Guatemala : Lake Atitlán and a Work Exchange in San Juan La Laguna
- ionaweir
- Apr 29
- 17 min read
After all that big fun exciting travelling in Mexico, I was really craving some time to relax and not do anything or speak to anyone. Basically, a holiday from my holiday. A major first world problem. I had a week free before starting my work exchange in San Juan La Laguna so decided to book a week in a cheap Airbnb in San Marcos La Laguna, a neighbouring town in Lake Atitlan. I finally arrived in Guatemala City (a day later than planned due to the cancelled flight), and was attempting to make it to San Marcos the same day as it’s not actually that far but the roads in Guatemala are kinda questionable. As soon as I left the airport I was bombarded with shuttles going to Antigua and Panajachel (the main town on Lake Atitlan). I managed to take out money really quickly and get a sim card and then I was off straight away to the lake on what was supposed to be a direct shuttle, yet somehow still had me wait three hours in Antigua before getting a connecting shuttle. It was all very easy though and was also really fun to see Antigua again as I’d previously spent almost a week there five years ago and was where I did the Acatenango hike – the now kinda famous hike where you camp overnight on a volcano and see another volcano (Volcan Fuego) erupt. After a lot of thought I’d decided not to do the hike again as it’s quite expensive, very very difficult, and also not guaranteed that you’ll even see any eruptions or that the weather will be clear. I have really nice memories of doing it last time so didn’t want to ruin it by doing it again and it not going to plan. Anyway, after wandering around Antigua for a while, the second shuttle finally arrived and I was on my way to the lake ! Guatemala’s famous for its public buses, which everyone calls ‘Chicken Buses’ because they’re absolutely crazy but I honestly didn’t have that in me so thought it would be best to stick to shuttle buses. I’m glad I did because I managed to make it to Panajachel in good time before the last lancha (kinda like a small metal ferry boat), which is the only way to get to the towns surrounding Lake Atitlan. It’s very stressful though because they put all your big bags on the roof of the boat without strapping anything down, and the boat gets very very bumpy in the afternoon so you’re constantly on edge that all your belongings are going to sink to the deep dark bottom of the lake (which is the deepest lake in Central America by the way so there’s really no hope if your stuff hits the water).
I arrived in San Marcos in the early evening with all my belongings safe and dry and made my way through “Hippy Highway” before getting to the centre of the town. Each town in Lake Atitlan is known for having its own personality and San Marcos is known for being very hippie - with loads of yoga retreats, vegan food and gentrification from foreigners running away from their problems at home. I thought I knew what to expect when I was arriving but it was honestly hilarious. It was like a caricature of hippie culture, with everyone white and dreadlocked, dressed in brown rags and lots of jewellery, all with a very odd look in their eyes. Honestly there was just a very strange and slightly unsettling energy there I thought, like they were all under some sort of trance.
I wasn’t exactly sure where my Airbnb was so I thought it was best to get a tuktuk and thank the hippie gods I did because it was right at the top of a super steep hill which I genuinely don’t think I would have managed with all my luggage. The Airbnb was really nice – I’d booked a tiny home with an amazing view of the lake and surrounding volcanos (hence the very steep hill), which was of course very tiny yet still managed to fit a mini kitchen, bathroom, double bed and lots of storage space. I completely unpacked my rucksack for the first time in months, had a little explore of the town, and cooked myself dinner in my own private kitchen which all felt so so nice as I was able to just relax in my own space after being in so many shared spaces for so long.
As I was in San Marcos for a while, I didn’t really feel pressure to be really busy each day so honestly spent a lot of time watching Netflix, reading, and writing my Mexico blog posts, all with an amazing view of the volcanos. I got into a routine of going to the bakery everyday to buy a bagel for lunch and then would do one other activity before braving the hill back up to my accommodation. My favourite thing that I did in San Marcos was the nature reserve Cerro Tzankuji which is this really rocky area on the lake with lots of nice flat spots to sunbathe and swim (and cliff jump if you’re into that kinda thing – I am not). I spent the whole morning there reading my book then went and got my bakery bagel on the way back for lunch. Delightful. The same day on my way back I just so happened to walk past a mini flea market with tables full of clothes so of course I had to make some purchases. My issue with my rucksack is that it luckily/unluckily fits a LOT inside, meaning I can buy lots of fun things, but then I’m the loser who has to carry it all on her back.
