Lago de Atitlán Things to Do

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A pleasant passtime in San Antonio Palopo is taking a walk through the hilly village and enjoying the sights and sounds of the villagers. Many of the people here are farmers . They grow crops of green onions and we saw them washing them in the lake.

San Antonio Atitlan -On walk through town , up the steep hill from the dock we got an overview of local life . We saw the simple brightly painted houses bulit along the narrow roads and outside their doors were big pots where they cooked as they have for centuries over open flames.

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This is a steep but not to long hike from the docks in San Antonio Papopo. You can see the lovely white church from the water towering over the village. The steps infront of the gleaming church are a popular resting place for the villagers...us too after the steep hike.

As soon as we got off the boat we were met by local children offering to take us to the house that kept the local deity Maximon. It is moved to a new location each year. You can offer cigars or cash to the deity...he is known to cure illnesses and other favors as well.

We walked by the church where Father Rother was gunned down by the right wing death squads in 1981. It looked so benign on the bright sunny day we visied..
As in many other churches in the area , its interesting to see the engraving of local deities along with the Christian ones. The traditional beliefs go deep , as they should I think.

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The people of Santiago are friendly . They like to see tourists coming on the boats and they rely in part on the tourism dollars comiong their way . We saw some pretty poor people trying to sell their goods for a few Q, like the poor older lady sitting on the strret bagging nuts to sell . You need to open your hearts and pocket books if you can.

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With a population of about 50,000 this is the home of the Tzutuhil people. Some of the women still wear the traditional Halo , which is a long band wrapped around their forhead.

This peaceful town had a very violent past when many were murdered during the civil war in the early 1990's . The villagers protested the presence of the military and government oppression and amazingly enough kept their independent status!!

The narrow road leading from the docks is lined with local shops . This village is where the elaborate embrodery works are done. The five feet long wall hanging I bought cost $80.00 and took 4 months to embroider. It is a work of art.

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We couldn't wait to get out on the lake . As soon a we arrived we made the arrangements at our hotel for a 5 hour trip to three different villages along the lake . All for only $10.00. We could have booked right at the boat ...but same money either way. The trip left at 11AM and returned at about 4PM.

The boat wasn't fancy but was in good shape . It had an open stern with a cabin part ...with large windows that opened . Think it was called Santa Maria. There are lots of different boats some go directly to particular villages.
If we had more time we would have opted for a village a day but as our time was limited this worked well for us.

Not sure which was the best part ...the cruise itself or actually visiting the different villages.. Either way it was a great day!

If you go take good walking shoes , sunblockand a hat!