Anne let me know in 2022 about an author who has written a few books about a Mayan culture that flourished on the banks of the large southern lake in Guatemala called Lago Atitlan.
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| Photo credit |
Long Life, Honey in the Heart" which has a description of how he kept on dreaming about this place near a lake and was drawn to travel to Guatemala where, when he visited Santiago Atitlan an old man came up to him in the street and asked why he had taken so long to come. He said that he had been sending him dreams to call him! The old man was a shaman who adopted him and taught him about the religion and culture of the Tz'utujil Mayans who live in the southern part of the lake (pronounce Tsu-tu-jil - with the "j" sound in the Spanish word "jefe" or the the "g" in Afrikaans "gaan").
So, when we decided to visit Guatemala to meet Elsa, our Spanish teacher and to visit some of the places that both Nick and Matt had seen, Lake Atitlan was very much on the agenda.
The lake is about 4 hours drive from Guatemala city and about 3 hours from Antigua. The driver who had brought us to Antigua came through to give us a private ride to the lake.
There are two large towns that are the gateway to the lake, the first is on the north eastern side of the lake called Pana (Panajachel) and the other in the middle of the southern side called San Pedro. I suspect that most tourists visiting the lake stay in Pana and then make use of the frequent public "lanchas" (boats) that go to the most popular towns on the lake.
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| Pana dock and first view of the lake |
The lake is a caldera which formed after major eruptions followed by the subsidence of the land in the middle into what is now a 12 mile long and 6 mile wide lake with a depth of around 380 m (1,049 feet). The water in the lake doesn't have an outlet to the sea but has formed as rain gradually filled the caldera over tens of thousands of years.
The views of the lake are breathtaking and we caught a lancha from Pano to our first stop, Santa Cruz where we were shown our AirBnb - unfortunately without a view of the lake but with a beautiful garden and plenty of room.
We met Elsa at the dock that evening and then went up to a restaurant at the top of the hill. Santa Cruz is on a very steep slope and has arguably the best views of the lake of all the towns. The view from the restaurant above the CECAP building is very beautiful.
We had no electricity or hot water for two days. Apparently this happens in Santa Cruz and we were quite impressed by our host who brought candles and, once the electricity was restored, worked on the boiler for about an hour to restore hot water. It turned out that the hot water is provided by gas so if we'd known we could have had a hot shower both nights - settling instead for a cold shower or what we call a cowboy splash (for the less brave).
Our driver had told us that San Juan - a small town just north of San Pedro is one of his favorites because of the street murals. So we suggested taking a lancha to visit there on the day after we arrived. The wind had picked up in the afternoon and the lake was quite choppy which made for a bumpy ride.
San Juan was vibrant. As we got off the lancha we were overwhelmed by the sights and smells of the town. Small shops selling purses and sling-bags with beautiful needlework and clothes and scarfs woven from brightly colored threads.
We stopped at the first restaurant we saw for an early lunch before walking up the main street from the dock which is sheltered by many colorful umbrellas.
The town has some beautiful murals and we spent an hour or so walking and photographing many of them.
After this, Elsa pointed out a mirador (lookout) that looked to our uninitiated eyes a really long way away and really high up but we gamely took a tuk-tuk (the little 3 wheeled cabbies imported from China and/or India) which are plentiful in the towns around the lake, to the base of the hike and walked to the top where we enjoyed the scenic views with a band playing traditional music in the background.
I'm not sure we'd have done this without some urging but we were all pleased we did.
One town over from Santa Cruz is Jaibalito which can be reached via a 30min hike past the luxurious looking Hotel del Mundo.
We took the walk the next day and had lunch at a restaurant on the water with a another spectacular view of the lake.
We had booked a different AirBnb in San Pedro for the remainder of our stay and moved there on the Monday after Elsa had gone back home. It was lovely to meet her in Guatemala. I felt a little bad because she had to patiently work with our clumsy Spanish all weekend. She said it was no problem but it must be tiring having to rephrase things and to speak slowly and steadily for so many hours. She is an excellent teacher and has a gift for forcing the use of Spanish in conversation.
San Pedro was a completely different experience from Santa Cruz - it was like moving from a tranquil home in the country to a busy tourist town. Our AirBnb was right on the water not more than a block from the main street above the town's main dock.
That meant we were surrounded by restaurants and noise from the early evening till fairly late and then joining the bustle of tourists every morning when we went out exploring.
We felt a little disappointed by San Pedro for a couple of days - the shops in the streets surrounding the docks alternate between restaurant, travel agency + laundry + massage parlor and small grocer. I'm not sure why the travel agencies included a laundry and a massage parlor but I suppose that is the trifecta that is the sweet spot of a tourist town?
