Guatemala - The Country of Surprises

Lake Atitlan

I now realise that I didn't do any near enough pre reading about Guatemala as I  had no idea that it was as beautiful it actually was.  

First stop in Guatemala was Panajachel  which is one of the main places to stay for a visit to Lake Atitlan.  Lake Atitlan is often called the most beautiful lake in the world and I can see why as  it was absolutely stunning with bright blue water and surrounded by 3 imposing volcanoes.  This was the first of many beautiful sights that we saw in Guatemala and was a big surprise to us.

Arriving in Panajachel after dark was exciting and it seemed to have a real party feel about it as we travelled down the main street with its bars, cafes, loud music and people generally making much noise and having a good time.  In daylight, this main street was less appealing and seemed to consist of souvenir shops, all selling almost identical items!

Clearly the reason for staying here was to get out on the lake.  We boarded a small speedboat along with a few others.  A little boy who looked no more than 12 helped us on board.  As we started off, one of our fellow travellers joked that she hoped whoever was driving the boat was a little older.  We all laughed.  Then we took a look at who was actually driving the boat.  He looked about 11!  It turned out our trusty crew were actually 11 and 12 years old!  As our speed boat literally sped across the lake, bouncing on the surface we were all blatantly aware that our safety and lives were in the hands of these 2 young boys.  Fortunately for us, they had been born into a life on the lake so knew exactly what they were doing and delivered us to a number of islands throughout the morning.  

Our Boat Crew

Our favourite island was San Pedro la Laguna which is a bit of a hippy hangout but after just 1 hour of hanging out in a roof top bar we felt chilled enough to stay here forever. 

Chilling in San Pedro

A phenomenon particular to Lake Atitlan is that it has a strong wind called   “Xocomil” which occurs in early afternoon so it is best not to be on the lake at that time as it gets pretty choppy out there.  Unfortunately for us, that was exactly the time that we were on the Lake to return to Panajachel.  It was like being on the water flume ride at a theme park for an hour.  Bumpy was an underestimate as the speedboat crashed from one wave to another and covered us from head to foot in spray.  We emerged from this white knuckle ride in rather a soggy state but what an exhilarating experience