Because of this, at the end of my stay in San Marcos I decided it was time to part ways with some more of my clothes as I had managed to accumulate quite a lot (including a yoga mat oops) so some culling was done, which was difficult but needs must I guess. I’d really enjoyed my stay in San Marcos and allowing myself to do nothing without guilt was much appreciated. I feel like I kinda had to relearn how to be alone again and how to entertain myself after spending so long constantly travelling with other people, as that was something I found quite hard in Mexico. I genuinely couldn’t pay any attention to books or tv shows as I was so used to having people around me for entertainment so it was definitely good for me to remind myself of what I actually find interesting (although unfortunately it turns out that binge-watching the entire series of White Lotus is one of those things).
It was now finally time for me to move on to San Juan La Laguna for my month-long work exchange at MayAchik, a vegetarian eco-lodge. I’d found it through WorldPackers a couple months ago and had been accepted, although had pushed back the dates a couple weeks so I could travel Yucatan. I’d never done anything like this before so was quite excited, but also a bit apprehensive as my week of doing nothing in San Marcos may have made me a bit lazy and brought me to the conclusion that I couldn’t be bothered to have a job. Ever. That being said I’d made a commitment and also was keen for the free meals and accommodation (and think I may have got bored after actually doing nothing for longer than a week) so took a lancha to San Juan on the 1st April. My first impression of the town was just about how colourful and vibrant it was. It has a reputation for being the “artist” town, and is full of murals, weaving and traditional clothes, which didn’t disappoint. The walls and pavements are full of paintings and there’s this one street called the “calle de los sombreros”, which is full of painted hats and is super colourful, and you see local women weaving everywhere. I arrived around midday and got shown around the lodge and my dorm, and then got told I had the rest of the day to relax before starting work the next day. I had a wander around the town to get my bearings and then decided to go to the mirador, which is quite steep but only takes like 15 minutes and then you get an amazing view of the lake.
The eco-lodge I’m working at is so so nice. It’s really big with lots of wooden bungalows and outdoor space, with loads of trees, fruit and vegetable patches and hammocks (my faves). They use a lot of the food they grow themselves in the kitchen which is cool – with my exchange I get a free breakfast everyday and then a free lunch for each working day, which is 6 and a half hours, five days a week. The portions are so big as well that I don’t usually need to spend any money on dinner. All the staff are so nice and helpful, most of them only speaking Spanish and Tz’utujil, the native language in San Juan, so I think my Spanish has improved so much since coming here since I’m speaking the language all day and all the work is in Spanish as well. As it’s coming to rainy season, the weather has been a bit on and off, with quite a few big rain showers which I actually don’t mind too much, and a bit of sun here and there. I’m sure you’ll all be devasted to hear that I’ve lost a lot of my tan as there’s not many good places to sunbathe around the lake, and even if there was I think I’d feel a bit uncomfortable doing so as it’s not commonly done by the locals here. San Juan is a lot less touristy than some of the other villages on the lake as foreigners are no longer allowed to buy property or land there, as this is quite a big problem in other areas of Atitlan. This is obviously a good thing, but I do think I stand out quite a lot as I’m blonde with blue eyes and also generally on my own, so have received a bit of unwanted attention, but nothing too bad and San Juan is generally very very safe with everyone being very friendly.
My first week at MayAchik was mostly spent learning reception and all the different tours and amenities they offer. I’m not gonna lie there was quite a lot to learn, especially considering I’m only here for a month – I’m only just getting to grips with everything as I’m writing this and I leave next week. I’ve found that I’m really learning a lot of different things – I’ve never worked on reception before so it’s a lot of admin and writing emails and as they don’t have an automatic booking system you have to put through every booking manually on multiple different spreadsheets which can be slightly confusing, and then on top of that you’re doing check ins and outs and waiting tables at the restaurant. So you’re doing multiple jobs at once which can be stressful, especially when it’s busy. The last week or so I’ve been mostly helping out in the kitchen which I’ve really enjoyed and have basically been getting free cooking classes. There’s a lot of washing plates and cutting fruit and vegetables which is fine, but they also got me making tortillas, cleaning and cooking beans, and washing banana leaves haha. I’d definitely say I prefer working in the kitchen as it’s a bit more social as you can talk with the other cocineras, who are super nice and fun, and I think I just prefer the work in general. Much better than working in a Wetherspoons kitchen for sure.
