Lake Atitlan

Lake Atitlan is one of my favourite places in Guatemala. It's pretty, has lots to do, and it's just awesome. We stayed at Free Cerveza which helped, it's a social hostel, without being a bar crawl party hostel. It's the best of both worlds. You can trek up and volcano, or go paragliding and then get in the sauna to relax. What's not to like?!

Getting There

We caught a shuttle from Quetzaltenango for 100Q with Adrenlina Tours Guatemala, we got it from their office which is right by Parque a Centro America. It took about 2 hours and was relatively painless!

Where we stayed

We stayed at Free Ceveza in San Cruz de la Laguna - They have private tents and dorms. Some of the showers are hot (definitely not all of them). There aren't many options around for food so you pretty much have to get dinner there, it's 65Q but it is 3 courses and also includes free beer! It's definitely worth it just for that. It's very social but not too much of a party hostel, lights out by midnight. Highly recommended.

Journal

Jose had advised us to take a shuttle to Panajachel and from there get a boat to our destination which was the hostel and campground interestingly named "Free Ceveza". Lake Atitlan is a large lake with quite a few villages and towns dotted around it's edges. Panajachel is the main touristy spot of the lake and our accomodation was a 10 minute boat ride away in a place called Santa Cruz la Laguna. As we came down the winding roads in to the lake came in to view and it really was spectacular. The lake was shrouded in cloud so we couldn't see the volcanoes that overshadow the lake, but it still looked amazing and even gave it a mysterious feeling - it wasn't giving up all it's secrets just yet!

We pulled in to Panajachel and got off to look for a place to breakfast. We ended up at a very small quaint place, I got the deli special breakfast which was eggs, fruit and toast. It was very nice. Kate got a bowl of fruit and yogurt. After breakfast we asked around a few travel agencies about a shuttle to Antigua where we planned to go the next day. We decided to book on to the 12pm bus just to make sure we didn't miss out as they do seem to book out very quickly. The only other options for getting around are the 2nd class buses which can be unsafe especially if your Spanish isn't up to scratch.

We then went down to the docks to see about getting a boat. We'd read on the hostels website that we should only get charged 10Q to get to the hostel and that some boats will try to overcharge you. We were struggling with our big bags so we must have looked like prime targets. As we walked down we were accosted by a few people asking us where we were going, where we were from etc, eventually we gave in. "We want to go to Free Ceveza", "ah Free Ceveza, 25Q". We had a little discussion saying we thought it should be 10Q however the man pointed to a sign with the prices on and it did indeed have 25Q on it. A sign is even more impressive than a laminated sheet so who were we to argue, even though we knew deep down we were somehow getting swindled. We didn't really feel in the mood for arguing or delaying our trip so we ended up regrettably coughing up.

Getting ripped off by the boatmen

We later found that indeed it should have been 10Q and we definitely did get ripped off. Interestingly, on the way back we got dropped off at a smaller dock of which Panajachel has two. This smaller dock is on the right side of town (if you're looking at the lake) and appears a lot less touristy. If you're looking for a better deal definitely go to this dock. It's far too difficult to argue with multiple touts and ticket vendors who are just trying to confuse you. So the smaller dock is perfect.
The ten minute boat trip was very pretty though also very, very uncomfortable. We took our seats at the front of the boat which ended up slamming violently up and down every time we went over a wave. After about 10 minutes of bouncing up and down erratically we reached the Free Cerveza private dock. As you arrive you can see about twenty pretty teepees with a backdrop of lush green cliffs, it reminded us of something from Jurassic Park. We climbed the steps up to the front desk where we immediately were handed a welcome beer - they stayed true to the name Free Cerveza! Our tent wasn't quite ready yet so we sat and enjoyed our beer while watching the boats go past on the lake. The clouds were starting to part and the volcanoes opposite us were becoming clearer through the mist.

After the beer we moved in to our tent which was very spacious (for a tent), and clean (for a tent). It had a great view and all the tents are moments from the loo's. Free Cerveza is an eco-place... so it has composting (smelly) toilets, solar powered (temperamental) showers, and a somewhat hippy vibe. It's probably one of my favourite places I've stayed to date, and to top it off it's got a sauna which they will put on for 20Q per person. It's well worth it as you can run and jump in the lake afterwards! After settling down we gave the sauna a try. It was awesome! I jumped in the lake a few times and got some pictures, before long it was almost time for dinner! We realised a little late that the hostel switches the wifi off from 7pm (dinner time). It's obviously a good way for them to save on money, but it also helps people be a bit more social and I didn't see anyone staring at their phones (or even have their phones out) at dinner time, which was very refreshing! The downside was that we didn't have time to finish looking for a hostel in Antigua so we didn't have anything booked for the next day.

There aren't really many other options in Santa Cruz and 65Q for a 3 course meal and free beer really can't be sniffed at. Plus, the food was awesome. We got tomato soup, burritos and a carrot cake, but they change the menu daily! We enjoyed the free beer and got chatting to some of the other people staying at the hostel who were all really nice. They say they only serve free beer for an hour with dinner but we timed it right so we got a big litre of beer delivered just before the end and they don't try and take away beer you haven't finished. I was still drinking the free beer after a couple of hours as others had had enough.
Before long we were feeling pretty tired and headed up to bed, it was very comfortable, but I'd recommend wearing a bit of deet as we did see a couple of mosquitoes!

Awesome tents at Free Cerveza

We slept really well and were awoken buy the heat of the tent as it started to warm up very quickly from the sun. Overnight the skies had cleared and revealed the lake's true surroundings. We had breakfast (which is included), we both had the hotcakes which were great. Then we had enough time to pack and get ready to head off. We still hadn't had much luck finding anywhere to stay in Antigua so we asked the woman at the front desk if she had any suggestions. She immediately shot off a few messages to people in Antigua that she knew and had a response within minutes. We had a reservation at Doozy Koala, and the best bit was we had no booking fees through hostelworld or booking.com! It's definitely something we will try more often!

We waited for a boat to come pick us up, this one was a lot smaller than the way over, and it also stopped at a different dock in Panajachel, which is when we realised this one is the one the locals use and where you avoid the ripoff fees! We got the boat for 10Q each, and it was far more comfortable the journey over! We walked up a dirt track looking for the place where the mini-buses pick you up. We were looking for a place called "Choco Miel". I understood it was a cafe and believed it was called "Chocolate & Honey". I'd looked around on the map and hadn't managed to find it but the woman at the hostel assured me it was there. I asked a group of men at what looked like a pickup point and they pointed across the road at a place called "Xocomiel" (pronounced choco-miel), we were in the right place!