Feb 252014
 

After taking a tuk tuk up the volcano we were on our way back to our boat when we passed a colorful garden. We asked our driver to stop and hopped out to explore. We climbed the stairs into the garden and realized this little white church and interesting statue was positioned at the far end.

Church and statue on lake atitlan, Guatemala with volcano in the background

Feb 232014
 

I had read about the Tz’utujil women of Lake Atitlan’s hats made of meters of ribbon wrapped around their heads. I couldn’t even begin to picture what it would like though. I was glad when I found this lady and now I know exactly how these hats look.

Tz'utujil woman ribbon hat lake atitlan guatemala traditional dress

Feb 152014
 

I was wandering through a town on Lake Atitlan when I came across the Tz’utujil men relaxing on a park bench. The Tz’utujil are one of the 21 Maya ethnic groups that inhabit Guatemala. There about 100,000 Tz’utujil inhabiting the area around Lake Atitlan.

Tz'utujil men in traditional dress, Lake Atitlan, Guatemala

Feb 092014
 

The first view of Lake Atitlan was from up high on a winding road. Across the lake I could see the volcanoes I had read about. They each had a cloud sitting on top of them like a little hat. I managed to catch this one before the cloud moved on as the day heated up.

The dock in the foreground is one of the lake’s ferry stops, the little white boat is a ferry. I couldn’t figure out if there was a schedule or if they just bounced around the lake. People would wait for quite a while for a boat to turn up heading to where they were going.

cloud capped volcano and ferry stop with ferry on lake atitlan guatemala

Feb 042014
 

To get to this vantage point we hired a tuk tuk to take us up the volcano. There’s a weird shack there with a viewpoint on top. The ground floor housed less than friendly dogs that snarled as we walked past. The tuk tuk driver hadn’t told us there was a charge for the viewing platform when we decided to hire him to take us up the hill, but sure enough, this weird structure in the middle of nowhere had a ticket booth complete with turnstiles.

The view back across the lake was pretty spectacular though.

Panoramic view of San Pedro la Laguna and Lake Atitlan, Guatemala surrounded by moutains.

Jan 302014
 

Today’s shot is of one of Lake Atitlan’s many volcanoes. This was taken while a tuk-tuk driver offered tours, eventually leading to my visit to the evil saint Maximon. It is one of the weirdest experiences I’ve had. If you haven’t seen the picture and read the story, I’d recommend you click here now.

canoes on the shore of lake atitlan Guatemala with a volcano and blue sky in the background

Nov 042013
 

While waiting for my launch to take off, I went down onto the beach to see if there was a good photo of the dock. As I set up, this girl came and sat down and completed my shot nicely.

Adventurous ginger girl's waiting for a ferry on the dock in Lake Atitlan Guatemala with two launches tied up and a volcano in the background

Jul 182013
 

After arriving at Lake Atitlan, having left Antigua very early in the morning (a recurring theme of this trip was getting up early), we were rushed quickly to a waiting launch and took off across the lake. As we skimmed across the calm waters of Lake Atitlan, I was looking at the volcanoes growing up from the lakes edge.

As you know, I’ve visited Lake Como in Italy before. That morning, as I took in Lake Atitlan, all I could think was that a quote I’d read that morning was spot on:

Lake Como, it seems to me, touches on the limit of permissibly picturesque, but Atitlán is Como with additional embellishments of several immense volcanoes. It really is too much of a good thing.” – Aldous Huxley

After arriving at our first stop I immediately sought a photo of the small boat dock and looming volcano over the water. I wanted to catch the cloud that seemed to be snagged on top of the volcano before it disappeared.

Boat dock and looming volcano over the waters of Lake Atitlan, Guatemala