When I first arrived I was the only volunteer, but a few days later a girl from the United States came as well, who’s been doing a similar job to me which has been nice. The same day that she arrived we also had a private group arrive who had booked out the whole hotel for a week to do a retreat, which was rather interesting and entertaining. They were all from different places, but a large majority came from the Czech Republic randomly. There was one day where one of the group leaders asked to use the restaurant kitchen to prepare for a Cacao Ceremony, so we all had to go quiet whilst she started chanting over a pan of hot chocolate. I was really struggling not to laugh. Cacao ceremonies are supposed to be ancient sacred rituals around here, but I’ve noticed it’s only the white westerners that pay a lot of money to do them and none of the locals that I’ve met have any interest in partaking in these “spiritual” events. It gives big San Marcos vibes. I spoke to some of the staff here and they all think San Marcos is a very strange place haha. One of the older Czech women on the retreat became very intrigued by me and kept on trying to tell me in very broken English that I was very very pretty but my piercings were very ugly. She bumped into me in the town centre one day and got her whole group to follow me back to the hotel so I was just awkwardly the appointed “tour” leader for this random group of Czech people who didn’t speak any English and nor do I speak any Czech so it was all round just a bit weird.
My first day off I decided to go to Panajachel, which isn’t the prettiest town on the lake, but is the biggest (and has a supermarket !) and I’d done some research and seen that they had loads of pacas (thrift shops) there so of course I had to go. The lancha there took almost an hour and was beautiful – I would have paid just to sit on the boat and go straight back to San Juan as the views are so amazing. Of course I managed to buy quite a lot in Panajachel, all for a very reasonable price, but unfortunately two of the main shops I’d wanted to go to were closed so the only logical solution was to go back on my next day off, where I did even more damage. I got so much good stuff though it was so worth it, even though I am going to have to do another wardrobe culling before I leave the lake as I think my rucksack will be very very heavy.
San Juan is also really close to San Pedro, which is probably the most popular town for backpackers on the lake. It’s twenty minute walk on the side of the road to get there – not the prettiest walk but not hard, and as soon as you arrive you can tell it’s more tailored for travellers. There’s so many nice cafes and restaurants with vegan food, and lots of bars and hostels too. I’ve been quite a few times after work just to walk around and people watch which is fun. Helena was staying there for couple nights on her route through Guatemala so I went to see her and Peter one evening which was nice. I had no data and the place we’d planned to meet was closed so it was a struggle to find them but we ended up going to a pizza place with proper Italian dough, which is very hard to find here, and then went for a few drinks afterwards. A cat took a liking to us and was so sweet, until it started making biscuits on Helena’s chest and sucking on her jumper. Bit weird. Helena and Peter also came to San Juan for a day and we went to the mirador (for my third time) and I then finally got pupusas ! I’ve been wanting some for so long – they’re a Salvadorean food which I ate quite a bit last time I was travelling and really liked – although they are basically another form of tortilla filled with beans and cheese, but you get lots of fun sauces and pickled vegetables to put on top. I also finally tried a real horchata which was so so good and well worth the wait.
Gabby (the other volunteer) and I had the same day off one week so we decided to have a look around Santa Cruz – a smaller town on the lake. We went to a café with an amazing view on the lake and I bought a (reversible!) bag made by one of the local women, and then had a bit of a wander around before deciding to get a lancha to La Casa del Mundo, a tiktok famous hotel on the lake only accessible by boat. It’s quite expensive to stay at but you can get a day pass for 50 quetzales, where they have lots of places to swim and sunbathe, and I think you can rent kayaks and stuff as well but we didn’t do that. The hotel is so so pretty and I can see why it went viral on tiktok, although the restaurant is ridiculously expensive – I spent £11 on a sandwich ! Gabby being from the States thought that was cheap. Mad. I spent most of the afternoon literally just lying in the sun, where I remained completely pale except for burning my boobs rather badly. Oops.
The month of April is a cool time to be in Guatemala due to its celebrations for Semana Santa (Easter but bigger and more catholic). In San Juan they had quite a lot of processions which were quite impressive but also nowhere near as intense and stressful as the ones I experienced in Malaga which was good. Although the Semana Santa celebrations in Antigua, Guatemala are supposed to be crazy and the biggest ones in the world. Best for another time I think. They also do loads of Alfombras (street carpets) with different materials and dyes on good Friday and then go through them all with the processions which is cool to watch. My favourite part was the procession carried by lots of local women all dressed in tipical dress. I’ve actually never seen the processions done by women before so loved this.
