Actividades en Lago Atitlan
At Lake Atitlán, Guatemala there was never a dull moment. Much of our time was spent with our incredible host family, who we’d eat 3 meals with Mon-Sat and oftentimes hang out with on the weekends. Outside of home cooked meals (which never left us feeling hungry) we attended Spanish classes from 1p-5p everyday, attended various school-organized activities and explored many of the pueblos around the lake.
Our host family was really into soccer, a.k.a. fútbol. This wasn’t uncommon, as most of Guatemala was pretty diehard about their fútbol. San Pedro had two local teams, a division 2 and division 3 team, both of which played every Sunday. We were able to see both teams in action at the local stadium situated atop a hill overlooking the lake.
San Pedro stadium
A couple of our favorite activities that the school arranged were a chocolate making demonstration and a lesson in Mayan mathematics (I know, we’re nerds). Locally grown and sourced cacao beans were roasted, ground into a paste, slowly mixed in with other ingredients and allowed to cool into rectangular blocks of goodness. In the Mayan math lesson, one of the Spanish teachers walked us through some of the basics and by the end of the lesson we could write our birthday (day, month, year) in Mayan.
Chocolate demonstration - here she is roasting the cacao beans to soften the shells which will more easily be removed after they cool
Mayan Math lesson
We visited many of the pueblos around the lake by boat or tuk tuk. When we weren’t traveling by foot, we rented a kayak for less than a couple dollars an hour and paddled around until our arms got tired or we needed a swim. Each pueblo had its own local flavor — San Juan was known for its textile production, San Marcos for its clear water ripe for swimming, cliff jumping and bohemian vibes, and San Pedro for its numerous restaurants and bars making it a popular backpacker destination. We also visited Tzununá, Santa Cruz, Jaibalito and Panajachel. One morning before class we even rented a scooter for a couple hours and ripped around town which got our hearts pumping on a few occasions (streets are pretty narrow there).
San Juan: A local textile co-op where cotton was spun, died with natural colorants and made into beautiful clothing. Here she’s making a large scarf.
Santa Cruz: Laid back vibes with various docks to jump off into the clear blue water
We rented a scooter for a couple hours and took it through the busy streets of San Pedro and up the windy roads lined with corn and coffee plantations.
Also noteworthy was a hike we went on early on a Saturday morning, waking up at 3am to climb a mountain known as Indian Nose. With flashlights in hand, we joined some friends and a local guide and climbed a short but steep ascent until and made it just in time for sunrise. The guide made us some hot coffee at the top and we hung out for awhile, taking it all in.
Sunset hike to the top of “Indian Nose” which was well worth waking up at 3:45 am
We thoroughly enjoyed our time at Lake Atitlán and can’t say enough good things about the people, food and experiences afforded to us there. If Guatemala is on your radar, be sure to budget a little extra time to explore the lake and all it has to offer.
