Collegiate will travel to Guatemala and visit Lake Atitlan, famous for its natural beauty and colorful Mayan villages... the most beautiful lake in the world!
Volcán Atitlán and Volcán San Pedro
Lake
Atitlán (Lago de Atitlán) is a larg lake in the Guatemalan Highlands
and this lake does not flow to the ocean. Atitlan is recognized to be the
deepest lake in Central America. The lake is shaped by deep
escarpments which surround it and by threevolcanoes on
its southern flank; Volcán Tolimán, Volcán Atitlán and Volcán San Pedro. Lake
Atitlan is further characterized by towns and villages of the Mayan people.
Lake Atitlán is about 50 kilometres (31 mi) west-northwest of Antigua.
"At
the water" is the meaning of "Atitlan." It is a fusion of simple
Nahuatl words that belies the complexity of the entity it identifies. German
explorer Alexander von Humbolt is the earliest
prominent foreigner generally quoted as calling it "the most beautiful
lake in the world."
The
lake is volcanic in origin, filling an enormous caldera formed
in an eruption 84,000 years ago. It is renowned as one of the most beautiful
lakes in the world, and Aldous Huxley famously
wrote of it: "Lake Como, it seems to me, touches on the limit
of permissibly picturesque, but Atitlán is Como with additional embellishments
of several immense volcanoes. It really is too much of a good thing."
The
lake basin supports extensive coffee growth and a variety of farm crops, most
notably corn. Other significant agricultural products include onions, beans,
squash, tomatoes, cucumbers, garlic, chile verde, strawberries, avocados and pitaya fruit.
The lake itself is rich in animal life which provides a significant food source
for the largely indigenous population.
From Wikipedia.com
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