It is fortunate that Lake Atitlan is such a stunning destination, because getting there is hellish, especially on some of the Guatemalan roads. We made it eventually, and were pleased to get to our camp site at Pasaj Cap. Pasaj Cap is located between the villages of San Marcos and Tzunsuna.

Pasaj Cap is run by a French expat, Pierre and he has created a very special place on Lake Atitlan.  We were incredibly fortunate that he allows 10 campervans (overlanders) to stay at his property. Most of his income is from guests staying long term (1 – 3 months) is his stylish apartments. If you are ever in Guatemala then a visit to Pasaj Cap is a must. We loved our time there, and found it very difficult to leave – we tried three times! This was mainly due to the very friendly expat community that holiday here – otherwise known as ‘Pasajcappers’.

Our first week staying at Pasaj Cap consisted of leisurely mornings and a swim in the lake, then getting the lancha (water taxi) into San Pedro for our Spanish class in the afternoon.

We soon realised that the Pasajcappers had lots of fun organised activities and our Spanish classes were getting in the way of attending these. So instead of continuing our classes for a second week, we decided to abandon ship, and hang out with the Pasajcappers.

Our second week at Lake Atitlan hanging out with the Pasajcappers meant going on a variety of hikes, an amazing four course breakfast, regular happy hour at 5:30pm, ladies day at Panachel, mens spiritual group (going to the pub and drinking spirits), a decathlon, and attending ‘church’ – a very good American bbq each Sunday in San Pedro called Smokin Joes.

We also managed to fit in day trips to some of the various towns around Lake Atitlan. There are 11 towns around the lake, we managed to visit six of them –  San Pedro, San Marcos, San Juan, Panachel, Tzusuna, and Jaibalito. While they are all geographically close, each town has its own unique flavour, and believe it or not Mayan language. Our favourite villages were Panachel, for its great handicraft shopping (Jeanette thinks the best in Guatemala), cafes – especially Cross Road Cafe which has great coffee and the owner Mike is very entertaining, and grocery stores to stock supplies. San Juan is a less touristy town that has friendly people, community cooperatives and plenty of Mayan tradition.

One of the reasons Jeanette was keen to check out Lake Atitlan was the yoga and meditation retreats that are held at villages around the lake. The majority are around the town of San Marcos – a  hippy town full of spiritual seekers. Many people believe that Lake Atitlan has special energy and healing powers.

While we were there Jeanette checked out two different venues – La Paz, and the Yoga Forest, and attended yoga classes at both.

La Paz is an eco hotel that was the first hotel in San Marcos, established in 1993. It is located in central San Marcos and is easy to get to from the dock. The entrance to the yoga space at La Paz is through a lovely jungle path. They also have a very good vegetarian restaurant.

The Yoga Forest is a little bit more of a challenge to find and get to. It is located about a 20 minute walk uphill from San Marcos town on small dirt track. There are rocks painted with flowers that you follow up the hill, some of the rocks are obvious and some have you wondering if you have made a wrong turn. Eventually you come across the gate with Yoga Forest on it, and you breath out a sigh of relief. Then you open the gate and see another massive set of stairs. By the time you get up to the yoga space you are ready for your relaxation. The view makes it all worth while, it is breath taking.

We couldn’t write about our time in Lake Atitlan without mentioning our friendly doggie neighbour Walter. He was always there to greet us with a smile and a wagging tale. Thanks Natalie and Mark for sharing your very cute mutt, and Natalie for the photo.

While we could of easily spent another couple of weeks at this very special place, we only have a 90 day visa to explore Gautemala, El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua. So after a fun filled 16 days we packed up the van and headed for the Pacific Coast so Glen could get some surfing in.