Western Guatemala

For my last week in Guatemala I visited the popular tourist spots of Antigua and Lake Atitlán. Antigua was the capital of Guatemala from 1524 until it was destroyed by an earthquake in 1773, when the capital was moved to the safer location that is now Guatemala City. Antigua was abandoned for almost a century before people started moving back in so much of the historic centre consists of 17th century baroque style architecture. One of the most famous landmarks is the Arco de Santa Catalina, an arch built in 1694 originally connecting the Santa Catalina convent to the school so that the nuns didn't have to go on the street. It's a beautiful town to spend time in, it seemed better preserved than many of the colonial towns in the Latin Americas. If it weren't for the constant stream of traffic you'd think you'd gone back in time. The towering volcanoes that appear occasionally when the clouds clear added to the beauty and drama of the town.

Next up was Lake Atitlán, a lake in a volcanic caldera that was formed by a supervolcano 84,000 years ago. At 340 meters deep it is the deepest lake in Central America, and supposedly one of the most beautiful in the world. On a sunny day you can see multiple volcanoes surrounding the lake, but unfortunately the sky was cloudy for the entire time that I was there so I couldn't see them! Still, I had fun exploring the villages on the shores of the lake. The villages are mostly inhabited by Maya people and still live quite traditional lives. They can be visited by a small local boat that zips across the lake once it's full.Read more