Guatemala

Day 1: Solar power, Mayan relics, and no roads

Among all the countries in Central America — and there are quite a few to choose from — we decided to visit Guatemala specifically because of the remarkable prevalence of indigenous Mayan culture here. It’s genuinely alive and thriving, not just something preserved in museums for tourists. For the same reason, we chose Lake Atitlán as our destination within Guatemala — indigenous people make up the majority of the population in the villages around the lake, which is increasingly rare in our modern world.

We were especially excited (perhaps unreasonably so) to stay at Laguna Lodge, because it’s consistently ranked as one of the top eco-lodges in the entire world in terms of sustainability and meaningfully giving back to the local community. This isn’t greenwashing — they genuinely walk the talk. All of the lodge’s employees are indigenous, which provides meaningful economic opportunities while respecting local culture. The building itself is adorned with authentic Mayan relics dating from 1000 BC all the way to 1200 AD — we’re talking genuine archaeological artifacts, not replicas — as well as more recent local art and handicrafts that showcase living traditions. The entire lodge is powered completely by solar energy, and the kitchen serves up exclusively locally-sourced vegetarian food that’s both healthy and genuinely delicious.

We arrived at the lodge last night after a somewhat adventurous journey: a three-hour drive from Guatemala City through increasingly narrow mountain roads, followed by a 15-minute boat ride across the dark water. There are literally no roads leading to the lodge — it’s dramatically perched on the steep volcanic shore, surrounded by dense jungle, with just a handful of other lodges scattered nearby. It’s the kind of place where you arrive by boat or not at all, which immediately makes it feel special and removed from the everyday world.

We spent today enjoying the profound serenity of this place, relaxing in a way that’s hard to achieve in normal life, and properly recovering from our travels. The setting is absolutely stunning — volcanic peaks rising from impossibly blue water, birds calling from the jungle, and a genuine sense of peace that’s increasingly hard to find. We’re extremely glad to be here and truly excited for the week ahead!

• Accommodation: Laguna Lodge

Day 2: Ancient paths

The Laguna Lodge where we’re staying maintains an impressively large nature reserve that protects over 100 acres of tropical dry forest, actively preserving the diversity of local species while limiting the spread of invasive ones. It’s genuine conservation work, not just a marketing pitch. We spent this afternoon hiking pretty much every single trail in this reserve, which turned out to be considerably more ambitious than it initially sounded.

We clambered up and down steep ancient Mayan paths — and when we say steep, we mean the kind of incline that makes you wonder whether ancient Mayans had superhuman leg strength. We passed several Mayan ceremonial sites that are still occasionally used today, and saw numerous endemic wildflowers and birds. Most of the time we hiked through pleasantly dense forest filled with trees, vines, and flowering shrubs that created a green canopy overhead, but the trail occasionally emerged dramatically on a ridge and rewarded us with absolutely spectacular views of Lake Atitlán and the volcanic landscape that surrounds it.

Lake Atitlán fills the massive crater left behind by an enormous volcanic explosion that happened millions of years ago — a massive geological event that seriously reshaped the landscape. The lake is flanked by three considerably younger volcanoes that formed steep, almost perfect conical mountains: Volcán San Pedro, Volcán Atitlán, and Volcán Tolimán. They rise dramatically from the water in a way that looks almost too perfect to be real.

The highly seismic nature of this area is definitely hard to ignore — we’ve only been here two days and have already received four separate alerts on our phones about nearby earthquakes of magnitude 4.0 or higher! It’s simultaneously concerning and weirdly exciting. The ground beneath us is clearly still very much alive and actively shifting.

Back at the hotel after our hiking adventure — slightly sweaty and definitely tired — we enjoyed some relaxing massages from a couple of wonderful women from the local village. Their technique was different from what we’re used to, but incredibly effective. We’re gradually getting more acquainted with the local language, Kaqchikel, which honestly sounds like absolutely no other language we’ve ever heard before. The phonetics are completely unique and occasionally seem to involve sounds we didn’t know human mouths could make. Thankfully, all of the hotel staff also speak Spanish as a second language, and with Bea’s increasingly confident Portuñol (her personal hybrid of Portuguese + Español), we’ve been getting by just fine and occasionally even managing to tell jokes.