One of the main tourist attractions of San Juan is the Rostro Maya hike, the highest point in San Juan and a fairly steep 5/6 hour hike. Gabby and I had booked the sunrise hike for one of our days of, as it gets quite cloudy later on, which we had to leave at 3am for. The night before I fell asleep to the sound of pouring rain which did not leave me feeling enthusiastic; woke up to my 2am alarm, also alongside the pouring rain, and also during a powercut so we couldn’t message the guide to ask if the hike was still going ahead. I was really really hoping it wasn’t. Eventually at 3am we got a knock on our dorm window from our guide, where I asked him if it would even be safe – to which he said no and that we wouldn’t even see anything and that better to reschedule. I very much agreed. However, there were also these dutch girls in our group who didn’t speak a word of Spanish, nor did our guide speak any English, so I had to go out in the pouring rain anyway to explain to them that it was probably best not to go ahead with the tour. They didn’t seem to fazed initially as they were wearing massive ponchos and welly boots, and seemed a bit clueless, but I eventually got the point across. I think Miguel (the guide) was very pleased they also decided to cancel. I actually don’t think I’ll have any more days off to do the Rostro Maya hike as I leave quite soon and most of my shifts start at 7am, which is a shame but I guess just gives me another reason to come back.
Since we couldn't do our hike, we decided to check out Santiago, another town on the lake. There aren't any lanchas there from San Juan so we had to go to a different lancha dock in San Pedro which only went to Santiago and back. It was quite nice but not my favourite town, everything felt a lot bigger, busier and dirtier, a bit like Panajachel but without the nicer parts lol. We had a wander round and then decided to go to a Colombian restaurant for lunch where I tried my first patacón - a colombian sandwich which uses fried green plantain instead of bread. I've been wanting to try one of these for ages as I'm obsessed with plantain so that was very exciting and it was very very enjoyable.
Since writing all of the above, I have sinced managed to find the time to do the Rostro Maya hike ! I ended up having my last Monday in San Juan off work so we rebooked it for then and luckily the weather behaved very nicely. The hike however was no joke - we left MayAchik at 3am and got to the highest point for sunrise at around 5.30am, so timing wise it wasn't too bad but wow it was steep. I was really regretting my life choices on the way up. Somehow I was able to keep up with the guide, who was one of the workers at the hotel so we see him a lot and he was great, but it wasn't without a lot of difficulty. There were some really fun parts with rope and rocks to climb but I had so little energy that it was a struggle. At the top we got given pan dulce and hot chocolate and the view was amazing as it was such a clear day - you could see all the volcanoes around the lake and then even Acatenango and Fuego ! It made me so glad we hadn't done it in the rain as A, I genuinely think it would have been too difficult, and B, we wouldn't have been able to see anything and it really would have been quite miserable without the view at the top. Going down was great though. I really enjoyed that. Not sure I'll be doing anymore big mountain/volcano hikes anytime soon as I leave Guatemala in three days so I'm really glad I was able to do it before leaving the country.
Speaking of leaving the country, on Friday I'm off to Costa Rica ! I've been wanting to go to Bocas del Toro in Panama (an island chain off the Caribbean coast) for a very long time and I got accepted to do another work exchange, this time at a jungle eco lodge by the beach on one of the islands there so was very very pleased with that. However it turns out that as Bocas del Toro is so far north of the country it's actually a lot easier to fly into San Jose in Costa Rica and then get a shuttle across the border from Limon, then finally a ferry to the islands. And then I figured since I was going there anyway I might as well spend a bit of time in the country, so my plan is to fly from Guatemala city to San Jose on Friday (the night before I have to sleep in the airport as the flight is so early eek), then get the bus to Puerto Viejo in Limon, where I'm going to stay for a week before crosing the border into Panama for my work exchange. In theory this plan should work, although there is currently a strike in Guatemala and apparently all the roads are blocked, so we shall see.
I've really enjoyed my time in San Juan and Lake Atitlan; it's been so nice to slow down and have a bit more of a routine. I'm honestly not sure I'd be able to be away for so long if I was constantly going from place to place as it's just so exhausting and you get so burnt out, and I also think you don't really get as much out of each place you visit either. I feel like I really got to know the town and made friends with the other people working at the eco-lodge which has been so great and I'd really recommend doing work exchanges over normal backpacking to be honest. Although I have heard some horror stories ! I've been very lucky with it so far so fingers crossed that continues in Panama. Anyway, will update more soon. Adios, Iona xoxo.
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