We walked all the way up to the main church of the town on the first day and returned a little shell-shocked from the bustle. The vendors trying to attract you into restaurants and rides or guided tours are generally not very pushy but you do have to say no a few times when you get asked repeatedly.
One thing that struck us about San Pedro is that many of the signs advertising services are in Hebrew and there are a number of Israeli-themed restaurants. We discovered later that Guatemala has had a long history of working with Israel and that in 2010 a number of Israelis started to set up businesses in San Pedro. Now there is a thriving community which includes a religious center. Someone said that a number of Israelis come here to unwind after serving in the military between May and September.
The town has a reputation for being friendly to backpackers and there were certainly a number of distinctively clothed people each with a backpack on their back and front walking in the streets on any given day.
Our AirBnb was fairly expensive by the standards of the lake and we realized that any booking for 3 or more people (perhaps for 2 rooms?) automatically brings the prices from pretty affordable to pretty high. An apartment for a couple with one room is generally around $46 - $59 per night whereas two-roomed apartments/houses are around $100 or more per night.
We really enjoyed an Israeli restaurant a few buildings from our apartment and went back there several evenings in a row to get shawarmas, falafel and hummus dishes.
We visited the Tsu'tujil museum where a guide showed us a 10min film taken in the mid 1950s showing some of the older traditional clothes and ceremonies involving a drum player and a flutist. The flutist was walking in the front with a drum on his back and the drummer behind him beating the rhythm. A poster in the museum said that not many people still practice the Mayan religion which is probably in large part due to an increasingly westernized cultural eroding long-held traditions.
Our next trip was to San Marcos La Laguna - right across the lake from San Pedro on the northern shore we visited a group of Mayan altars which demonstrate that the traditions are still alive.
In some parts younger Mayans are rekindling interest in the traditions of their ancestors which may be a positive movement. From the descriptions of the world-view and how to relate to nature and the world in his books, Martin Prechtel painted a landscape which I found very appealing and healthy.
Further back are houses of locals and the shops selling weaving and as with the other towns, beautiful crafts are plentiful.
The view of the two prominent volcanos from this town are spectacular as well. It is a little closer to San Pedro than Santa Cruz so the volcanos are more prominent - in fact there is a hike between the two towns that is popular although it is recommended that you hike in a group and don't bring things that might attract the attention of people looking to relieve you of them.
Another feature is a wooden deck in the nature reserve that can be used for cliff jumping into the lake. The lake is perhaps a little less polluted here and large groups of people were crowding on the deck to leap what looked like at least 20ft into the lake below.
We took another lancha the next day to Pana and then a Tuk tuk to a nearby town Santa Catarina Palopó which has a number of buildings painted with Mayan symbols and patterns. The church there has a portrait of a priest who was from the USA and who lived in the town of Santiago Atitlan (the biggest town on the lake). He was killed during a massacre that occurred following protests against the Guatemalan army.
An article describes the events against the backdrop of political upheaval in Guatemala in the 1980s when the Guatemalan army established a base in the town because of armed guerrilla activities. The history of US covert intervention in Guatemala in the 1950s and the subsequent CIA operation (called operation PBSuccess) to overthrow the elected president are documented and seem to draw a direct line to this and other incidents including the 36 year long war between the insurgents who arose in response to the US backed military and the dictatorship that followed PBsuccess. In the 1980s both the army and guerillas committed atrocities against the Mayan people including this massacre which appears to have been triggered by drunken soldiers beating civilians one night and the garrison being confronted by a peaceful protest. Since this event, the army has been denied access to the town of Santiago Atitlan.
We found reading too much about the lake depressing and some of our experience of this beautiful area was tempered by descriptions of the contamination of the waters of the lake and how plans to remediate are hampered by conflicts of interest and a history of racism towards indigenous people. They have been washing in the lake for thousands of years and they feel that they have been blamed with less regard for how agriculture and the massive boom of tourism has contributed.
Our last 2 days at the lake were so tranquil - we decided not to visit Santiago despite a keen interest in the setting of the books we had read about it, opting instead for quite walks and relaxing on the banks of this exquisite location.
The manager at the Israeli restaurant brought us a tequilla each time we ate there and toasted with us our great adventure in Atitlan.
We found a coffee shop called Tornado's Coffee run by a family and where we saw the most amazing latte art. It became our morning ritual to have coffee and breakfast there.
At the end of our stay the two waitresses presented us with a hand crafted gift that was quite
touching.
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| Sunset from Santa Cruz |
I am really glad that we stopped here - such a beautiful place and so welcoming.
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