LAKE ATITLAN, CHICHICASTENANGO, SUMPANGO, ANTIGUA: GUATEMALA

Lake Atitlán is renowned as one of the most beautiful lakes in the world, and I believe it.  It is a crater lake located in the Guatemalan Highlands of the Sierra Madre mountain range.  A Nahuatl word, Atitlán translates to “the place where the rainbow gets its colors.” It is surrounded by three volcanoes and mountains with steep hillsides.   It is considered an "endorheic" lake, which means that it doesn't drain into the ocean.

Lake Atitlán with volcanoes Toliman, Atitlán and San Pedro

An archaeological site has been discovered between 18 and 30 meters below the surface of the lake.  This ceremonial Maya settlement, dubbed Samabaj, vanished beneath the water about 1,700 years ago when the lake suddenly rose 20 meters.   From an archaeological perspective, island sites in the Maya world are extremely rare and underwater sites of this scale are unheard of in the area.  Officially it's forbidden to dive the site, in order to preserve the artifacts.  National Geographic made a documentary film called "Mayan Blue".

As the air warms up in the afternoon, the winds become strong enough that sailing on the lake would be exciting.  However, getting a sailboat down the steep and windy roads would be challenging.

The lake is surrounded by a number of small villages inhabited by indigenous Maya people up on the hillsides.  Depending on the villages, most only speak Maya languages of Kaqchikel or Tz'utujil.  Many villages (San Antonio Palopó, Santiago Atitlán, Sololá) remain intensely traditional of which the men still wear traje; loosely worn pants just past the knees, which are mostly striped white and purple. The women's traditional wear is called huipiles which is a long skirt held up by a large belt and beautifully embroidered blouses.  On the waterfront, rich Guatemalans and foreigners have bought the land and built private homes, hotels and restaurant/bars.

Local man in Santiago wearing the traditional Traje

Another type of traje worn by a man living in Santa Cruz

Each village have their own style of traditional clothing

Women carry their children sometimes until they are over 3 years old 

The area has had it's fair share of catastrophes, from a massive earthquake in 1976 (magnitude 7.5), a landslide in 2005 that buried the village of Panabaj, hurricane Stan and tropical storm Agatha, to mention only a few.  Thousands of villagers were killed and in recent years, the lake level has risen by approximately 17 feet thereby destroying beaches, homes and walking paths along the shores.

San Pedro has a bohemian feel.  The village has extremely steep cobble stone streets and some roads so narrow only Tuk Tuks (or tuc tuc) and motorcycles can ride on them.  There is plenty of hiking from San Pedro.  We took a 10 minute tuk tuk ride from town to the San Pedro volcano trail head.    The elevation gain is approximately 4,000 feet which we did in about 2.5 hours.  The hike brings you thru corn fields and coffee plantations.  In season, you'll see farmers harvest the coffee beans and corn.  The views from the top are breathtaking.

A beautiful painted mural in San Pedro

Coffee beans.  When they turn red, they are ready to harvest

View from the top of San Pedro Volcano.  

We were all alone on top to San Pedro Volcano.  Down below is the village of Santiago

On top of San Pedro Volcano

We hiked thru coffee and corn plantations on our way up San Pedro Volcano

Tim on top of San Pedro volcano

The very important village of Santiago is surrounded by the three volcanoes Toliman, San Pedro and Atitlán.  Santiago is one of the most traditional villages of the lakeside villages, being the main center of the Tz'utujil speaking Maya.

A home in Santiago

Waterfront in Santiago

Beautifully decorated colonial catholic church built in 1547

Magdalena posing with her Xkep or Cinta hat which is a band of red cloth that is wrapped around their heads 

Sign on the side of the church translates to "No peeing allowed on the wall"

For 2 days we hiked  from San Pedro to the villages of San Juan,  San Pablo, San Marcos, Tuzununa and finally Santa Cruz.  We started with walking on the dusty roads but between Tuznuna, Jaibalito and Santa Cruz, there's a wonderful single track thru farm land high up on the hillside with great views of the lake and volcanos.  San Marcos and Santa Cruz on the shore have several hotels of which many are yoga and meditation retreats.

Walking into the village of San Juan

Corn drying on the side of the road

No water ?  no worries.  Just find a coconut and drink !

Kites and large bags of avocados for sale

View of Toliman volcano along the path thru corn fields

Very large and tall poinsettia tree

Tzankujil park in San Marcos

Walkway in San Marcos

Just a sign on the side of a wall along our path

Hiking along the single track path to Santa Cruz

Steep single track used by locals to cultivate their corn

Bridge to the village of Jaibalito

Because the water is so high, this is how to walk along the shore in Santa Cruz

Stunning views 

The bus ride from Panajachel to Chichicastenango drops down through pine forests into a deep ravine before ascending a steep set of endless switchbacks.  The market, which occurs on Thursdays and Sundays, has been alive for hundreds if not thousands of years.  You can purchase fresh vegetables, crafts, traditional clothing, weaved products, cats, ducks, chickens, pottery, textiles, fresh meat, limestone and more.  You can get easily lost in the maze of stalls of which the choice of products is overwhelming.

