The Western Highlands

Friday, September 13, 2002

014-44.400 N
091-9.540 W

While we were in Antigua we decided to take a trip to Lake Atitlan, in an area which is known as the Western Highlands.  We had wanted to spend several days there, but the radar tower breaking on the boat kept us on the Rio Dulce longer than anticipated.  Antigua has an overabundance of travel agencies and it was easy to book a 1 day trip to the area.  The company that we selected offered a trip where they picked you up at 6 AM from your hotel in a van and drove you 3 hours to Panajachel which is the largest town on the lake.  From there you take a series of boats between 3 different villages, ending up in Panajachel late in the afternoon.  They even give you a huge box lunch, and all of this only costs $38/pp!

The trip to Panajachel was very interesting.  We climbed and climbed in the mountains.  This area was clearly a major agricultural area as there were miles upon miles of well tended crops.  The crops were highly varied and it appears that they rotate their crops on a regular basis.  It also appears that all of the farming is done by hand as the majority of the land is too steep to support mechanized farming.  Along the side of the road we'd see piles of potatoes, carrots, onions, and lots of other crops being sorted and picked up by trucks.  It was very beautiful and interesting.  But man, it looked like a lot of back breaking work!

As we crested a mountain we got a great view of Lake Atitlan.  Unfortunately it was very hazy, but it was still impressive.  The lake is about 12 miles long and 7.5 miles wide and is surrounded by 3 towering volcanoes.  Thirteen villages dot the sides of the mountains surrounding the lake. On top (or bottom) of that, the lake is over 1,000 feet deep!

We were loaded onto a medium sized boat for the trip to San Pedro along with half a dozen backpackers.  I guess that we didn't have enough people as they shuffled us off to a much smaller boat.  Eventually we headed off for the 1/2 hour ride to San Pedro.  The haze started to lift and we got a nice view of some of the other villages and the mountain sides.

San Pedro seems to be a Mecca for backpackers as there are quite a few Spanish language immersion schools there.  Lots of "hotels" too.  Other than that there wasn't a lot there.  We did get to see a funeral procession with everyone dressed in traditional garb, so that was interesting.  But my over all impression was that there were lots of people standing around without much to do.  We prayed that the next town would have more, and we weren't disappointed.

Santiago Atitlan was completely different.  As soon as you got off the boat there were tons of stalls selling every local craft that you can imagine.  Textiles, clothing, masks, pottery, etc, etc.  And talk about a mass of COLOR!  Wow!  Almost everyone wore their traditional dress, which consists of brightly colored scarves, blouses, pants, and dresses.  I believe that each village has a distinct color and pattern to their cloth, so you can tell where a person is from. 

Once we got past the tourist stalls we wandered into town where market day was in full swing.  The streets were packed with people selling their wares.  This consisted of everything from cloth to rope to fruits and vegetables to flowers.  And this was for their own consumption and not for tourists.  As it was we were basically the only Gringos there.  And talk about being awash in color again.  WOW, it was spectacular!

One thing that amazed us was all of the Avocados.  In this one square we saw huge stacks of what we thought were oranges in mesh bags.  Upon closer examination we found that they were avocados!  We had been told that the people in this area were called "ponza verde" or "green belly" due to all of the avocados and green peppers that they consume.  I can now see why!

After a very quick hour we were on our way to our final stop in San Antonio Pelopo.  This stop was slightly more exciting than our first stop as it had one or two shops to stop in.  A weaver in one shop did spectacular work and we ended up buying several pieces from her. 

One thing that's always impressed me is how they move items from place to place.  Women carrying large baskets or bottles of water is a regular sight.  It's the men that are truly impressive though.  They gather up huge piles of material, put a strap around them and then put that strap around their forehead and proceed to lift and carry massive amounts of weights.  We've seen people carrying a dozen chickens, stacks of firewood and in the accompanying picture, 8 cinder blocks up a VERY steep hill.  Amazing.

Our trip to San Antonio was cut short due to an approaching thunderstorm.  While we missed most of the storm, we were dropped off in the rain and had to find our way back to the travel agency where we were to pick up the van for the return trip.   On the trip to Panajache we had the van to ourselves, but that wasn't to be on the return trip.  We were full, and when you're 6'4" with long legs, that makes for a long trip.  To make matters worse we got caught behind lots of runners who were bringing the Independence day torches back to their villages.  Typically there would be several runners with a bus following directly behind.  On a two lane road, you can imagine what that does to traffic...At least we were going TO Antigua.

All in all this was a great trip.  I just wish that we would have been able to spend more time there.  Unfortunately it was quite hazy too, as I can only imagine the view on a crystal clear day.  Over all we were very lucky as it didn't rain all that much and it was the rainy season. 

Log ID: 297