Lake Atitlan

📌 We flew from the smallest airport in Flores to Guatemala City, where there was a little bit of shuttle chaos and waiting. Eventually we made it to the beautiful Lake Atitlan, where we stayed in Panajachel. The lake was beautiful as it is formed within a caldera at 1600m above sea level and is surrounded by multiple volcanoes at its edge. We made sure to enjoy some drinks with a sunset view each night.

📌 Panajachel seemed like a nice balance of tourists and locals. The food we had was delicious, we explored some local cuisine, we enjoyed some delicious super cheap tacos and some traditional Mayan recipes. One of the highlights of wandering around admiring the food scene, was the fresh tortillas being hand rolled each day and cooked, something so simple but fresh and vital to the regions cuisine. Two other spots worth a mention was a great coffee shop with a local who wanted to tell us all about this product and a very small restaurant run by 2 women with no menu, cooking fresh bbq grill meats and great guacamole.

📌 One the of the best days involved catching a local ferry to various towns across the lake, although it was a bit chaotic with getting on and they definitely overfill the boats! We visited San Juan for delicious coffee, breakfast and then wandered around the colourful streets, the colour is one of the best parts about Latin America 😍 We had one of our best experiences at a local small coffee grower visit. We were shown the process from bean to product, tasted some delicious espresso and listened to the passionate owner describing his love for coffee and doing it organically/sustainably.Read more