Day 3: Mirror-like water, growling stomachs, and abuelita Helena

Today, we spent most of the morning exploring the lake shore by kayak. We’ve noticed over the past few days that the wind reliably picks up in the late morning and turns the lake surface from glass into something considerably choppier, so we set our alarms, got up extra early today — which required genuine willpower — and took the kayak out shortly after sunrise. We will forever remember this magical experience.

We glided smoothly across the mirror-like surface, along a steep, completely unpopulated, and densely forested stretch of coast that felt like we’d paddled back in time. We mostly paddled in comfortable silence, occasionally interrupted by the cheerful “Hola!” of a weathered fisherman on a traditional canoe, or by the melodic chirping of tropical birds and the surprisingly loud quacking of ducks. The sky was perfectly clear — not a single cloud — and the San Pedro and Atitlán volcanoes were gently illuminated by the soft morning light, creating dramatic silhouettes against the sunrise. We paddled for a long time, until we had nearly reached the comparatively large village of Panajachel, and our stomachs were growling insistently with hunger. Time to head back and have a well-earned brunch.

In the afternoon, feeling appropriately fueled and energized, we walked along the shore in the opposite direction to visit the indigenous village of Santa Cruz La Laguna. It’s a very small village, even by local standards — just over 3,000 inhabitants, which barely qualifies as a village by American standards but feels substantial here. The only way to actually get there is by boat or by walking along the rocky shore to the marina, followed by a steep uphill walk (or tuk-tuk ride for those who are smarter than us) to reach the village itself. You see, indigenous people have generations of knowledge about this lake and know perfectly well that the water level experiences significant long-term fluctuations, so they’re quite happy to leave the picturesque waterfront property to the lodges (who will deal with the flooding), and sensibly build their villages higher up on safer ground. Smart thinking that comes from actually living with the land rather than just visiting it.

The remoteness and modest size of the village only add to its considerable charm, in our opinion. We loved our visit and could have spent much longer exploring. We thoroughly enjoyed the wonderful quirkiness of the local architecture, with many ornately painted adobe-brick houses featuring intricate designs and impossibly bright colors that somehow work perfectly together. We had an absolutely fabulous meal at Cafe Sabor Cruceño, a restaurant that’s run by the local cooking school — which means the food is both traditional and carefully prepared by students eager to impress. Supporting education while eating delicious food feels like a win-win situation.

And we found people to be extremely friendly and very happy to engage in genuine conversation with us, not just the transactional tourist interactions you sometimes get in more visited places. All the young people we talked with could speak Spanish fluently (and therefore, Bea’s Portuñol was once again useful and effective). The older generation often speaks exclusively Kaqchikel, which made communication a little harder but also more interesting. Which is exactly why we were so delighted to meet Helena — affectionately known as “abuelita Helena” by everyone in the village — who has accumulated a long lifetime of interesting stories to tell, speaks absolutely perfect Spanish, and is pure concentrated joy to be around. Her laughter is infectious and her perspective on life is both wise and hilarious. We left feeling grateful but also contemplative, wondering how many other fascinating stories go completely untold simply because of language barriers. It’s a sobering thought in a world that’s supposedly more connected than ever.

• Lunch: Cafe Sabor Cruceño

Day 4: Waving desperately, rush hour boats, and unconventional gratitude

It’s Thanksgiving today, and we feel extremely thankful for our ongoing adventure in Guatemala — though we’re celebrating it in a decidedly non-traditional way. We decided to mark the holiday with a visit to another village, San Juan La Laguna, which seemed appropriately adventurous.

We chose to get the full authentic local experience by taking one of the public commuter boats that regularly connect the various villages around the lake. We were confidently told by the lodge staff that we just had to stand on the dock and wave enthusiastically at a boat when it went by, and they would stop to pick us up. Simple enough, right? So that’s exactly what we did… four separate times! Boat after boat absolutely whizzed by, seemingly oblivious to our increasingly desperate waving, before one finally spotted us and graciously pulled up to our dock. It felt remarkably similar to trying to catch a taxi in New York City during rush hour — same frantic energy, different setting. The small boat was absolutely packed with locals commuting to work or doing daily errands in town, so we had to awkwardly squeeze past people to find even a tiny bit of bench space to perch on. We strongly suspect that the other boats didn’t stop simply because they were already completely full — this is apparently the local version of morning rush hour! It’s strangely comforting that rush hour is a universal human experience, whether you’re on a subway or a boat.

