A Trip To Lake Atitlan | San Juan La Laguna, San Pedro & Santiago
There are at least eleven villages surrounding Lake Atitlán, and you might visit them all for different reasons. I made it to four during my latest trip to Guatemala, and was amazed at how each village could be described as having its very own personality: Panajachel with its familiar vibe, illusory San Juan La Laguna, beguiling San Pedro, and reticent Santiago.
Panajachel
Panajachel, affectionately known is “Pana,” is primarily important because it’s the hub from which you get to all of the other towns and villages like San Juan La Laguna, San Pedro, and Santiago. Its prime location on Lake Atitlán makes it one of the most important tourist locations in Guatemala, and it’s important to note that Panajachel is a walkable area with hotels, many restaurants and shops, and pretty lively nightlife.
San Juan La Laguna
San Juan La Laguna was my absolute favorite village to visit because it’s brimming with charming, magnetic energy. Of all the villages, they are most welcoming to tourists, and you’ll find that more people speak English here than other villages.
When I wasn’t being whisked away by fluttering hats and streamers across a cerulean sky, I was visiting a hidden coffee farm, turning cotton to thread, and tasting milky bits of chocolate with varying levels of sweetness.
I loved San Juan La Laguna because it’s awash with vibrant color and fantastical- like maybe I was a character in a novel who had just stepped through a bookcase to a world of fictitious adventure. What I know from my time here is that I didn’t want to return home.
Coffee Farm
Comfortably hidden behind a small cafe was a world of plush greenery that would become many of the things I tasted in Guatemala, coffee being number one. Among the other plants were avocado trees, lime trees, macadamia and walnut trees. As a gardener myself, I imagine I could have stayed all day, but I also found myself wanting the opportunity to come back in just a few weeks when bushy green coffee plants would bear red cherries plentifully and in the secret of a hidden farm.
Chocolate Factory
Cacao grows more abundantly in Guatemala than many other places, so it makes sense that the people have found many uses for it. Chocolate is typically one of the first things that comes to mind when you think of cacao, but a trip to the chocolate factory showed me that soap, shampoo, lip balm, rum, massage oils and many other things can be made from this one fruit that grows plentifully in Guatemala.
Mayan Textiles Tour
One of the most beautiful parts of Guatemala is the traditional mayan clothing worn by the women. Very few women were without these dresses such that it felt like witnessing a secret society that you’re only allowed in by years of tradition. To learn how these fabrics and designs are made was even more a privilege.
Similar to the way the chocolate factory infuses herbs and other natural things into their products, mayan textiles are dyed with natural things like radishes, corn, and carrots. The five-step process is very focused and even intense, but being the sort of crafty person that I am, it seemed to me that it would be therapeutic in the way- to take many beautiful things from the earth and make more beautiful things.
San Pedro
San Pedro is referred to often by locals as a hippy town and is the least religious of the villages. I’m also told it is the cheapest village to live in, as you can afford food, an apartment and getting around for just $10 a day. Can you imagine? For this reason, many people travel here from around the world for missions trips and Spanish immersion experiences. While relatively quiet during the day, San Pedro comes alive at night with music at every turn, lively bars, and a party scene overlooking Lake Atitilán that I’m sure is truly a one-of-a-kind experience.
Santiago
Santiago was the most traditional of the villages I visited. They are devoutly religious and largely uninterested in tourism, so you won’t find many hotels or touristy restaurants.
Santiago is marked by devastating events such as the assassination of priest Stanley Rother and the massacre that claimed fourteen people during the civil war there. When you arrive in Santiago, it is abundantly clear that the historical religious and political events are intertwined and still largely affect the community today. A visit to Iglesia Parroquial Santiago Apóstol is worth it to read about these events but also just to see the parish, as it’s quite beautiful.
The local market is just as you step off the dock, and though smaller than some of the other markets I visited during my time in Guatemala, it is nonetheless beautiful.
In Santiago, I was able to visit the deity Maximón who is moved to a different home each year. When the Spanish first invaded Guatemala, Maximón was moved to a different home every day, which proved to be an outstanding tactic, as the Spanish were never able to locate him.
What struck me most about the worship of this deity is that people visit far and wide to ceremoniously pray to him believing fully in his omnipotence. While I don’t share Mayan beliefs, I admired the ways in which this hope in a higher power aligned with my faith as a Christian, believing that God is omniscient, omnipotent, and omnipresent.
A woman’s family had brought her in a wheelchair praying that Maximón would mobilize her legs, and in this moment, though present in the ceremony to their deity, I found myself praying to my own God for her healing.
Although you are able to take pictures in Maximón’s home of residence for about 10GTQ, out of respect for the ceremony taking place during my visit, I didn’t grab a photo. If you have a tour guide or are somehow able to locate Maximón on your own, I do recommend a visit here.
One of the most beautiful parts of visiting Santiago is the view from Mirador del Valle. You get impeccable views of Lake Atitlán, and it’s actually possible to see where the lake ends from this vantage point. You can also spot a fishing farm and the location where Mayan women wash their clothing.
