We love going on weekend trips with our "roof guy". Br. Darrington served his first mission at the age of 19 in Mexico, so he's very fluent in Spanish. He likes to get a bird's eye view of things, so our first morning in Panajachel, before breakfast, he convinces a hotel employee to let us onto the roof for a clear view and photo op. Lake Atitlan is an amazingly beautiful place and draws us back from time to time.
This morning we crossed the lake and we had to check out all of the stores close by for awesome souvenirs. The guys have to entertain themselves in whatever manner they possibly can. The Bob Marley hats usually hold them for a few minutes while we explore tienda after tienda after tienda.
This is the opposite roof view in Panajachel with the early morning fog still very visible. The truly breathtaking thing about Guatemala is seeing layer upon layer of mountains.
Heading across the lake the water is calm and not at all worrisome because it's early in the day. The view is magnificent.
The volcano in the background is Fuego, which is the one that erupted in Antigua a few months ago. It's showing off for us again this morning.
Our first stop across the lake was Santiago de Atitlan. This is our second stop of the day, the approach to the dock at San Antonio Palopo. It's empty now, but when we unload there are a half dozen people on the dock prepared to hawk their wares. We follow a little boy to the ceramic store, as he convinces us that it's the town's highlight. It really is. The wares are beautiful and the man who owns the store and accompanying factory has saved this little town economically.
We saw lots of men on the lake in these little wooden boats, but let me go on record saying I would NEVER go on this lake in a boat like this. The men were all staying fairly close to shore, but come noon that's not close enough to suit me.
On our trip home Sr. Darrington has a prime seat for taking photos. It is afternoon and the waters are rough. We stay pretty close to shore too, but the crosswinds are blowing lots of spray into the boat and we aren't looking forward to disembarking at the dock that doesn't remain very stationary.
This is the Porta del Lago Hotel in Panajachel where we stayed. I think next time I would choose Don Rodrigo. We ate there twice and it's an older, but more authentic hotel. The Porta del Lago is nice if you want sunset views, but we discovered the views were good in November; views are not amazing in April.
We're back in Panajachel....shopping this time for jewelry.
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