Recap: Quick Trip to Lake Atitlan, Guatemala
Guatemala is such a beautiful, relatively untouched country! It has a lot of what I like in a country: Spanish speakers, hikes / mountains, beautiful scenery, yoga, and more rural towns. Since our time was so short, I didn’t get to do a lot of other things that are must-dos so I will definitely be coming back! We were originally going to go for much longer but I had to make it back for my surgery so tried to squeeze what we could in only a few days. TY to Kels for being down!!!
Here is what we did during our 5 days in Guatemala:
Day 1
Uber-ed from Guatemala City to Panajachel, a town along Lake Atitlan (3.5hrs)
Took a lancha (water taxi) from Pana to Santa Cruz
Checked into Free Cerveza Hostel
Worked until ~2:30pm (I had important meetings that I couldn’t miss)
Kayaked around the lake
Met Will & Jordan and good a late lunch with them in town
Chilled at the hostel,. got free beer and had dinner there
Jordan & I played Kels & Will in a best 2 out of 3 beer pong game and WE WON!! I was playing terribly the first two games then came out of nowhere and made the second to last cup then iced the last cup for the WINN
We then played a group game of Kings Cup with the other hostel ppl
Day 2
We did 7am Yoga on the dock with the beautiful lake and volcano as the background
Chilled & had breakfast
Kels and I both had to turn in our self-evals so we did that for the next hour
We had a huge squad out for paddle-boarding and kayaking
I got a paddle that only had one side so I was at a disadvantage but no sweat the boys (Jordan & Ivan) in a kayak were trying to catch up to me but I literally turned on turbo mode and paddled so fast they couldn’t catch up
Grab another late lunch in the town
Went back to shower and chill on the hammocks
We also convinced Will and Jordan to extend their trips and hang with us hehehe
Had dinner at the hostel and went to bed early
Day 3
Got up early to take a lancha from Santa Cruz to San Pedro, leaving at 7am
We dropped our stuff off at Mr. Mullet’s then got a lancha to San Marcos for yoga at 9:30am
Instead of taking a tuk tuk up, we decided to walk because we didn’t realize how far it was… we went on a PILGRIMAGE so good thing we left early and had ample time to get to Eagle’s Nest
Eagle’s Nest was beautifullll!! The studio is overlooking the mountain, lake, volcano and it had the best ambiance
We made out way to El Artesano for some fancy Cheese & Wine and meet up with James!! We didn’t think he would actually make it out to Guatemala but he did
We had cheese, cured meat and wine for a couple hours
Met up with Jordan & Will and walked around San Marcos a bit
Found ourselves at a Cacao shop that had really delicious cacao bits and tea
We made our way back to San Pedro just in time for HAPPY HOUR
They had a 2x1 for 15Q special and we definitely took advantage of it
James bought us all 2 rounds of drinks that were at least 20 drinks for only 90Q or about $13
We played a few rounds of ping pong - had an intense match with James and just barely lost to him (20 to 22)
We also played an interesting game of Janga with a few others that got very interesting
Rachel the bartender got kissed by both me and Jordan
Jordan & James had to wear dresses
Kels had to go shirtless
Someone took a body shot off kels
Kels took a body shot off someone else
Then it turns out, there was a beach party! We all piled onto a lancha to a nearby beach for a group that threw weekly EDM beach parties
We leave at midnight because the next boat wasn’t going to be there until 3am
Day 4
We were all a bit slow to get up because of the party the night before so we had the free breakfast at Mr. Mullet’s and just chilled a bit
Watched the men’s finals for Wimbledon
Made our way back to San Marcos to check out Cerro Tzankujil for cliff jumping and a panorama view
Found ourselves at an amazing vegan restaurant called Samsara
Made our way back to San Pedro to catch the end of the England vs Italy Eurocup game, which Italy won
We were in a bar of mostly Brits and they were chatting nonstop and there was one Italian supporter who stood up against them
The game went to overtime then penalty kick
None of us cared about the match but it was so fun being there with all these fans. I just loved their passion and excitement!
Went back to the hostel to shower and chill a bit
Got some happy hour drinks and chatted with a few others from the hostel and learned about how the owners became owners
They’re two recent SDSU grads who bought the hostel a few months ago — I would have never thought to buy a hostel at that age (I think it was only for $35K)
Played some BP, chatted, drank then had delicious Arepas
We had to get up at 3am the next morning so we were all in bed early
Day 5
Got up super early to hike Indian Nose for an awesome sunrise and view of the whole lake and volcanos
Our guide, Miguel, was soooo adorbs! He really loved me and gave me like 10 kisses on the cheek
The hike was only about 30-40 minutes and relatively easy but my knee was still a bit achey
On the way back, we didn’t take a van like we did heading there but instead hopped on a local truck all the way down the mountain, walked through a village then took a lancha back to San Pedro
We got a covid test in San Pedro instead of having to head back to Guatemala City so had more time to chill around the lake
We grabbed one last group lunch with everyone at Zoola
We decided to try and make 3pm yoga at Yoga Forest, the most well known yoga studio in San Marcos
The trek up was pretty brutal and it was definitely very beautiful and serene but I thought it was a bit too serious for my liking
I would go back to Eagle’s Nest again for sure but glad to have experienced both
Jordan & Will already made their way to Pana to catch an uber back to Guatemala City
After our class, they called and said that they couldn’t call an uber from Pana but found a private shuttle that was $25/person leaving at 6:30pm
Kels and I hauled ass down the mountain to catch a lancha back to San Pedro to grab our bags
We had to take a private lancha to Pana because we missed the last one at 5:30pm (we got to the dock at 5:35pm) so we had to pay 300Q but took us straight to Pana just in time for our Shuttle
The boys saved us!!! TY Jordan & Will <3
The shuttle back was a lot more comfortable than the uber. Even though it was pouring down super hard, we made it back in 3.5 hrs
Overall, I really loved our short trip to Guatemala! We met some awesome people who I know I’ll stay friends with for awhile and if I’m ever in their cities, I will for sure hit them up. Shout out to Jordan, Will and Jorome! We had a lot of really fun memories and did a lot for not having planned anything ahead of time. It goes to show that if you just let things happen as they may, good things and people will come out of it!
I can’t wait to go back soon!!
