Panajachel

Our arrival in Panajachel is preceded by a steep hill the bus must traverse down. Whilst we arrived safely, the brakes were giving off a pungent black smoke. Panajachel is amazing, situated next to the beautiful Lake Atitlan and surrounded by three large, sometimes active volcanoes. It's a town populated by Europeans, locals of Mayan descent and many aging hippies who moved here in the 60's and 70's and forgot to leave. On second thoughts, they were simply wise. Panajachel is situated on the shores of Lake Atitlan, widely regarded as the most beautiful lake in Guatemala. You can be as active or inactive as you like in Panajachel, some people laze away their days in the sun, others choose horse-riding, windsurfing on a windy day or hangliding.

With three inactive, but not extinct, volcanoes hovering over the lake and a multitude of small boats waiting for hire, Lake Atitlan certainly is a beautiful and peaceful destination. Several of our group hired a boat for the day at the "exorbitant" cost of US$ 8 each. This enabled us to visit the lakeside towns of San Pedro, San Tiago, San Pedro and Santa Catarina Palopo, comfortable in the knowledge that our boat would always be waiting for us when we wished to move on. But just remember, don't pay the boatman until your journey's end or your comfort level may fall slightly. Even when we got lost on San Pedro and found ourselves in someone's vegetable garden, we always felt safe in these towns, continually meeting friendly Mayans who were happy to chat or simple nod and smile at us. The shopping here was all too tempting with very low prices, possibly a reflection of the limited number of tourists who visit. San Tiago has another of those Mayan Catholic churches, one half filled with traditional pews, the other a bare floor with several intricate arrangements of candles and flower petals, all watched over by people in quiet prayer. Few of the icons and paintings in the church are visible, they are mostly covered by soot from many years of candle burning.

We left our boat at Santa Catarina Palopo, choosing to walk back to Panajachel from there. Santa Catarina Palopo is testimony to the fact that 10% of the people own 90% of Guatemala's wealth. The contrast between the towns we'd just visited and Santa Catarina Palopo was startling. Full of mansions, each on their own secluded estates, Santa Catarina Palopo exudes wealth and there are several helicopters to be spotted here. This walk is quite long and, when a few turns are missed which would have taken us along the lake shore, steep in places. The views are worth the effort and you can even see a modern Mayan church perched on a hill, painted in the traditional Mayan colours of blue and orange. This region of Guatemala is famed for its flower growing, and few would fail to be impressed by the Bougainvillaeas, Agapanthas, Carnations, Lilies and countless other varieties of flowers.

If Spanish flamenco music is of interest, Panajachel has several music bars which will keep you there long after your bedtime. The Belgian (by now an honorary Kiwi), the other Kiwi and I visited several places, finally agreeing that The Circus Bar had the best music and late night snacks. Pana, as it is fondly known, is the kind of town that really comes to life at night time and the residents & visitors alike willingly stop for a chat.

Copyright: Martin Dabb 1997. All rights reserved.
jmdabb@paradise.net.nz