Santo Tomas church built in 1540.  Religion is a blend of pre-Columbian and Catholic rituals.

Market at Chichicastenango

Beautiful colors of Guatemala:

Having a typical Guatemalan lunch at the market.    

At the market

In front of Santo Tomas church and next to the market

It is customary to make offerings in a fire in front of the church and burn copal and estoraque incense in perforated cans.  The smoke is overwhelming 

So many vegetables to choose from

One of my favorite places to visit in Chichicastenango was the cemetery.  There were several families painting and fixing tombstones or just hanging out.  It was like a family get together to be close to the ones they've lost.  They were not sad; it seemed just like another Sunday get together.  Kids were flying kites from the top of tombstones and Mayan ceremonies were being held.  

Children fly their kites on top of tombstones

Colorfully painted tombstones

Cemetery at Chichicastenanco

On November 1st, Guatemalans celebrate Todo Santos (All Saint's Day).  Massive kites are flown in cemeteries or large areas to release the souls of the dead from their agony.  We chose to visit the kite festival in Sumpango.  The colorful kites made of paper and bamboo are huge circular creations, measuring up to 20 feet tall.  Teams of men work hard to launch the kites and keep them afloat.  The kites often come crashing down into the crowds so one must be vigilant to not get hit by one of them.  It's quite exciting.

Flying a large kite is work !

Quezalteca.  A Guatemalan alcoholic drink

It takes that much line to fly these enormous kites

Food galore

The backside of the kites are held with bamboo

In Antigua, during the evening of Todos Santos, we came across a procession of the church of Escuela de Cristo.  About 100 men carried a religious float thru the streets of Antigua during the afternoon and evening.  The float was about 60 feet long and must have weighed several tons.  It was quite a somber procession and extremely religious.  People lined up by the side of the streets with lit candles and the smell of incense was thick in the air.  I didn't have my camera at the time but found the float at the church the next day.

The float used at the Todos Santos procession of the Escuela de Cristo church

On our last day in Antigua, we walked to the Caoba Organic Farm on the south side of town towards the Aqua Volcano.  Entrance to the farm is free, and you can roam around and enjoy viewing their vegetables, fruit trees, herbs, flowers, bees, pigs, goats, quails, chickens and ducks.  One can volunteer to work on the farm and in exchange they will give you a huge bag of vegetables and herbs.   They have a yummy restaurant in which they serve produce from their farm.

Delicious fruit

Alpenglow said goodbye to Guatemala and is sailing to Belize then Roatan then ??????

PRACTICAL INFORMATION:

Breakfast & Lunch:  "Idea Connection" Italian restaurant in San Pedro that has great food (including awesome coffee and croissants) & Internet.  Address:  7a Avenida, San Pedro.
Happy hour:  In San Pedro, there's a restaurant called "Jarachi'k" which has happy hour G&Ts and Cuba Libras for 8Q (~ $1.20us).  They also have good food.  Say hi to the waiter Pedro for us, he's a great kid and good server.
Hike San Pedro Volcano:  Take a 10 minute tuk tuk from the town of San Pedro to the entrance of the trail head.  Tuk tuk should cost you 10Q and the entry fee is 100Q which includes a guide who will walk with you for the first 20 minutes or so.  No need for a guide as the trail is very easy to follow.  There are short cuts if you'd like to take them rather then the switchbacks. The view is spectacular.
Hike Indian Nose:  Most people do it as a sunrise hike.  Travel agents will leave by bus around 4am from San Pedro.  The hike is only 20 minutes and there are great views from both sides. You will get back around 8am.  You can also hike it yourself.
Boats:  Lanchas go from village to village.  Know the prices before getting into a boat.  If you ask them, they'll know you don't know and charge you more.
Hikes:  Volcan Toliman, Volcano Atitlan, Volcano San Pedro, Indian Nose, hike along the shoreline from San Pedro to Santa Cruz.
Villages to visit:  There are several villages all around the lake easily accessible by boat.  Some villages have no road access so the only way to get there is by boat or by foot.  Make sure you know the time of the last boat for your return.
Scuba Diving:  In Santa Cruz, there's a dive shop called ATI Divers at the Iguana Perdida hostel.  You can dive the old bar from one of the resort's which is now underwater and also there's a hot spring under water.  There are a few other dives.  Water is at a constant 23 degrees celcius.
Market in Chichicastenango:  The vegetable market is in an indoor basketball area.  Go to the 2nd floor for people watching and great photography.  The craft market is all along the streets, you won't miss it.
Caoba Farms in Antigua:  www.caobafarms.com.  Walk down 5th Avenida towards Agua Volcano to the end, the road curves to the left and keep going straight, it's on the left hand side just past the little bridge.