Guatemalan Diaries: Boat Tour of Lake Atitlán

On Friday, January 9th, I wasn’t needed at the university, so I decided to take a tour of three villages on Lake Atitlán to get to know my environment better. There are thirteen villages around Lake Atitlán. Every village attests to the strength and diversity of Maya culture. The three villages on this particular boat tour were San Pedro La Laguna, Santiago Atitlán, and San Antonio Palopo. Santiago Atitlán and San Antonio Palopo are still intensely traditional. The indigenous inhabitants still wear beautiful trajes unique to their village.

San Pedro La Laguna, on the other hand, much like Panajachel, has been infiltrated by western bohemians. However, the indigenous people and the “stoners” appear to tolerate one another. One big attraction for westerners to flock to San Pedro La Laguna is the famous nearby volcano San Pedro which can be climbed by ambitious hikers in a day. The boat tour to the three villages costs only 90 Quetzales (around 11 dollars) and it lasts seven hours. It was a beautiful day, very sunny and in the low 80’s, typical weather for January. Here are some pictures taken in San Pedro La Laguna, our first stop.

San Pedro La Laguna: 98% of its 10,000 inhabitants are Tz'utujil

Girl selling fresh mango. The mango is crunchy
with a sprinkle of lime, salt, and hot spice.

Precious cargo- picops are a common means of public transportation

One of the many artesian shops in San Pedro

Cafe advertising Guatemalan coffee-producing areas

Una pedrana

Street hawker on tour boat

Santiago Atitlán is the largest of the communities around the lake with a population of over 32,000, 95% of which are indigenous Tz’utujils. Traditionally, it is fishing and farming town; it is also known for the manufacture of cayucos, wooden canoes. Directly from the dock, the main street leads visitors up to the main square where there is a vibrant, very lively market, both indoor and outdoor. Street hawkers swoop down on the gringos as they stroll by the weaving shops and art galleries.

Santiago Atitlán is also known for its brave stance against military forces in the 1980’s and later on in the 1990’s. Because of their refusal to adhere to military rule in the 1980’s, the government accused inhabitants of cooperating with ORPA guerrillas and began to terrorize them into submission. Consequently, 300 hundred villagers were murdered over an 11-year period and countless others arrested and tortured. There were other incidents in which the people of Santiago Atitlán courageously fought against violent, oppressive acts from police and military. In one incident, they refused to sell food to new police recruits or let them use public toilets for one month.

Here are some glimpes of Santiago Atitlán:

Santiago Atitlán

On Main Street in Santiago Atitlán

Friday Market

Man passing by

Una Atiteca

The famous cayucos of Santiago Atitlán

When you arrive at the port of Santiago Atitlán, young Atitecos will ask you if you want to go see Maximón. Maximón or San Simón is “a mischievous, evil saint, a powerful figure who can impregnate women, confront Christ, cure illnesses and bring all sorts of misfortune to his enemies. He is said to be combination of Judas Iscariot, the conquistador Pedro de Alvarado and various Maya deities” (Insight Guides to Guatemala, Belize, and the Yucatan 123). The pagan-Maya cult of Maximón is widespread through the highlands of Guatemala. One of his best known chapels is in Santiago Atitlán. The statue of Maximón actually moves from house to house except during Easter week (Semana Santa). Then he is placed on the steps leading up to a cross which stands in a square facing an imposing Catholic church. Since his whereabouts other times of the year are only known to the natives, we paid a young boy 10 quetzales ($1.25) to take us to his shrine to pay our respects. Maximón is my kind of deity. He is a total hedonist; he is a chain smoker and enjoys his aguardiente liquor. When we arrived to Maximón’s current domicile, we had to pay 2 quetzales to enter and another 10 to take photographs. While we were there, there was a villager with a glass of liquor in his hand, praying and chanting aloud very emotionally, as if in a trance, in front of Maximón. Maximón, decked out in a broad-rimmed hat and draped in scarves, sat between two men, smoking a cigarette. His keeper to the left would occasionally flick Maximón’s cigarette ash into an ashtray. Below is a photograph I took of this fascinating figure as well as the Catholic church which houses beautifully carved figures.

The Maximón Shrine in Santiago Atitlán

Catholic Church: The cross is where Maximón smokes during Easter.

Three worshipers coming out of the church

Beautifully carved wooden figures lined against the walls of the church

Close-up on another figure in the Catholic church in Santiago Atitlán

Lake Atitlán or Lago de Atitlán has been praised for centuries by travelers as a breathtaking natural wonder. Even Aldous Huxley called Atitlán the most beautiful lake in the world. According to his Beyond the Mexique Bay (1934), Huxley writes “…Atitlan is [Lake] Como [in Northern Italy] with the additional embellishments of several immense volcanoes. It is really too much a good thing.” The lake is about 12 miles long and 7 ½ miles wide but from an aerial view, it has an irregular shape due to the many bays and inlets. During the morning, the lake is generally calm but the xocomil (the north wind) picks up in the afternoon, making boat rides choppy. According to Mayan legend, the presence of the north wind indicates that the lake has discarded the body and claimed the soul of someone who has drowned. The health of the lake is constantly tested by recent population expansion (over 100,000 people live around the lake) as well as the sequential destruction of natural environment (such as the sea grass that acts as a natural cleanser). Here are some attempts to capture this lake's magnificence.