View on the Way Back to the City

Love this picture of dad and I with the Lake and volcano behind us!




Miles and miles of people using very crude and BACK BREAKING tools to farm their land.




At times we were going so slow even the bikers were passing us.




I have seen landslides and roads washed out before but never like this and for miles and miles.

Those are volcanoes you are looking at.

One more quick word on the Lake; It is surrounded by 12 villages named after the twelve saints. We stayed at Panajchel as it was the closest and easiest to get to. Each village has it's own personality from New Age with tons of spa and yoga, to hippie, to party, to traditional. I can not wait to take the boats across to visit more of the villages.

We left at 6am to try and avoid traffic on the way home, esp. since it took us 5 hours to get there the day before. The roads were ofcourse still in really bad shape but it only took us about 2 1/2 this time. All along the way there are volcanoes and beautiful crop fields where they are farming EVERYTHING. We stopped at Chichoy and had the most amazing breakfast with homemade (right in front of us) tortillas and fresh orange juice. The drive to and from the lake is almost as beautiful as the lake itself. If it had not been for half the road being washed away it would have been great!

Tuk Tuks

A very common mode of transportation around the lake. They are from India and thus their name. We took one up the Mountian to the reserve and it was quite funny. I swear we could have walked faster, ofcourse we didn't. By the way, dad was squezed in their with us, he got out to take the picture.

Dogs

Dogs are everywhere around here. They are fun to watch with there own little social class. It is obvious who belong to which street or group. The ones at the lake were extra sweet and I would have brought several of them home. Ofcourse, Evita was having a heart attack.

Hotel Atitlan

This hotel has to be one of the most beautiful I have ever seen. It sits on a quiet cove of the lake and the spanish-style of the building is so quaint but it is the grounds that make this place so amazing. I saw every tpye of flower there is here. I swear. And some of the most unusual. Everywhere you looked were little nooks and crannies filled with little treasures. Birds, water fountains, hidden benches, pools, and amazing views of the lake and surrounding volcanoes. I have to bring Bill here some day. Very Romantic!

Ziplines

Our guide went tandom with me one time so I could take pictures. Wonder if his wife scrapbooks? hee hee hee

At Lake Atatlin they have a wonderful Nature Reserve. Its main focus is to educate people on conservation. They have a beautiful butterfly atrium that, unfortunately, we could not see because of all the damage the storm had done to it. BUT what we could still do is the Ziplines through the jungle.

Even though we did eight ziplines at a height of a 50-story building,it was not quite as adventures as the one in Bolivia because this time we actually used safety equipment. But we were so proud of mom because despite her total fear of heights, she did it. Although, she claims to never have opened her eyes. But really, she did not have a choice after hiking straight up for over 30 minutes, that really was the only way down.

I would not have missed it. That was the perfect way to see the Lake. The view was so beautiful, truly one of God's better works!

Lake Atitlan

Surrounded by three massive dormant volcanoes... Lake Atitlan has been called the most beautiful lake in the world. The minute the lake came into view, I understood why.

Landslides

The storm did a number on the roads and villages around Guatemala city. We decided to drive up to lake Atitlan for the night. What is usually a 2 hour drive took us over 5 hours because of the roads being literally washed away. Miles and miles of mountain slides.

On the left is the other side of the road... yes under the mountain.