Lake Atitlan- Pana and San Pedro

After we left Monterrico we headed to Lake Atitlan, we had to go through Antigua again (this was just the quickest route). We knew we would be getting to the lake rather late so we decided to stay in the main town of Pana for one night, (the boat across to San Padro stops running at 7pm). We had heard Pana was not that great to stay in, very touristy and busy...when we got there we actually liked it. Very narrow streets with stalls lining up and down. We stayed in a basic hotel, walked around, got dinner then went to sleep...

A street in Pana

Downtown Pana

on our way to the boat launch

The beautiful view from Pana dock

The boats to ferry to to the places around the lake

The next morning we caught the boat to San Pedro ( about 20 minutes across the lake). There are many places to stay around Lake Atitlan, we decided on San Pedro as it seemed to suit us the most. Many head to San Marcos, we thought it was a little to Yogi for us (very Zen, maybe great for couples or people wanted to meditate...so not us). From the moment we arrived in San Pedro, we really liked it. Such a beautiful setting, most establishments overlook the water and the rest of the town is built on a hill behind it... Lots of hustle and bustle, but we have realised we all kind of like that...We were staying in a hotel called Hotel Delfine, very nice, brand new and modern amenities, but kind of boring, just a nice place to sleep really...good thing there was so much to do around the town.

taking the Tuk Tuk to our hotel- pretty tight sqeeze

Arriving at San Padro dock

The next few days were spent exploring San Pedro and surrounding towns. We visited the small town of San Marcos and went to the Nature Reserve. This is the only place where you really feel comfortable swimming as the rest of the areas the water looked a little cloudy., (not too appealing looking to have a swim). They have a jumping platform at the end of the hike and the girls and Johnny took advantage of the big jump.

San Pedros Look out

streets of San Marcos

Jumping Platform from the nature reserve

view from the nature resrve on San Marcos

We visited the neighbouring town of San Juan, where there are many women weavers giving free demonstrations on how they take the raw cotton and turn it into the beautiful blankets and textiles Guatemala is known for. We bought a beautiful purse for Liv and two ponchos for Anneka and I.

It really is an amazing place, I can understand why people stay for much longer. I wish we would have done better planning and stayed to attend language school. One thing I have not mentioned is how awful we all feel to not know any Spanish. On the advice of our friends Nick and Kath, we really meant to take classes before our trip, time got the better of us and with Johnny working so much before we left there just wasn't any time. I feel somewhat arrogant coming to Central America and barely getting by. We all still try our best and use Spanish wherever and as much as we can. word of advice- if you are coming to Central America, plan to stay somewhere for a few weeks and take classes, great way to get to know the culture of a place as well as it will be very helpful throughout your travels.