Day 3 - Lake Atitlan

We left Antigua at 8.00 am.  There are now 12 of us on this tour as some arrived late on Thursday on different flights.  While on the bus we saw a shop with bowls of food outside for the street dogs only.  The feral pigeons were tucking into this.


Our first stop was a viewpoint where we had an excellent view of Antigua city and the Agua Volcano when the clouds allowed.

View of Agua Volcano from the viewpoint



We then took the Pan America Highway to Lake Atitlan in the Guatemalan Highlands.

Lake Atitlan has a circumference of over 100kms and is the crater of a very old volcano.  The sides are steep all around.  Villages and small towns have been built all around the lake and it is very much a tourist attraction.  It was busy today as many people come here from Guatemala City at weekends.

We arrived on the north shore at a town called Panajachel and were taken by boat across to the south shore and a village called San Juan La Laguna.   We went in a speedboat and it was very bumpy and we got a little wet. It was fun though.

Harbour at Panajachel



One of the volcanos at the lake

One of the villages on the lake with volcano in the background


On arrival at San Juan, we had a very steep walk up the main street.  All the buildings were very colourful and the streets had overhead decorations.

Decorated street

Decorated house

Colourful street

Colourful street

Colourful street

Colourful House


We were first taken to see how honey is made from the local bees.  These bees are very small and quite different to those we are used to and each type of bee produces its own honey.  The bees cannot sting.  The honey is used for a variety of items including medicinal products, face creams, soaps and wax products but not for eating.

We then went to see how chocolate is made from cocoa grown in Guatemala.  They also make chocolate gin with various flavours.  We tried the coffee flavoured one but it isn't something that either of us would drink but it might have been good for flavouring.  

This was followed by another factory visit, this time to see how fabrics and textiles are woven using the traditional Maya methods.  

After a very nice lunch in a restaurant overlooking the lake we went to get the boat back to the north shore.  

View of lake from restaurant

We landed at a village called Santa Catarina Palopo where our hotel for the next 2 nights is.   It was a short walk from the pier to the hotel and we found our luggage had already been taken from the bus to our rooms.  We had time for a quick swim and some time in the hot tub before going back down to the pier to see the sunset.  

We have a hammock on our balcony!

Sunset over the lake





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