Lago de Atitlan

We decided to spend the weekend at Lake Atitlan and so set off at 8am on Saturday morning. 3/4 hour later, we have finished picking up everyone else in Antigua and we are finally on our way! The 3 hour bus journey is a blurred memory of Paul Noble on our Spanish lesson CDs, a heady mix of burning clutch and rubber, and a ridiculous need to go to the bathroom (which CP eventually got up enough courage to ask out driver to stop for in broken Spanglish!)

We set off straight from Panachel to San Marcos, after a lovely 45 minute wait on a boat whilst the guy who took our money had disappeared - CP hasn't quite got used to the laidback lifestyle that exists here and was not "relaxed" about this temporary state of affairs...After getting hounded for pot whilst we waited, we finally made it into San Marcos. San Marcos is a lovely hippy town (a little too hippy in the evening for us!) one of the 13 around the lake. You can see all three volcanoes from the lake and CP allowed a little boy to show us to our luxury accommodation at El Unicornco! This is reportedly "one of the most luxurious hotels that San Marcos has to offer" but in any other place, could at best be described as a shack with a bed. But it served a purpose and We did manage to adopt a Redmond pretty quickly...

We spent the day exploring, chatting to random locals on comfy cushions in a coffee shop getting a pretty good idea of what we might do for the next couple of weeks, before CP treated herself (thanks to Sharon McHughs very kind engagement/leaving present) to an absolutely epic 2 hour full body (and I mean full body) massage... Oh yeah! Rich went exploring whilst CP was getting pampered and quickly drifted into territory that the local information specifically warns about due to the risk of casual theft. Having formed a plan which loosely involved offering up my cheapo sunglasses to any rogue "banditos" to distract them before unleashing my inner Jackie Chan, I set about climbing as far as my flip-flops would allow and found some epic views!

During a little wander in search of food, CP bought some chicken and instantly attracted dogs from all around...

We hit a funky lake side bar for a space cookie, a few Cuba Libre's and listening to an exceptionally unique (read: shit) but mercifully brief folk music show... Space cookies kick in two hours later... Opps!

Morning work out on the pier beside lake atitlan in the early morning sun... Epic!

Followed by fresh banana and coconuts for breakfast by the side of the path with another little Redmond curled up on Rich's lap.

We jumped on a boat to San Pedro to spend the day on another of the towns around the lake. We kayaked in some pretty strong surf on the lake, found another furry friend, and spent the afternoon in a hotel pool eating an epic BBQ and drinking 70p Cuba Libre(s)!

Our bus back to Antigua (which we're now aware that we're severely overpaying for) finally sets off after shoehorning 2 people and a baby into a couple of seats that barely exist, and we're on our way! There was a lady in the front seat who was taking a picture every 5 seconds... Literally... For 2.5 hours?! It really annoyed CP for some reason, perhaps it was in sympathy of the poor driver who had a camera in his face the whole way! 

Got back to Antigua for our final night before heading off to the avocado farm tomorrow. spent a lovely evening with Cody and danielle soaking up the last of Antigua's beauty on a hostel rooftop bar. It really is a beautiful little city and should be on anyone's list for Guatemala! Little did we know that we'd brought an unexpected present from the lake with us...