This is Lake Atitlan. Mike, our friend (and tour guide) paddled with us across the lake in a couple of our hotel's kayaks. Notice the (lack of) freeboard here... Lake Atitlan is ringed with volcanoes and Mike's backdrop is one of those volcanoes.
Here is another paddler we encountered on our lake crossing. His boat was quite literally carved out of a log. All of the local fishermen had such a boat and yes, most paddled standing up in this tippy little craft. Somehow Mike's boat's freeboard issue didn't seem too serious.
This is another very common and very busy Lake Atitlan craft: a shark boat or lancha. Lanchas serve as the public transportation on the lake. They are very efficient, very responsive (just stand and wave on a dock if you want to be picked up) and very inexpensive.
This is the restaurant at our hotel. We ate breakfast here every morning. It was very quiet and peaceful, not to mention beautiful. It has been my goal ever since to turn our front porch into our own version of this idyllic setting. Somehow, though, the piles of snow on the fringes of our porch many months out of the year interfere with this vision!
Below is a very common scene in Guatemala: wild dogs. Though they are not really feral, they seem to be domestic dogs just simply let loose. They were thinnish, but otherwise seemed quite healthy. They did not beg for food, but they were glad (and seemed surprised) for any handout.
No center of population would be complete without graffiti. This may well be the Mayan version of "Heather+ Brandon 4 ever."
Guatemala boasts one of the most intact indigenous populations in all of the world; the Mayans. This alone is enough of a reason to visit. The Mayans are profoundly creative; their textile work is wildly patterned and boldly colored. These petite people are also very hardworking. Everywhere we traveled, the Mayans were busy walking, carrying, hauling. The yound women below are carrying cement blocks to a construction site quite a distance up a hill.
This is a typical lakeside scene above: a concession shack, a little boy, a stray dog sleeping in the shade, a lancha off in the distance.
Here is a tour of our hotel on Lake Atitlan: the Posada Schumann. Above is one sleeping area off our main room and our outdoor patio.
The second floor under the steeply sloped roof (above) slept four more. Another balcony afforded a magnificent lake view. (below)
This is the main building and spectacular grounds of our posada.
This is the view from our (rickety) dock.
Above was my view one morning from our 2nd floor balcony.
This is a view from the trail that leads partially around the lake. This is a house that, during a very heavy spring rain no doubt, slid right off its site into a new canyon. Guatemala has a very serious problem with deforestation and resulting erosion. In fact, the main city on Lake Atitlan, Panajachel (PAHN-ah-ah-CHELL) -no longer has the use of its sewage treatment plant. It now sits in an adjacent canal, useless. "There is no money to fix it," the locals told us. A big pipe now spews sewage into Lake Atitlan near their lancha dock. It's a big, deep lake.
Poinsettias grow "like weeds" next to the trail.
Speaking of the lake trail, the main transportation route between several of the lakeside towns, here is Marty posing on one particularly adventurous section.
Here is the main trail again. Corn was planted everywhere it could and beyond.
This is the main drag in the main town, Panajachel. The tiny three wheeler taxicabs skirted and darted through traffic. There were lots of booths,tables and storefronts bursting with all types of exotically colored items from gaily patterned textiles, scarves, skirts, shoulder bags, rugs, bedspreads, blanket, jewelry, paintings, tablecloths, hotpads, and greeting cards. It was an absolute delight to shop here. The prices were embarrassingly inexpensive and the Mayans were unfailingly polite and graceful. Young women paraded regally by with their headpieces of cheery, folded fabric wares for sale.
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