TUESDAY, MARCH 18:We ate our last meal in Antigua, a delicious breakfast of scrambled eggs, with fried plantains, beans, cheese, bread, and freshly squeezed orange juice at a little restaurant across the street from our hotel, and then we were off to the second part of our trip, Lake Atitlan. Lake Atitlan was formed by the collapse of land following a volcanic eruption 84,000 years ago, which is known as Los Chocoyos eruption (named after a bird which is often found in that area). The lake is surrounded by three volcanoes: Volcan Atitlan, Volcan San Pedro, and Volcan Toliman.
After breakfast we headed to the public bus station, where we were happy to see all the brightly painted buses complete with matching roof racks, mirrors, and bumpers. As if the buses in Honduras weren't crazy enough because of all the people they pack in, Sara actually saw a man climb through the window (WHILE THE BUS WAS MOVING and swerving through the narrow, winding roads!). He then proceeded to crawl up to the roof, where he threw bags and luggage down to the passengers getting off the bus.
We had to transfer a few buses in order to get to Panajachel, called "Pana", which is the main city near the Lake Atitlan. The first bus we got on took us to a city called Chimaltenango, or "Chimal," that took about twenty minutes. 
Then we had to get on another bus to Solola, which took another 2 hours. While in Solola, we passed a huge outdoor market filled with many men and women dressed in traditional Mayan clothing selling various things. That was the first time I had seen men dressed in these clothes, and of course many women were there carrying those gigantic baskets filled with fruits, vegetables, and other goods, that I told you about before.
We had to transfer a few buses in order to get to Panajachel, called "Pana", which is the main city near the Lake Atitlan. The first bus we got on took us to a city called Chimaltenango, or "Chimal," that took about twenty minutes. Then we had to get on another bus to Solola, which took another 2 hours. While in Solola, we passed a huge outdoor market filled with many men and women dressed in traditional Mayan clothing selling various things. That was the first time I had seen men dressed in these clothes, and of course many women were there carrying those gigantic baskets filled with fruits, vegetables, and other goods, that I told you about before.
From Solola, we got on another bus to Pana, which took another 15 mintutes. And from Pana we walked to the main dock, where we jumped on a public boat called a "lancha" to take us to Jaibalito, the little town that our hotel, La Casa del Mundo, was located. That took another 30 minutes. The lake was beautiful, it was really interesting to see all the houses and hotels that lined the lake. All of them had little private docks because the only way to get there is by boat, there are no main roads leading to these places. The picture below shows our hotel.
As soon as I saw our hotel I fell in love with it! The hotel is built into the hillside, with numerous paths that branch out and lead to gardens and various patios/ platforms complete with hammocks, picnic tables, benches, and beach chairs where you could sit back and enjoy the amazing views overlooking the lake and the surrounding volcanoes. It was seriously the most idyllic and gorgeous hotel I've ever stayed at! All the pictures in the world could never do it justice!
Each and every room in the hotel was unique. They were all thoughtfully decorated with colorful, locally made pieces like rugs, paintings, various crafts and carved furniture, all of which added so much character and charm to entire hotel and restaurant. You could really tell that a lot of time and effort was put into trying to make this hotel special and welcoming to all its guests! All the rooms also had large glass windows in order to make the most of the expansive views. The two pictures below show the rooms we stayed in (we had to move rooms after our first night). All the rooms at the hotel each had a private balcony looking out over the lake. From any place you stood in the entire property, you had a breathtaking view. The only downside to the hotel was that, because it is built into the hillside, you have to climb a ridiculous amount of stairs to get to your room, depending on where it is. But if you ask me, it's a small price to pay in order to stay in this little paradise for a few days!
Sara took the amazing picture below from the hotel restaurant. They served the most delicious food here! I seriously did not have one meal where I wasn't completely satisfied! Breakfast and lunch were served regular, but for dinner, there was a set 3 course menu (though you could specify special diets like vegetarian,vegan, and even lactose intolerant). Dinner was served family style, which meant they connected all the tables into one large, long, L-shaped table, and all the guests sat together among the candlelight, talking, and enjoying the wonderful food. As if the lake and scenery wasn't enough to get me to come back here, the food only made me that much more positive! 
