Category: Lake Atitlán
Fun at the Fair
Panajachel to host patron saint festivities in October St. Francis of Assisi was, among other things, the patron of animals and the environment. So it is fitting that fair week in the city named for him, San Francisco Panajachel, will include a ceremony to bless the animals. The environment will also be a theme, with [...]
Creepy Carp Haunt the Lake
As if the ingress of bully bass to Lake Atitlán were not bad enough (see Revue August 2011, Lake Views, page 88), another alien may be even more harmful. At least since 2002, carp of the genus Cyprinus have been appearing in fishermen’s trawling nets. No one knows when they got there, nor what to [...]
Bad-Ass Bass Rain from the Sky
53 years ago, an airplane wrought sudden, significant alterations in Lake Atitlán’s food chain Flying fish inhabit oceans, not lakes. Well, except for one sunny day in 1958. If you were looking at Lake Atitlán then, you would have seen big fish on the fly. They arrived in tubs welded into what was, judging from [...]
A traveler’s Perspective of Guatemalan Destinations
text/photos by Tanya Hughes Guatemala is a magical place. I came here the first time on a brief holiday that started on the Caribbean coast of Mexico and took me through Belize and finally into Guatemala. I was impressed with Tikal and Petén, but I immediately fell in love with La Antigua Guatemala. The unique [...]
Blues master Steve James performs in La Antigua
Internationally known blues guitarist Steve James traveled from Austin, Texas, to perform for an appreciative audience at Ocelot, the blues & jazz joint in La Antigua Guatemala. The intimate setting, limited to just 50 guests, was the perfect venue for James’ flawless fingerpicking on the guitar and mandolin. Singing old standards and newer favorites from [...]
Panajachel to Host the 18th Annual Cycle Messenger World Championships
The following cities all have something in common: Sydney, Berlin, London, Toronto, New York, Barcelona, Zurich, San Francisco, Tokyo and Panajachel. Wait a minute—Panajachel? The commonality is that all of them, whether world-class metropolis or funky tourist burgs, have hosted, or will host, the prestigious Cycle Messenger World Championships (CMWC). This month, the event comes [...]
Moulin Rouge — The Musical Comes to Panajachel
May 28 and 29 Vermonters Andy Hauty and Joby Dan’Sy, who brought A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Producers and West Side Story to Panajachel, are bringing this month their rendition of Moulin Rouge. The couple have pleased audiences of locals and weekenders for more than four years with their troupe, Atitlán Youth Theatre. Their productions [...]
Nice Paca Finds
I will never forget my 1988 introduction to Pacas. I refer not to women named Francisca (Paca, for short), although I have met those, too. Fewer all the time, however, since my wife disdains Pacas in any form, capital P or small P. In downtown Guatemala, during siesta hour (still observed in the city back [...]
A Walking Tour of “Old” Panajachel
Panajachel is firstly a walking city. If you drive in it, you soon tire of the paucity of two-way streets. And every rocky contour of those streets registers on the pant-seat of every chicken-bus rider. Tuktuks look fun, until you actually ride in one. And much of Pana is not overly bike-friendly. So, unless pogo sticks catch on, feet remain the preferred vehicle.
Festival Atitlán
The Festival Atitlán returns for its 9th year, once again celebrating springtime with music, dance, theatre, graphic art displays and workshops, plus a great kid section, and a promise of a beautiful day with family and friends outdoors on the shores of Lake Atitlán. As is the custom, the proceeds are donated to a local [...]
Thirteen Threads
The mission of Thirteen Threads is to empower organized groups of indigenous women to bring about changes, through their own efforts, that will alleviate the adverse effects of poverty and improve their quality of life.
The Blooming of Lake Atitlán
Panajachel unites and digs with defiance In The Green Felt Jungle, the story is told of a dapper man in pinstripes who rides a Cadillac into Las Vegas one night, seeking the neonized excitement of that gilded city. But he finds little more than a dreary gas station. “Where is Las Vegas?” he asks the [...]
Cloud Nine: The Tzantizotz Nature Reserve
The swirling mist dusts Volcán San Pedro in a muted dove gray, catching dawn’s sunrays and washing it in an ethereal glow. The steely-mirrored waters of Lake Atitlán are quiet, rippled only by the wake of a distant boat that slides across its surface. The air is still, cool and refreshing. This awe-inspiring view is the reason that Lake Atitlán is undisputedly one of the world’s most beautiful lakes. It is here, in the moment and in the quiet that one can touch the magnificence of God’s creation.
Panajachel Feria
by Ana Flinder photos: Vicoria Stone Panajachel’s patron saint, St. Francis of Assisi, is honored in October with a combination of town fair, cultural dances, religous ceremonies, pyrotechnics and parades Next month brings another great opportunity to experience Guatemalan culture and festivity in a way that is very easy on the visitor, especially with the [...]
