Deb's Travels: Lake Atitlan

Lake Atitlan, surrounded by three dormant volcanoes and steep cliffs, is a result of volcanic activity that occurred nearly 85,000 years ago....It formed in the crater of a giant volcano. It is the deepest lake in central america, 10 miles at its widest and considered one of the most beautiful lakes in the world.

It’s so deep, over a mile down, that many scuba divers wonder if some rare marine creature will emerge one day. It's about a mile above sea level and the location prevents the water from flowing back into any sea. Much of the lake’s shoreline is accessible only by boat. The hills above the lake are equally inaccessible except by foot paths and the occasional bumpy road.

In the Mayan language, Atitlán translates to “the place where the rainbow gets its colors”. To this day the Atitlán area of Guatemala is rich in Mayan culture with friendly locals that still dress in traditional costumes.

Lake Atitlán is located in the coffee growing region of Guatemala with its water supporting many coffee farms in the area. When driving here you could watch the locals harvesting the coffee bean in the hills along the side of the road and drying them.

This town is full of cute narrow paths, too small for cars. Mostly only horses, motorcycles and tuk tuks around here.

The pier. You catch boats to visit all the islands.

An element found in Lake Atitlan is a wind called “Xocomil”, which is generated at noon, when the warm winds from the south colliding with cooler air masses coming from the highlands … this results in eddies that stir the waters of the lake to become very strong waves.

The Pier at San Pedro

Boat ride into San Pedro from a day trip I took to Panajchel

I am staying in one of the little towns called San Pedro La Laguna....it's big enough to have good restaurants, an ATM etc. but small enough to walk everywhere.

I really like the vibe here. It's small, walkable, safe and has some really great restaurants. Everything is really cheap in Guatemala as well...I can eat a full meal for about $4-8, it cost about $1-3 to take a boat to any of the other towns and if you want the tuk tuks will take you anywhere in each town for a dollar.

My hotel has incredible landscaping. I LOVE their gardens.

My beautiful hotel, this is the view right outside my window.

The only weird thing about this town is that it attracts this strange hippy tourist...At least 80% of the foreigners here have obviously been here for a while...stopped bathing regularly, stopped cutting their hair (most have dreadlocks) and wear this weird assemble of non-coordinating clothes and most of the men are in skirts. You can guess how long someone's been here by the length of their hair. It's every age range too...super odd, I've never seen anything like it. I feel like there are no travelers here I have anything in common with. I've been trying to sneak some pictures of people to show you but it's hard to do that stealth! Here's one I snapped last night...not great but gives you an idea.