A week at Lake Atitlan

Hello everyone!

Andrew and I had a great time at Lake Atitlan, but in 6 days at a lake, our bathing suits didn't even get wet! Apparently it's just a lake to look at, but not do anything in. That was a bit of a disappointment, but the area just isn't as developed as we are used to. Have no fear, we did manage to have some fun.

Lake Atitlan is a real beauty, set in the highlands surrounded by volcanoes.

Lots of beauties in this photo! (No...Andrew doesn't shave here either...)

Jaibilito, along with the other villages are accessible only by water taxi. Some days the taxi was quite empty, sometimes you made a point to note your exit strategy in the event of sinkage.

My first water taxi ride!

The villa we rented is in a little village called Jaibilito. Jaibilito is also one of the poorest villages, housing a couple of hotels, a handful of gringo homes, and just a few inconvenience stores. The property is owned by Gary. We never did see Gary, but we did see his two dogs, housekeeper, and gardeners. The house is right on the lake with beautiful views. We had the luxury of two bedrooms and three bathrooms. Quite heavenly, really.

We arrived mid-afternoon on a Sunday, and soon went into Jaibilito looking for diet Pepsi exploring. I then got this:

Bad dog!

Each day we would take the water taxi into Panajachel, a town like a lot of other Guatemalan towns. Tour companies, restaurants, and beautiful textiles.

Panajachel, Guatemala

In keeping with Guatemalan style, beautiful inner courtyards

Not all of you have to worry about us staying in remote places in, to some, a dangerous country. We were never sleeping alone.

Andrew found this guy one night:

I don't think the photo does justice in showing how large that scorpion was! *shudder*

In true champion style, the scorpion was soon eliminated. I'm sorry to have not taken photos of Andrew killing the scorpion (with a very large spatula at arm's length). It's funny now, but not so much at the time. See: tarantula.

And he found this guy another night:

They make them big here.

Unfortunately I am on spider duty, which is retrospect I'll take. The scorpions and tarantulas Andrew gets. Ewww. *another shudder*

 Well, now that I have you all sufficiently freaked out, I should go. :)

Tomorrow I'll report on all the fun things we did at the lake. And fun we had!

Tootles,

P