Xela to Lake Atitlan

On our way to the starting point of the trek, we picked up a fellow traveler, Brad, our non-English-speaking guide and two porters. We all got dropped off in Cantel, a small village outside of Xela. The porters loaded up their packs with food and sleeping gear. They didn’t include any of our stuff, which was expected. So we put on our packs and followed our guide up the first mountain. The day was cool which helped with the climb. After 600 meters, we made it to the highest point of the trek. The view was gorgeous! We continued on until a much needed lunch break. We had the opportunity to call it a day, but decided to forge on. The second half of the day was a strenuous and long downhill climb through the forest. We made it to the Nahualate river right as it started raining. We had a steep uphill climb before stopping for the night. We were greeted by a man who played the guitar and told us folk tales. We found a “candy store” to fill up on sugar treats before dinner. By 8pm, we were all snuggled into our sleeping bags on the concrete floor. Luckily the roosters were nothing compared to SE Asia and we were all able to get some shut-eye.

The following morning we started the uphill hike out of the village. Again, the views were magnificent. You could see various villages hidden throughout the mountains. The rest of the trek was less steep, both uphill and downhill. We made it to Santa Clara by lunchtime. This was a much bigger town with restaurants and stores. After lunch, we set up camp in the house of an indigenous Quiche family. We had the afternoon and evening to ourselves and spent the time drinking beers and playing cards. We went to bed early again so we could get up for the sunrise. Unfortunately, our hosts did not aid in our sleep plans. We were kept up with bright lights and chanting. It had rained the night before which left a mist over the town. We woke up to see the sunrise, but only caught a quick glimpse of light over the lake. We filled up with breakfast before making our final descent to the San Pedro on the lake.

For more details of the trek, check it out through Adrenalina Tours: http://www.adrenalinatours.com/English/Hikes/XAtitlan.html