Easter A Different View - Santiago
Atitlan
April 3 – 4, 2007
April 1-6, 2008
6 days/ 5 nights
Tuesday
Leave early and fly to Guatemala City. Arrival time will depend
on your departure city. We will be picked up at the airport and
taken to Antigua.
Wednesday
We will take the coastal route drive to Lake Atitlan, and join the
group already visiting the magic of Guatemala. We arrive to Lake
Atitlan or the “center of the world”(as the ancient
Maya call it). The vast expanse of blue waters surrounded by volcanoes
and hills quilted by “milpas” and coffee fincas is unforgettable.
We will drive to the town of Santiago Atitlan, home of the Tzutujil
Maya. This town is the center of the Maya Catholicism called “La
Costumbre”. Pre-Hispanic deities and customs are layered by
Catholic Saints. The patron saint, Tzutujil style, is named Maximon
(San Simon) and he is given top billing over “NawaJesuchristo”
during Holy Week.
For the next three days we will be staying at a
lovely hotel on the bay, Hotel Santiago Atitlan (with private access
to the beach and waters of the lake), and observe the Mayan version
of Semana Santa. Between the festivities and the natural surroundings,
it will be hard to put the camera down. Should things pale, there
is kayaking, swimming, hang gliding, walking, bicycling, horseback
riding, and boat trips to the other colorful towns around the lake.
(Be forewarned…by this time you might be dizzy from all the
color in Guatemala and you might want to stay in the hotel with
night shades on or watch a black-and-white movie on TV.) We will
be here thru Holy Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday.
Saturday
After lunch, we will take the boat back across the lake, and then
the van for the 3-hour drive back to Guatemala City. A night in
hotel in Guatemala City.
Sunday
We fly back on Easter Sunday. Your Easter eggs and jellybeans will
look pretty bland after the swirling colors and Indian pageantry
of Guatemala. But the indelible sights and sounds of Guatemala will
live on in your mind’s eye and thru your camera lens!
Optional Extension: Spend one more night in Santiago
Atitlan to extend the trip to Monday.
|