Amazingly, our room only cost us $25 each per night! All that I kept thinking, was that I couldn't believe I could afford to stay in a hotel this nice!! I'm positive that any hotel like this in the States would cost well over $500 a night (even though I doubt that I could even come close to finding another hotel as beautiful as this one).
I only jumped in the water once, it was pretty chilly, and I think it freaked me out a little bit that I had no idea how deep the water was beneath me. You could jump off the decks straight into the water, or climb down a wooden ladder (the picture below), but I've grown much too used to the beaches, that jumping straight into cold, dark blue water was a little scary. Nonetheless, when I finally did make it in, it was pretty refreshing! Thanks to Sara, you can click on this link to see a video she took of the lake: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n0m7eJoBd6k
Sara took the amazing picture below from the hotel restaurant. They served the most delicious food here! I seriously did not have one meal where I wasn't completely satisfied! Breakfast and lunch were served regular, but for dinner, there was a set 3 course menu (though you could specify special diets like vegetarian,vegan, and even lactose intolerant). Dinner was served family style, which meant they connected all the tables into one large, long, L-shaped table, and all the guests sat together among the candlelight, talking, and enjoying the wonderful food. As if the lake and scenery wasn't enough to get me to come back here, the food only made me that much more positive! Amazingly, our room only cost us $25 each per night! All that I kept thinking, was that I couldn't believe I could afford to stay in a hotel this nice!! I'm positive that any hotel like this in the States would cost well over $500 a night (even though I doubt that I could even come close to finding another hotel as beautiful as this one).After checking in and enjoying our first scrumptious meal a the hotel, we headed back to our room to pass out for the night. All the traveling for the day had finally caught up with us!
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 19:
After devouring our yummy breakfast at the hotel, we put on our bathing suits on and decided to take advantage of the many porches and decks, and spend the day out on the lake. Like I said before, there where many beautiful places to sit back and enjoy the gorgeous scenery.
I only jumped in the water once, it was pretty chilly, and I think it freaked me out a little bit that I had no idea how deep the water was beneath me. You could jump off the decks straight into the water, or climb down a wooden ladder (the picture below), but I've grown much too used to the beaches, that jumping straight into cold, dark blue water was a little scary. Nonetheless, when I finally did make it in, it was pretty refreshing! Thanks to Sara, you can click on this link to see a video she took of the lake: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n0m7eJoBd6kAfter staying out by the lake for a few hours, reading and swimming, the wind had picked up a bit, so the waves were getting a little stronger. We decided to go to Pana to check out the town and to try to see if we could arrange for transportation to Rio Dulce (our next, and final stop in Guatemala) for Friday. 
After taking another lancha from our hotel to Pana, we got on a "tuk-tuk," a small 3-wheeled scooter to take us to a nearby nature reserve called "Reserva Natural Atitlan." The picture above shows Sara and Reina sitting outside the entrance to the park, and the picture below shows our little tuk-tuk. Once there, we paid 40Q (about $6) as an entrance fee and started on a small hike along a trail that went through the park.
After only a few minutes of walking we came up to a group of coatis, and a few spider monkeys! Click here to see a short video of the curious little animals:
A cousin of the raccoon, coatis can be found in the warmer parts of Central America, Mexico, and some areas in the southern United States. They have long snouts and tails that usually point upwards. When we first spotted them they were close, but behind a fence. Then before we knew it, they had found a hole in the fence and were coming straight towards us! Definitely not like any of the zoos I've been to in the States! It took me a second to realize how close they were getting, and when they were right near our feet I started to panic a little bit but it was too late to run away from them because I was afraid they would chase after us. So instead, we stood there frozen, praying they wouldn't bite us. Sara took a video of the little creatures checking us out and begging for some of the chips we were eating:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9hrqLsWxR3U
Just moments after, we spotted more spider monkeys crawling around. One of them even put on a show for us, swinging back and forth between trees from his tail and arms, as shown from the picture below. Click on his link to see a video of the spider monkey: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uHvHUb3Hy7A
After our close up visit with the spider monkeys and coatis, we continued on the hike, where we walked through the beautiful jungle and crossed a few hanging bridges, and small waterfalls. It was all very lush and green, filled with many colorful flowers, plants and trees, and all the while we could hear running water from the streams and waterfalls in the background. It was very peaceful and relaxing. 
