Santa Cruz is a much smaller village
and the traveller scene is pretty much contained to a couple
wonderful hangouts. Most notably, there's the super fancy and
expensive, although very attractive Hotel Isla Verde, and the fun,
relaxed, rustic La Iguana Perdida.
The story of La Iguana Perdida is quite
captivating starring a young British woman travelling around Lake
Atitlan in the 90s, falling in love with the area, buying land and
then falling in love with a fellow traveller. (That's the Coles
notes version, of course). And twenty years later, La Iguana Perdida,
although bigger and with electricity still maintains the same focus
as it did in its infancy-
travellers meeting other travellers and
enjoying the spectacular lake side setting while forging friendships
and sharing experiences. The shared family style dinner (Q60) plays
into this theme well. The three courses are exceedingly delicious and
the happy hour directly preceding dinner really lubricates the social
aspect of the meal. So intent on this social outcome, La Iguana
Perdida doesn't have WiFi. And while this was super inconvenient for
us at the time, as we didn't realize it before arriving and were
trying to organize a new apartment back in Canada which required a
lot of paperwork and back and forth, we do truly appreciate the idea
of being disconnected from our phones and connected to real people.
This isn't to say that La Iguana Perdida is completely disconnected
though, if that's a deal breaker for you. They do have computers with
internet access that you can use for a small fee.
 |
| Our Cabin the first night |
Just up the hill (ok ALL the way up THE
hill) and perhaps benefiting enormously from La Iguana Perdida's lack
of WiFi is CECAP restaurant and training centre. With a gorgeous
view, an excellent cause and free WiFi, the restaurant/cafe at CECAP
is run by students who are learning to take traditional Guatemalan
dishes to international tourism standards. The food and drinks are
delicious and supporting people from a small community to learn
useful skills is always a good way to spend money. There is a small
shop out front with women sewing high
quality purses, scarves and
other such handicrafts.
Our first night at Iguna Perdida we
stayed in Arriba Payaso 6 which was the top floor of an adorable A-
frame cabin at the back of the beautifully landscaped property. It
was airy and comfortable with a bright Mayan woven blanket and well
thought out with places for bags and plugs right at the bedside.
(Q130, approx $17USD). As this room was booked for the other 2 nights
we stayed we moved to Room A (Q100, $13USD) in a 4 room cabin at the
front of the property. The room was large and had big windows with
nice views over the lake. Sheets of something that looked like maybe
woven bamboo covered the walls and ceiling, along with a colourful
wall hanging. It felt very rustic. Again, the space was designed with
travellers in mind, having a place to put bags and hang towels. The
bad thing about this room was that the walls were VERY thin.
Sometimes (well, probably most of the time) you just don't want to
hear what's happening in the next room- believe me. We also happened
to have a very interesting visitor in our room one night- a scorpion!
It was the first time I had ever seen a scorpion, so I can check
that off the list of critters I never want to see in my bedroom
again. The staff were quick to assure us that these scorpions aren't
poisonous and that getting stung is akin to a bee sting- so I felt a
little better, but still made J check every inch of the bed before
getting in and curling up arbitrarily in the corner that I thought
the scorpion would like to visit least. In reality, I do realize that
critters are a part of everyday life and there isn't much you could
do to avoid them sneaking inside. And I know that they're more scared
of you then you are of them, blah blah blah. And, in his defence
Scott the Scorpion of Room A did scurry out of sight as soon as we
flicked the light on never to be seen again- but still. Scott- can't
you just live outside? Or in the noisy neighbour's room at least?
Please.
Anyways, after your good night's sleep
(neighbour and scorpion nightmares dependent) there are some great walks from Santa Cruz. We walked both directions along the shore and found great views and interesting slice of life tidbits. Left, with your back to the lake is a crazy boardwalk that leads to Hotel Isla Verde in about 10 mins. This used to be a lakeside path before Stan the Storm ruined it. You can stop in here for a drink and WiFi on their awesome patio. From there you can follow signs to the next village of Jaibilito (about 30 mins). The hike isn't very long, or particularly difficult but offers wide, unobstructed views. From Jaibilito you can keep going all the way to San Marcos (we hear this is about another 2.5 hrs). We got distracted in Jaibilito with fresh lemonade at the charming (and shockingly cheap) Posado Jaibilito and ended up just taking a boat back to Santa Cruz (Q5).
La Iguana Perdida is also the only
place on the lake that offers scuba diving. High Altitude diving, as
Santa Cruz is at 1833m! I suppose a positive from the lake's rising
levels is that there are now bars and houses at the bottom of the
lake that you can dive to and through. Although we didn't partake in
the diving, it did sound like an awesome way to spend even more time
on the lake. And, with the water being 22degrees Celcius, you
wouldn't even need a hood or gloves like the diving we're used to!
We just happened to be at La Iguana
Perdida for Open Mike Night. A fun filled night of songs and bad
jokes fueled by free shots of tequila for entertainers. Needless to
say, J was in his element and all his campfire sing-a-long practicing
was put to good use. If you can make it, Open Mike Night is
definitely an extra good night to be staying at The Iguana. I feel like we hit the jackpot with our Lake Atitlan accommodation.. which is probably why we ended up staying on the lake a week when we had originally only scheduled a couple days.... and don't regret it at all.
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