El Lago Atitlan -- A Weekend of Adventure

What a wonderful weekend!! 

We are back to Antigua from Lake Atitlan amazed by the beautiful views everywhere one looks! When we arrived to Panajachel on Saturday, we had about an hour to walk around town before lunch. Some played basketball with locals and some shopped and bought gifts at the local stores.


Soon after, we stopped for lunch at a restaurant surrounded by gardens and tried a new fruit called a "Pitaya." This is almost like a kiwi, but very purple and much larger.

After our lunch, we boarded a boat with our luggage to ferry us to the other side of the lake where our hotel was located. During the 15-20 minute ride, we were able to see spectacular views of the mountains, the volcanoes, and the villages surrounding the lake.

At the other side, we arrived at our hotel -- an Eco-Lodge outside of "San Juan La Leguna" built on the side of the mountain and surrounded by lush vegetation. The feel was very rustic, as many of the walls and floors of the rooms were constructed from cobblestone; however, the soft beds were welcome upon nightfall after a day of hiking around town.

eco hotel Uxlabil - San Juan La Laguna, Solola

We had about an hour and a half to walk around the town, similar to Panajachel, in which we visited a local artist gallery selling magnificent paintings, hand-woven textiles, and wooden masks. As supposed to lower-level street vendor quality, these paintings were top-level, hand made by members of a community centered on painting and weaving.

A little later in the afternoon, we attended a tour of an organic coffee farm co-operation in San Juan to see how 143 families rent plots of land and export their top-tier coffee. The guide explained to us that 90% of the coffee grown in Guatemala was "shade coffee" -- a variety that requires 60% shade to grow. He also explained to us the many more uses of the coffee farm, including the cultivation of bananas and avocados from the shade trees, honey from the beehives responsible for the pollination of the coffee plants, and black beans from the plants planted when the coffee trees are regrowing.


We returned to the coffee complex to see the processing of the beans, and then to the restaurant where we had the opportunity to purchase coffee and listen to live marimba music. Dinner commenced shortly after -- a delicious meal of chicken, rice, and vegetables.




Afterwards, the dancing began as Lencho enthusiastically demonstrated his favorite dances to us. We returned to the lodge late at night, and everyone went to bed after a long day.

Lencho & Sra, Sharlin dressed like Sanjuaneros

We woke up the next morning and enjoyed a breakfast of pancakes, oatmeal, mango, peach, watermelon, cheese, preserves, and bread. Eager for a fun day of zip lining, we set off for Panajachel. Upon arrival, we quickly harnessed and began a 20-minute hike up to the first platform and zip line. At first glance, the cable did not seem very high until one looked over the edge once clipped in and saw the 200 meter drop. There were eight zip lines in total, one of which speeds of nearly 60 feet per second could be reached. The adrenaline certainly kicked in! After the zip lines, there were two small ropes courses over a creek that some people mastered and some people did not. Still hyped up on adrenaline, we de-harnessed and prepared for a lunch of lemonade and hamburgers. We said a final goodbye to the lake and departed back to Antigua in the early afternoon. Along the way, we stopped in Chimaltenango to drop off Lencho in his hometown. We returned at about 5.30 in the afternoon and prepared to eat dinner at Christopher's restaurant Micho's. It is unbelievable how fast the weekend has gone by, but we are excited to get back to the schedule tomorrow with a presentation in the morning and language classes in the afternoon! See you tomorrow!

Kyle