Would the Real Independence Day Please Stand Up?
Guatemala, El Salvador and their sisters did not win independence on Sept. 15 At our house in Panajachel, July 4 is Independence Day for two reasons. As citizens of the United States, my sons and I observe it in some fashion. But July 4 is also the day that my youngest, Aaron Donald Coop, marks [...]
Requisition-less Water
Highland hospital slakes its thirst and reduces its paperwork—a need, discovered by accident, is met General Jack Ripper, the villain in Dr. Strangelove, uttered a single true statement during his long paranoiac rant. To Group Captain Lionel Mandrake, his hapless audience, Ripper rhetorically asked, “Did you know that 70 percent of you is water, Mandrake?” [...]
Robert Hinshaw
Given his age, 75, you’d think anthropologist Robert Hinshaw would want to settle back with one of those Scandanavian vodkas he occasionally enjoys and retire to his Colorado mountain retreat. Instead, he wants to make a difference in this world, as “payback” for all he’s received. He explains: “Gilbert White, the late geographer and a [...]
6 Sky
The Legacy of Mesoamerican Astronomical Knowledge Art Exhibit: July 22-28, The Galería, Panajachel, Lake Atitlán Astronomy, mythology, the calendar and the spirit world were all of extreme importance to the ancient Mesoamericans. Artist-scholar Dave Schaefer renders these themes in multiple sets of dimensions this month in Panajachel, Lake Atitlán. Some of his images are realized [...]
Anonymous donor makes big pledge to support Hospitalito Atitlán
Since the devastating mudslides of 2005, a small hospital in Santiago Atitlán has been struggling to serve the community. In the four years since Hospitalito Atitlán opened, it has filled a great need with a 24-hour emergency room, X-ray, lab and clinics. The hospital board has been hard at work to build a new, permanent [...]
My 101 First Cousins-in-law
Marrying into a large family brings unannounced house guests and some new vocabulary. Since my Guatemalan wife had 10 siblings, I have enough in-laws to populate a middle-sized Dallas suburb. I am forever meeting “new” members of the González-Boch clan for the first time. And I was not that good at recalling names even before [...]
Ursula Baumann
Art Exhibit and Auction, Thurs., May 14, 7 pm. Theatre El Chapiteau, Panajachel, Lake Atitlán A host of Guatemalans, including four-footed ones, are glad that Ursula Baumann changed continents and careers in 1998. She had been an able but often bored hotel manager in her native Switzerland. For decades she dreamt of making her avocation, [...]
Semana Santa on the Lake: San Pedro La Laguna
written by Ana Flinder Semana Santa is undoubtedly the most festive week of the year in Guatemala, celebrated with the most pomp and grandeur in La Antigua, and with deeply traditional ceremonies and indigenous style in Santiago Atitlán. Both of these destinations require advanced bookings for lodging but are not the only places to experience a [...]
Semana Santa on the Lake: Santiago Atitlán
written by Ana Flinder Those of you who have your place to stay in La Antigua Guatemala for Semana Santa are sure to enjoy what is known as the second-biggest and most spectacular Semana Santa celebration in the world. (Second only to Sevilla, Spain, so they say.) And you know who you are. Because they [...]
Nurse Pain is At Large in Panajachel
The Panajachel Players bring mirth, music, farce and Vaudeville to Lake Atitlán. If you are Dr. Willard Dillard, the sobriety-challenged President of the Herbaceous Succulent Society, it may be hard to cast someone to play you in a skit. After Dillard emerged from the recesses of Barbara Ramey’s gauche imagination, the man tapped to play [...]
The Festival of Consciousness 2009
Written by María Elisa Murray Presenting new solutions for a better world What does it mean to be conscious? How conscious are we in our lives? How can we become more conscious as individuals, as a community, as a planet? To answer these questions and more, the inaugural Festival of Consciousness will be held in [...]
La Cambalacha Youth Art Initiative
Text and photos by Jennifer Block Restoring creative expression through direct action, Gabriela Cordón aims to transform Guatemala’s educational system via her youth arts initiative. You’d be forgiven for thinking La Cambalacha is just another summer camp for kids. The place spills forth with color and laughter. On stage, a group of children practice a [...]
Bruce Barclay
Humanitarian, entrepreneur, and one of the founders of Modern Panajachel Bruce Barclay, founder of a worker’s paradise in Panajachel, has died. The New Yorker of Jewish heritage was 60. After arriving in Panajachel in 1978, Barclay had a vision for the east bank of the San Francisco River, which bisects Panajachel. He purchased the upper [...]
Just call me Indio
One of Panajachel’s most colorful and asked-about personages, tourists and locals know him as a master craftsman who sells his own handiwork. Self-promoter, religious huckster, iconoclast, “loco”—Francisco Quiej has been called all these things; none is anywhere near the truth. “Indio” is what he calls himself, even though his fellow Mayas consider the term an [...]
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