Third weekend - Lake Atitlan

Weekend #3 Largo Atitlan 

Warning - this post is really long!

So this weekend (AUSTRALIA DAY!) we decided to go to the lake - I was told it is one of the places in Guatemala you just HAVE to go see! And that was right, it is absolutely beautiful.. 

The lake is huge, and apparently is the deepest in Central America, 340 meters deep!! It is surrounded by volcanoes and was formed by a MASSIVE crater aaaaages ago. It's 19km long and 10km wide.

We arrived in a shuttle bus ($10 each way, and this time it wasn't a crappy old ute :P) which took about 1hr 45 mins. When we got there, we booked a hotel and wandered around the village called Panajachel. Just in time for the sunset!

This is John, me, Erica, Margot and Desi. Dainia and Sarah were also with us! They are all fellow volunteers (except John, he is just travelling I think)

Aaaaand here is the beautiful sunset.

The Boat Ride

The next day we booked one of the boats and travelled across to the different towns on the lake.

Santa Catarina

We stopped over at a small village along the lake to see the Myan women weaving their traditional textiles.

Coconuts!!

This guy has been chopping coconuts in Santa Catarina for 35 years!!!

They chop off all the shell and then stick a straw in and voila! Instant amazing drink :)

Santa Cruz

This was our next stop - Sarah and I wandered off on our own and found the most tranquil setting ever. It was on the lakefront and part of a hotel, and we ordered some smoothies and relaxed for a few hours.

San Marcus

The exciting thing about this part of the lake was that there was a massive deck to jump off! I think it was 4 or 5 meters.

Margot, Dainia and me!

Margot jumping!

And me, of course :)

San Pedro

San Pedro was where we decided to spend Saturday night, it was full of hippies! The next morning we headed off to the famous Chichi markets.