecting the dock to the village.  the village itself has no roads or telephone system, but we didn’t really go into the village much anyway.  our work took us out on the lake to other villages.





San Marcos, where we worked on natural building, is known as “less party, more meditation” than Pana.  it has many opportunities for meditation, yoga, massage, etc.  one of the cool things here is that it has few roads.  everything is reached by foot paths through trees and between buildings, and handmade signs direct you to the most common destinations at any intersection.  along the sides of the paths are small stands and vendors selling everything from fruit and vegetables to drums and baskets to the ubiquitous colorful fabrics.  



there are, of course, many other places around the lake.  the village of Tzanjomel, where we installed solar, is located a boat, truck, and hike away.  (see my prior post on transportation!)  the only other village/town we saw was San Pedro, which has the reputation of being a bit of a party town in its own right.  we only went there to buy coffee and have dinner.  my cousin actually lived in San Lucas Tolimon for a few months, a can’t-get-there-from-here destination from Santa Cruz or any of the other towns I’ve mentioned.  the lake is a popular tourist destination, complete with a plethora of little maya villages all around it.

[as a side note, the ending “-tenango” means “the place of” in local Maya language.  therefore there are many, many cities and towns named somethingtenango.  one of the jokes around Lake Atitlan is that Panajachel is called gringotenango and San Pedro (for reasons I won’t go into) is sometimes referred to as hippietenango.]

 

  

the lake at night, photo by Tom Egel