After the exploring the nature reserve, we took another tuk-tuk into the town. We searched around for a shuttle or bus to take us to Rio Dulce but unfortunately, we weren't having much luck. Apparently it's extremely difficult to travel anywhere on Good Friday because many people have the day off, including all the public buses. So our only option was to pay a lot of money to take a private shuttle. After visiting about 4 or 5 different travel agents on the main street in Pana, we ended up nowhere because many of the places were closing for the day. So we decided to head back to our hotel, cross our fingers, and just try back again tomorrow.
After the exploring the nature reserve, we took another tuk-tuk into the town. We searched around for a shuttle or bus to take us to Rio Dulce but unfortunately, we weren't having much luck. Apparently it's extremely difficult to travel anywhere on Good Friday because many people have the day off, including all the public buses. So our only option was to pay a lot of money to take a private shuttle. After visiting about 4 or 5 different travel agents on the main street in Pana, we ended up nowhere because many of the places were closing for the day. So we decided to head back to our hotel, cross our fingers, and just try back again tomorrow. So we took another lancha and headed back to our hotel, where we had another delicious dinner, then climbed the endless amount of stairs to our new room (we had to switch rooms after our first night because someone had made reservations before us). This room was just as gorgeous as the one before, but unfortunately it was located a lot higher up on the mountain, which meant we had a chance to burn off our dinner before passing out on our beds for the night!
THURSDAY, MARCH 20:
On Thursday, we woke up to even clearer and more beautiful views of the lake. After breakfast, we decided to head back into "Pana" to have another go at our luck with booking transportation to Rio Dulce. As soon as we got off the lancha, we spotted a travel agency right on the dock that we hadn't checked the day before because it had already been closed. They arranged for a private shuttle to take us to Rio Dulce at 7:30 in the morning the next day. It cost a whopping $65 dollars each!! But we had no other option, so we paid the money! I guess at least it was going to be a direct ride there, and we did get to have an entire van all to ourselves to lay out and stretch our legs!
After making our reservations, we headed back into the town to find an ATM and buy some snacks for tomorrow's long trip. The main street in Pana was littered with many restaurants, souvenir shops, travel agencies, and countless jewelry/clothing stalls lined up along the street.
Before getting on another lancha to get back to our hotel, we stopped by to take a break at a little restaurant near the main dock. We ordered some snacks and a few local beers that were served to us like you see below. Even the beers are more colorful in Guatemala!
We were thinking of hiking to one of the nearby lake villages near our hotel to end our afternoon. However, after talking to some guests, and realizing how tired we were, and that all the hikes would be uphill, we opted to be lazy and lounge around the restaurant and hotel instead. We took some time to relax, read, check our emails, and enjoy some liquados (fruit shakes) before dinner.FRIDAY, MARCH 21:
We woke up bright and early at 6:00am, to pack up our things, and head down to the dock, where we had to take a lancha into Pana and meet our shuttle. When we finally arrived at the hotel dock, we realized that we had another problem. Not only to the public buses and many businesses stay closed on Good Friday, but the public lanchas also don't run either! Luckily the hotel had their own boat, so we were still able to get a ride into town. The picture below shows our last boat ride on Lake Atitlan. The sun was shining so bright and the sky was so clear, it was hard to leave this amazing place behind! But we were excited to see Rio Dulce, and explore another part of Guatemala! Check in soon to see the last blog about our trip to Guatemala....
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