Earlier this year, Michelle and I were fortunate enough to have had time to check out Guatemala. We spent most of our time in Antigua, about which I’ll post more later, but one of the highlights was a weekend trip out to Lake Atitlan.

A volcanic crater formed in an immeasurably immense explosion near 100,000 years ago, long before humans had settled in the Americas, and this filled with water, forming Lake Atitlan. It’s a closed lake which does not drain into the ocean, but instead is its own water system. Because the geologic forces didn’t settle down immediately, smaller “child” volcanoes built up around the caldera. They’re still there today, they’re still active (at least I’m sure that Volcan Atitlan is, but I wouldn’t sleep on the others), and they’re of course even bigger now.

These volcanoes, along with the clear, deep, blue waters and little shore villages, many of which are accessible only by boat, make Lake Atitlan one of the most picturesque places in the world, much less just Guatemala. And it makes for a great place to take some photos.

I may say more about Lake Atitlan later, and I will definitely say more about Guatemala, which was a very hospitable and interesting place. But for now, I’ll just post some of the photos that I took around San Antonio Palopo, San Pedro La Laguna, and Santiago Atitlan.

Playing around in San Pedro.

One of our boat taxi employees, relaxing on the way from San Antonio. He didn’t have much work to do en route, but he was in charge of tying up, helping passengers in and out and collecting the money.

Tuk tuks lined up for fares at the docks in San Pedro.

Going for a walk on the plaza in Santiago.

Up the church steps in San Pedro.

The back streets.

Hope you liked the photos. I’ll try to post more as they get classified, backed up and edited.