A bargain 25 Quetzals ($3.20 US) per person and just over half an hour later — during which we enjoyed spectacular views and friendly nods from our fellow passengers — we arrived at the dock in San Juan. With more than 13,000 inhabitants, this village is considerably larger than Santa Cruz, which we visited yesterday. It’s also connected by actual paved roads to other villages, which means it has cars and buses in addition to the ubiquitous tuk-tuks that seem to be everywhere in Guatemala. We marveled at the impressively tricked-out buses with extra bling that would make a Vegas performer jealous — painted in impossibly bright colors and outfitted with gratuitous blinking lights that serve no practical purpose but look fantastic. They’re part transportation, part mobile art installation.

We walked along beautifully decorated roads and past expertly painted murals that transformed ordinary walls into canvases, visited the quaint Catholic church (which was preparing for some kind of celebration), and even managed to befriend a local family who invited us to see their weaving cooperative! The hospitality here continues to impress us. Before heading back to the docks, we had an excellent meal of incredibly fresh seafood served on homemade tortillas at Soco’s Place — not remotely a traditional Thanksgiving feast of turkey and stuffing, but certainly a very happy and memorable one. Honestly, we prefer it this way. Here’s to many more unconventional holidays spent exploring fascinating places!

• Lunch: Soco’s Place

Day 5: Black Friday kayaking (and the wisdom of fellow travelers)

We realized long ago — through trial, error, and various impulse purchases we later regretted — that experiences consistently make us much happier than things. Today is Black Friday, the most consumerist day of the American calendar, and we’re genuinely glad to report that we had an absolutely wonderful day without buying a single thing. Well, except for lunch. But that’s an experience, so it counts.

It’s our last full day here at Lake Atitlán, which feels both too soon and perfectly timed, and we decided on an ambitious full-day kayak excursion for our grand finale. We enjoyed our early-morning kayak adventure earlier this week so much — it felt so magical — that we couldn’t imagine leaving this place without a proper repeat performance. We were very aware going into this that committing to the whole day would inevitably mean dealing with the late morning winds that have been reliably appearing around 10 or 11 am, but we’ve been carefully observing the conditions all week like amateur meteorologists, and we felt confident we could handle it. Famous last words, perhaps, but we were right this time.

As completely expected, the wind picked up significantly during our return journey, creating small but enthusiastic waves that made the paddling genuinely exciting but never actually dangerous — very similar to what we’ve experienced when sea kayaking around the San Juan Islands near Seattle, where conditions can change quickly. Our arms were definitely tired by the end, and we may have been moving slower than we’d like to admit, but it was absolutely worth it. We thoroughly enjoyed exploring more of Lake Atitlán’s stunning and varied coastline, and honestly can’t imagine a better way to experience this place than from a kayak, where you’re close to the water, moving at a contemplative pace, and completely immersed in the environment.

In the evening, feeling pleasantly exhausted and slightly sun-dazed, we had another absolutely amazing massage — we’ll genuinely miss having these as a regular option! Our muscles thanked us profusely. We also spent some quality time relaxing in the hotel’s common areas and socializing with other guests, which has become one of our favorite evening activities. Our best trips abroad have often enabled us to connect with like-minded people, and have sometimes brought us friendships that lasted for life. Travel has a way of bringing together people who share similar values and curiosities.

We especially related with a quote from another well-traveled guest we met today over dinner, who told us with great conviction: “I’ve got a long list of places I want to go, and I’m certainly not gonna leave travel for later in life!” Exactly! We’ve met too many people who saved all their adventures for retirement only to find that their health or energy couldn’t keep up with their dreams. The time to travel is always now, or at least as close to now as you can manage. We’re grateful we figured that out relatively early.