Arriving in Panajachel, the vibrant, backpacker focused town on the shore of Lake Atitlan felt somewhat… familiar. Market stalls, street food carts and hawkers were as far as the eye could see, and the hustle and bustle was unlike anything we had experienced in a while. We had four nights in this beautiful Guatemalan highland region, and it had certainly been difficult to choose our base from amongst the many small towns that dotted the shore.
Through our research we discovered glowing reviews about one particular bed and breakfast and were crossing fingers we could get into it with only a couple of days notice. Our subsequent luck in getting a reservation that suited our timings meant we decided on the tiny little town of Santa Cruz.
Following our shuttle from Lanquin was a 15-minute lancha (boat) trip across Lake Atitlan from Panajachel to Santa Cruz – we were lucky in that we just made the last public boat of the day at approximately 7pm. We were unlucky in the sense that a huge lightning storm was rolling across the Lake as we were crossing it on our flimsy boat, which I still can’t believe made the crossing without any dramas! Regardless we arrived in time for dinner of barbeque chicken and salads.
La Iguana Perdida
La Iguana Perdida (“the lost iguana”), as I mentioned above, is probably one of the most well regarded bed and breakfasts on the Lake, and many people we spoke to along our trip had either heard of it or stayed there – and most had pretty positive things to say.
We booked one of the more expensive rooms, the Atitlan Suite, on a bit of a splurge as the lure of our own private balcony overlooking the Lake and the surrounding volcanos seemed too great an opportunity to pass up.
Our suite was upstairs in this building
The local ladies cooking our dinner – they were very friendly!
And it was lovely and cosy one evening before dinner while we watched the storm, and I taught Dave how to play chess by candlelight!
Unfortunately the weather whilst we were there meant the lake views were not up to their usual standard (a lot of mist and fog), but the accommodation itself was pretty amazing, and having a hot shower was an added bonus (we would soon discover that this was to be our last hot shower for a couple of weeks!).
A couple of gripes on this otherwise beautiful and peaceful place was that, unusually, the temporary backpacker staff (a common thing in Central America, they work for a month or two in exchange for board and food), seemed to have a better idea of customer service, compared to the lady who we were informed was the recently hired manager.
In our interactions with her, we found her dismissive to the point of rude, and I find it crazy to believe a place with a reputation built on friendliness has not had more people complain.
The other aspect of La Iguana we found slightly disappointing was the execution of the ‘family style’ dinners. The premise was fantastic – a three course dinner at 7pm for all residents (and non-residents,) of La Iguana who had pre-registered before 3pm, served at communal tables to encourage socialising with fellow iguanians. However in truth, there was nowhere near enough food for everyone (many people didn’t register before 3pm, therefore the kitchen did not have enough food prepared for the amount of people who showed up) and the meals themselves were pretty lacklustre and lacking in flavour. Very disappointing for those of us who had registered, and found themselves still very hungry at the end of the dinner service and with no other food options available.
We finally learnt our lesson after three nights at Iguana and spent a very enjoyable final night at a restaurant a short stroll away around the Lake, Isla Verde. Compared to La Iguana, Isla Verde was more expensive (Q100 per person compared to Q60), but the standard of food and service was ten fold better, and we only wished we had made the change earlier in our stay!
La Iguana certainly had potential to be one of our favourite accommodations of the trip and we had really been looking forward to it, but due to the average food and the lacklustre customer service, this place definitely went down a few notches in my book.
Lake Atitlan and its beautiful towns however, did not disappoint. They were full of bright colours, tradition and the beautiful Mayan people that we had been hoping to be fortunate enough to see first hand.
Isla Verde
To get to Isla Verde (the restaurant we loved!) we had to follow a pretty ramshackle path around the lake, including over makeshift jets that were pretty much just planks of wood hovering precariously over the water! It was a bit of an adventure in itself just getting there!
What made the dinner and the atmosphere at Isla Verde even more memorable was the fact that yet another lightning and thunder storm was putting on a spectacular show before and after our meal, causing us to be ‘stranded’ at Isla Verde for a number of hours – and with a beautiful wood fireplace keeping us warm, who were we to complain?!
IMG_1780 – VIDEO of the storm rolling in at Isla Verde
Now, onto the Lake Atitlan towns themselves!
Santa Cruz
The first town we explored was our own village, Santa Cruz. Whilst our accommodation was officially part of Santa Cruz, it was quite removed from the ‘local’ village, which was located up a steep road behind our bnb and had a fantastic vantage point overlooking the Lake.
View of Santa Cruz from the Lake
Santa Cruz
We quickly learnt that the locals were not shy in utilising the tuk-tuks gathered at the bottom of the road to get up to the village – it was pretty steep!
With no other foreigners in sight in traditional Santa Cruz village, it was great to wander around and see how the typical Lake Atitlan residents live.
San Marcos
San Marcos is another village on the Lake, one renowned as a yoga-pose-executing, green-juice-swilling, ukelele-toting, crystal-gazing hippie backpacker paradise, and we were not sure what to expect when we disembarked the lancha on the San Marcos jetty.
What we soon discovered was that due in part to its patrons, there were juice bars galore (pretty sure Dave got sick from his smoothie here though!), but even more fortunately, we happened to be there on the day of the village’s patron saint – San Marcos Day, and there was a huge fair and market going on.
San Marcos Market
Seeing the state (and age!) of the fairground equipment on display (and in use!) at San Marcos Day made me pretty sure that it was fifty or so years old! The kids were adorable however and seeing the local people truly enjoying their time with their families was very special to be able to witness, and I love their traditional dress!
We were also fortunate to witness first hand the men of San Marcos performing the traditional Saint Marcos ceremonial dance, in full costume including their amazing masks! We were actually the anomaly watching this, it was mostly locals and very few tourists, which made a welcome change. We thoroughly enjoyed the experience and felt incredibly lucky to be able to see this up close!
San Marcos Ceremonial Dance
San Juan
The final village we managed to explore was San Juan, which we were informed was the most traditional of all of the Lake Atitlan villages, and the one we were most most excited to see.
We saw the local people going about their business, carting their laundry and craft wares back and forth, manning their market stalls and just chatting amongst each other.
The colours of the clothes and the soul of the people themselves, once again, were awe-inspiring, and trying to subtly capture their portraits without being rude or obtrusive was definitely my biggest challenge.
Tucked away at the back of the town, we did stumble across the most recommended cheese and wine restaurant for miles (trust us, right?!), and despite not being able to get a reservation for the sit-down restaurant, the chef suggested we try his more informal, sister café across the road.
Here we ordered the most delightful cheese and cold cut platter, along with a carafe of Chilean white wine – perfecto! A little touch of France in Guatemala!
El Artesano
Catching a lancha from San Juan back to Santa Cruz
We had planned to summit the highest volcano, San Pedro, which loomed over the Lake, however as alluded to above, Dave fell crook with a tummy bug that night when we got home, and couldn’t risk being further than 10 metres or so from a toilet… if you know what I mean..!
Despite the weather, despite the tummy bug and despite the average service at La Iguana, we still thoroughly enjoyed Lake Atitlan and I would love to go back and experience it in more favourable weather conditions.
The Lake and San Pedro Volcano in all its glory!
More stunning views of the Lake, San Pedro Volcano and the surrounds
Our next stop is to more touristy Antigua, the cobblestoned gem of Guatemala, and a town which we were very much looking forward to, as we would also be celebrating Dave’s birthday there… stay tuned!