Wednesday, June 11, 2014

Day 34 – Central America's Deepest Lake!

Thinking about the World’s most beautiful lakes yesterday reminded me of a beautiful lake I’ve been to but would like to visit again someday: Lake Atitlán in Guatemala. In the summer of 2011, I spent two weeks living with a family in Antigua, Guatemala and studying Spanish. On the weekend, I made the trek out to Lake Atitlán and spent a few days learning about the Lake and the local culture and people.

Lake Atitlán has been called one of the most beautiful lakes in the world. It is a very large lake, and the deepest lake in Central America. It’s flanked by volcanoes, and its surrounding land is populated by Mayan villages. There is no road surrounding the lake and connecting these villages. Many of them are only reachable by boat. The small bed and breakfast I stayed at was only accessible by boat, and I spent a whole day boating around the island with a group of new friends. Although solo travel can get a little lonely, it can also be a great way to meet new friends- Guatemala was no exception! (You can read more about Lake Atitlán on its Wikipedia page: (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Atitl%C3%A1n). Here are a few pictures from my trip, although pictures, especially my amateur ones on a point-and-shoot camera, definitely do not do this lake justice!



There was a huge algae bloom on the Lake the year I went, and the areas near the shoreline were often full of dead algae, which turned the water brown and smelled not so lovely. Depending on who you asked, this was either a normal cycle of algae blooms, or the result of overpopulation and climate change. I’ll leave that debate to others, but in this picture, if you look closely, you can see some of the streaks of algae near the shoreline.


Although I love traveling, and have been lucky enough to see some amazing places, there aren’t too many places that I would actually make a point of visiting again. This is because there are just so many places I want to see, and time and money are such limited resources. Lake Atitlán, however, is one location on the list of places worth a return visit. Perhaps when Baby Girl is old enough to understand and appreciate the Lake, I’ll take her there and she can enjoy boating around the lake between the different villages. For now, it’s nice to reminisce and look at old pictures of this beautiful lake!

Xoxo,

Diana

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