Hard to find, because there are so few genuine bars, just pricey restaurants with bars. My favorite bar is Blind Lemon’s, up the trail and left from the ball court.
Named for a blues singer, Blind Lemon’s is the coolest bar in San Marcos la Laguna, Lake Atitlan.
Great hamburgers, cheap beer and drinks, and the owner, Carlos, plays a mean dobro.
Find out more about Lake Atitlan Bars.
A “Gourmet Blues and Jazz Cruise” boat departs the Panajachel dock at noon on December 1 for two concerts in Santiago. First stop, Posada de Santiago, then Hotel Bamboo and back to Pana.
One of the bands at the 2011 Blues Jazz Festival in Santiago, Lake Atitlan
Last year was a real hoot, so reserve early. In Guatemala, call 7721-7328 or visit Festival Santiago.
Many people retire in Guatemala because it has the lowest cost of living in Central America. Lake Atitlan offers some of the cheapest home rentals as well as real estate opportunities. Antigua is another center of retirement communities for Americans, Canadians and Europeans.
For more info, see Retirement in Guatemala.
Last night I dropped in at El Barrio for another of Karl and Trish’s home-cooked meals, which they do every Tuesday evening. This time it was General Tso’s Chicken, a huge plateful of big, tender chunks of chicken in a tasty sauce and served with butter rice that was also great.
See El Barrio’s FaceBook page for more info.
Everyone at the lake and Antigua felt the 5.2 earthquake today. It happened halfway between Escuintla and the Pacific Coast. Not many structures there, so little damage.
But I’ll bet the folks at Montericco were all shook up!
Casa Verde Tours just added an 8 AM shuttle from Antigua to the lake, in addition to the current 2 PM departure.
They also started up a 2 PM from San Pedro to Antigua. The other one leaves at 8 AM.
Dry air moving over Guatemala resulted in no rain today. In fact, it turned bright and sunny around noon and stayed like that all day.
Been seeing more snowbirds from the States and Canada than usual for October. November is when they usually start to arrive at the lake.
Lake Atitlan, Guatemala 