Adventure at Atitlan

Our plan was to leave Antigua and spend 2 (half) days and a night at Lake Atitlan. Some one from our Hostel in Antigua told us, ´I think you will set a record if you manage to spend just one day at the Lake. It is impossible.´ Now we understand what he meant.

This is just our third day at the lake but we have already done so much. The lake is known as one of the most beautiful lakes in the world, and it is easy to see why. Volcanoes circle the lake and create a breathtaking background any direction you look. Small towns are speckled around the lake and each boasts a semi-unique feel. We stumbled upon one of the most ´eventful´ towns, San Pedro.

After enjoying riding the horses up the Volcano so much, Kelly and I started yesterday morning off with a ride along the lake. We dropped a massive $6 to ride these horses at an exhilarating speed. My heart was bursting with excitement as Kelly raced along side me and we soared along the side of the lake.

Later that day we took a boat to a near by town were their was some small cliffs to jump off (around 30 ft). We jumped in a few times, and then I attempted a dive, which ended miserably. I am not an expert diver. I grew up in the ocean and not in pools. This ended up being more of a 30ft belly/face flop than anything that might resemble a dive.

Many locals paint and sell their art work to tourists. We found out we could take ´Mayan´ style painting lessons and gathered some of our friends from the hostel. 6 of us climbed up the side of the mountain to a house with a spectacular view of the lake and for the next 3 hours, we all painted pictures of Lake Atitlan with the guidance of a local painter. His whole family turned out to be painters and they all got involved in helping us gringos assemble some sort of presentable art. Surprisingly, we all walked away with decent looking paintings and we were asked by a few locals where we had purchased them from. Kelly added a bit of his own spice to his and in the center of his lake, swims the Loch Ness Monster!

San Pedro sits at the base of the San Pedro Volcano. We heard the climb was supposed to be between a 6 and 7 hour climb. Kelly and I were determined to push ourselves and shave as much time off as possible. We awoke this morning before 5 to ensure being well on the mountain when the sun rose over the lake. Charging up the mountain we summitted faster than we expected. After enjoying the view from the top between the passing clouds, we turning to trail run down the mountain. Overall the hike took us about 3 and a half hours. Still morning time, we stumbled back into our hostel and have been enjoying a leisurely day since then.

(Pics to give an idea. Not our own again! Hard to load pics but will do, when we can)