Cal & Rachel Litwiller's Adventures: Monday - Panajachel and Lake Atitlan

Cherie our daughter emailed a note and sent photos of the 3 inches of snow in Iowa!! It is so beautiful, weather wise, in G’mala - we are sitting on the patio with short sleeves writing the blog and when we are in our room the patio doors are open to the gardens.

Yesterday the whole area was hazy. All the photos of the volcanoes across the lake from Pana are hazy, but overnight it was very windy. By morning the area was crystal clear.

Sunday afternoon Haze

Clear Monday Morning

This morning by 9:00 we met our personal guide who took us around Lake Atitlan in his own boat, to 3 villages. First, to San Pedro La Laguna, second Santiago Atitlan, and finally to a more isolated village of San Antonio Palopo. In all of these villages, as you disembark the boat, hawkers are there! We walk up the steep streets (we could take a tuk tuk – but we walked) to the church and market areas. In San Antonio Palopo there was a funeral at the church. By the time we arrived, they were in procession formation with the casket, to walk to the cemetery on the very edge of town.

It was an extremely interesting day. The lake was not smooth, so it was a rough ride at times. We saw beautiful villas along the south coast of the Lake. Getting to these homes is NOT easy – as the roads are so steep and winding. Often they get to them by boat, and in one situation we saw a helicopter sitting on a pad, plus another helicopter flew overhead.

By evening it is hazy again – we were fortunate to have the weather we had today.

Below are some photos of the day.