La Iguana Perdida Hotel Santa Cruz La Laguna

No sooner did we arrive in Panajachel, we were followed by a group of people asking where we wanted to go. We gently declined their help, but eventually a young boy, not more than 12 years old, joined us in our search for the port where we were supposed to catch our boat to Santa Cruz La Laguna. Despite insisting that we´re looking for a public boat to get there, the boy led us to the other side of town, trying to persuade us to get into his boat. It was only when we said that we were only pr...

After getting back to the crib after 24 hours of straight up traveling on buses and boats I was ready to physically collapse.. Little did I know that soon after arriving I would be put to work, making a 3 course dinner for 15 people.. Yeah insane huh! The staff at the hostel we hang out Iguana Perdida is non-existent, and the manager got friggan typhoid fever, so Stewart and I being the nice guys that we are decided to help out until they get staffed so we have been working over there, and ma...

Friday I had booked a trip to Lake Atitlan. After the morning break at school, we saw "When the mountains tremble" - a very interesting documentary on the Guatemalan civil war in the 80ies and 90ies. Unfortunately, in order to catch the bus we had to leave before the movie was finished, but expect to see the rest of it at a later time.

I had managed to persuade my room mates, Mieke and Hayden, to come with me to La Iguana Perdida, which I had found on the internet. Unfortunately, as Mi...

as i said, i went back to the lake. i raced straight through nasty Panajachel with nothing more than a stop behind a tree to pee, and jumped a boat to Santa Cruz, arriving at the Iguana Hostel. I chilled in the lakeside sun reading a book (Brave New World), dozed in a hammock and ate fruit and yogurt. around 3pm the afternoon storm blew in. yippee-kay-aye! it was something. high winds, big waves, lightning, dumping rain. the best part of this hostel is the saturday night bbq and party. they g...

We moved again today.... Across the lake to a a small but sweet place called Iguana Perida in Santa Cruz.... We instantly felt at home... It was an english speaking hotel aimed at travellers, but it was not aimed in the same way as in San Pedro... We still cant work out what it was about the place, but were are now much happier..... we found ourselves a small room which looks out on tho the lake and has the best view ever. Its such a good site for the eyes when u wake up in the morning... And...

Well, I have been in beautiful Santa Cruz for the last 3 days. I am sorry to be leaving tomorrow, but I am excited to start volunteering (finally). Lago Atitlan is simply beautiful. It is a large lake surrounded by 3 volcanoes and lush rainforests. I am staying at La Iguana Perdida right on the lake. The views from the dining room here are stunning. There are multiple villages around the lake. Today, I went with a group of 3 from N. Ireland, 1 from England, 3 from Amsterdam and 1 German to to...

Where to begin? First, I should mention that my inability at times to pay proper attention in Spanish led me to misinform you all. Rios Montt was dictator for 2 years, 20 years ago (not dictator for 20 years). And there are not 23 presidential parties. My host mother told me that for the more local offices, there are more parties, however ... so there you have it. Still, 12 candidates for president is quite a lot. But no more about politics. People are a little worried and don't know what to ...

Ahhhhhhhhhhhh...the sweet sigh of being in a place that is chilled out and all the people are happy..no tazers here!!! *grin*...we are enjoying everything the lake has to offer..kayaking, scuba diving, hiking, cliff jumping, boating!!...and then great family style dinners and hammocks, cards and drinks!!!! sigh..finally the holiday I have been looking for!!!! haha.....Tex Rich and Mikey stay here for 3 nights and then moved on to do Tikal and Belize..It was great having them with us...OMG how...

Saturday & Sunday - Feb 3 & 4, 2007 On Saturday morning, we packed up and caught a morning ferry to Santa Cruz, across the lake. Santa Cruz is much smaller and quieter than San Pedro or San Marcos. There are only 3 hotels, with an additional 2 just outside of the town (accessible by boat only). The local village is up a very long and steep road on the hillside. The gringo part is on the water by the pier, and very small. There are a couple small tiendas in the village on the hill. The...

We take a bus from our hostel to San Pedro de Laguna, it's a three hour trip and the views of the lake as we come down the windy road is awesome (yes that is the best word to describe it). We are hassled by hotel touts when the bus stops but as we had seen one of the guide books recommended hotels on the way in we decide to give that try. Its worth it, the Mansion del Lago is only $18 a night and the room is clean with hot water and a lake view.

We were unimpressed with San Pedro, the ...