Lake Atitlan
Can a hippie town on the shores of a giant lake keep us entertained?
We left the colonial city of Antigua for San Marcos la Laguna on Lake Atitlan. This enormous lake (which, according to one placemat, has the most water of any lake in Latin America and a maximum depth of 1100 feet) has a shoreline dotted with towns. We arrived at one end, in Panajachel, and took the little 30ish passenger boat across to San Marcos. The boys LOVED the boat ride! We easily found our little house and began our two favorite activities: getting the lay of the land and making a house a home.
At first, we were pretty skeptical about this would work out. We are on a budget and the house is pretty rustic. There aren’t really any grocery stores in San Marcos, though there are roughly 8 yoga/meditation places. The town is pretty sleepy. What would we do all day? But then we got to know the place and its street dogs and found that it is a great alternative to a city for a couple of weeks.
While there isn’t a grocery store, there are many small shops including a delicious bakery called Circles where we go every day for baguettes (and once, a La Croix!). The minimarts all have different things and we’ve cobbled together a reasonable grocery run, relying heavily on the fruit and vegetable lady down the block. We’ve named our favorite street dogs, spied a few lizards and some giant toads, and discovered the glory of Guava Squirrels (which are just squirrels that visit our guava tree and keep us entertained).
We’ve also discovered the Reserva Natural Cerro Tzankujil, a protected area a 2 minute stroll from our house. The Cerro (or hill) has long been used by indigenous Mayan folks (there are 22 indigenous languages in Guatemala and many people speak a first language other than Spanish. It is common to hear folks speaking in Kaqchikel and Tzʼutujil, two Mayan languages). It also sits along the lake shore and has beautiful swim spots and a 13 meter jumping platform that we are just too old and too young to plummet from.
The boys’ favorite activity is taking the boat across the lake, and we’ve visited to Panajachel, San Pedro La Laguna, and San Juan La Laguna. Panajachel had a fantastic nature preserve with kid-friendly zip lines, suspension bridges, and a butterfly pavilion.
San Juan la Laguna is an artsy little town we’ve visited twice: once for some lunch and photo ops on the colorful streets and once to climb to an overlook (mirador) of the lake. We’re mostly in it for the boat rides anyway.
The days remain long, especially when the rains descend. We’ve instituted an afternoon Minecraft hour and are leaning heavily on Gallo beer and overpriced white wine. But now that we’re on the cusp of leaving, we’ve realized what a great choice we made for a second stop. We head to Tikal on Monday and then to Bacalar and Merida, Mexico.
Gus and Bailey have been updating their blogs, which reveal their perspectives on what’s noteworthy around here.