Visit the village of Santiago de Atitlan and get a glimpse of how the Tzutujil Maya live, almost oblivious to the fact that the Conquistadors arrived five centuries ago. Holidays and Saint's days are celebrated with processions accompanied by drums, incense, ancient rites, and costumes.
The Catholic Church, founded over four centuries ago, is not to be missed, and no trip to Santiago is complete without a visit to Maxi Mon (ma-shee-món), the smoking-and-drinking Mayan-Catholic deity. A local English-speaking guide offers an unforgettable cultural tour of the village, focusing on shamanism, explaining religion and customs along the way.
A tour of a nearby "beneficio de cafe," with an explanation of coffee growing and processing is available (Dec-Feb). Spanish classes can be scheduled and a bilingual instructor teaches weaving. Walk through the market or down Gallery Row where the many galleries specialize in primitive paintings, sculptured woodcarvings, and excellent local weavings produced on back-strap looms.
Swimming, canoeing, hiking, diving, and bicycling are available. We rent mountain bikes and a canoe. Arrangements can be made for a guided horse back excursion to a nearby cloud forest. Guides can always be found for hikes up the volcanoes or to the bird reserve. For recreation, I personally recommend our lending library, the hammock in front of each room, and a drink. Don't forget your camera!
The Posada de Santiago is located 1.5 km from the municipal dock in Santiago Atitlan, where you will most likely be greeted by some of the most charming, yet rustic hawkers of weavings and sellers of peanuts in the country. We're on the lakeshore on the road to San Pedro.
The holiday of a lifetime. The company is Alaksa-owned and thhat makes a big difference to the experineces you get i.e. meet genuine First Nations tribes people. The amount of wildlife was beyond my expectation, and seeing everything on sucha small, intimate boat made it even more spoecial and unique.
Liz O
3 days ago
Adventure Life covered all the details in planning our trip to Ireland. Any questions we had were answered immediately. Any trip glitches, which always happen when traveling, were resolved immediately. There were no worries, just fun!
Kathleen Weller
3 days ago
It was an outstanding, up-close, educational vacation of nature, culture, history, animals and geology! It was everything they promised! Binoculars were plentiful on the boat, but I'm glad I brought my own. Food was excellent. Rooms had black-out shades. Pack/wear multiple layers of clothing (I carried a small backpack when off the ship). Crew were delightful and very accommodating! Remember to jump FEET FIRST first when taking the optional polar plunge! Spend as much time outdoors as you are able and ENJOY!!!
Janet Dutton
1 week ago
Excellent travel advice and service
This is my second experience working with Adventure Life. I’m sold. Jess Heuermann is an experienced traveler and provides a lot of useful information when planning a trip. These are the questions I like to ask at the outset - What’s it like to go here, there, what would you suggest, what do people report, can we add any additional side trips? Jess took the time to answer my questions and seek additional information to share with me. Petchie Colina is outstanding in helping with travel logistics and final preparations. Adventure Life has excellent guides and offers private guides and small group adventures. We enjoyed the opportunity to talk with the guides and drivers to learn more about their countries, cultures and histories. A highlight was having the guides pick local restaurants where we could share meals together. Highly recommend.
Claire Cordon
1 week ago
Our six-day tour in Iceland went smoothly with one exception. We had asked for two rooms each night. Somehow we were booked with one room with three beds. It could not be fixed at the first hotel in Reykjavik because the hotel was fully booked. Once informed of the problem, however, Adventure Life rebooked for two rooms for the remainder of the trip. As an 85-year-old traveler, I appreciated that one could participate at different physical levels at many of the stops. Iceland is a great place to visit but on the expensive side.