The 12 day Guatemala circuit (Day 5) - Lake Atitlan, Santiago Atitlan and Santo Antonio Palopo - The 29th of March 2008

By dawn we approached the dock of Panajachel so as to sail across to Santo Antonio Palopo and later Santiago Atitlan, indigenous villages of pre-historic origin  lying on the shores of this incomparable beautiful lake, whose origin is unknown.

 A few theories state that it was formed by the blocking of the passage of rivers flowing  through the region from the surrounding sierra during the formation of the three great volcanoes ( Atitlan, Toliman and San Pedro) towering the lake or by a violent explosion in the Pliocene epoch which caused molten lava to cover a huge area and develop the semi-circle depression, which eventually filled with water. 

It is nearly ten miles in diametre with a surface of approximately 140 square miles  and situated 4,500 feet above sea level, being almost 1,000 feeet deep.

Santo Antonio Palopo, a Kaqchikel village on the edge of the lake was our first stop. As we started walking up the hill I was naturally dran to the children's traditional clothes, which all looked alike. As I always carry  decorated pencils and other little souvenirs for the children I come across during my trips, particularly those to the inner villages, soon was surrounded by groups of them.

We had a really good time trying to blow the little clown whistles I had taken, or playing a "game" in which they had to close their eyes before taking a souvenir from a bag I had a few things in.

I kept on being "followed" by a young girl from a distance, so when we reached the "belvedere" I took her picture close to a villager dressed in the typical "apron" (which looks like a skirt) made of sheep's wool. 

One could have a nice view from there. Although I had read  that this village was known for the cultivation of onions on the mountain slopes, I didn't see any but in the small local market close to the 16th century church.

We then headed to another village, this time the most important town on the lake, Santiago Atitlan, a centre of Tz utuhil speakers. We came across several women wearing the local woven huipils embroidered with birds and flowers and some exquisite headdresses (named "tocoya")  made with a long red woven tissue they roll around their heads. "Naive" painters could be seen along the main plaza and so could wood sculptors and mat weavers.

I didn't resist buying two more huipils, one typical from the village and another one with the typical colours of Santa Catarina Palopo (blue and green). A small "naive" painting caught my attention so I bought it too.

We visited the parish church exhibiting some Saints' statues wearing traditional outfits, which "impressed" us all.

As we sailed back to Panajachel we came across some "fishermen" moving about in little fragile looking boats similar to the ones we had seen before (cayucos), once fishing is of major importance to the inhabitants of the lake, for whom "mojarras" and crabs are a basic part of the local diet.