Exploring Reserva Natural Atitlán
In our time living on Lake Atitlán (Guatemala) we’ve done a pretty good job exploring the pueblos in our area. But oddly, we hadn’t explored one of the most popular destinations on the lake – the town of Panajachel.
Panajachel is a well-known destination for tourists and ex-pats. It is a town with much to offer, including a bigger selection of stores, restaurants, modern conveniences, and tourist-centered industries that generally aren’t our thing.
But what immediately got our attention was that Panajachel has a large nature park that has a lot of positive press – Reserva Natural Atitlán.
This was more our speed. We had to check it out!
Getting to Panajachel
To be honest, it wasn’t laziness that kept us from visiting Panajachel.
Panajachel is on the opposite side of Lake Atitlán with no way to conveniently reach it, aside from an extended ride on a water taxi. So you really need to commit an entire day every time you visit it. And having exhausted local exploration options near us, Reserva Natural Atitlán was just the excuse we needed to finally make our way to the other side of the lake.
We left very early in the morning to make the most of our day. We had to walk to the embarcadero (= boat launch) in San Marcos, where public water taxis depart every 30 minutes or so for Panajachel.
Fares to Panajachel are 25 quetzales/$3.21 USD per person, payable on reaching your destination.
We hopped on board our boat…
And made our way from town to town along the northern shoreline…
Eventually reaching the Panajachel embarcadero after about 30 minutes.
Getting to Reserva Natural Atitlán
Thankfully, getting to Reserva Natural Atitlán from the Panajachel embarcadero is pretty easy.
For us, it was less than a 20-minute walk away…
And had decent signage to direct you.
You’ll eventually end up on a road that goes by a fancy hotel and grounds…
And some individual rental properties…
Until you eventually reach the entrance to Reserva Natural Atitlán.
Entering Reserva Natural Atitlán
Having reached the park entrance, we needed to pay the entrance fee.
So we went in and immediately saw a sign outlining all the things you can do here…
We approached the ticket counter…
And paid the 80 quetzales/$10.26 USD per person entrance fee to get in. You could do zip lining if you wanted, for an additional fee.
The lower-tier zip line options were actually pretty affordable!
But we had already done epic-level zip lining years ago in Costa Rica that will never be bested, so we weren’t interested at the time. We were here for the cool hiking opportunities!
We made our way into the visitor center…
That had a nice concession area and seating terrace.
We made a point to take a picture of the trail map before hitting the trails!
The Mariposario/Butterfly Garden
We exited the visitor center, followed the signs, and quickly found the mariposario (= butterfly garden) that was close by.
We entered and were impressed with their exhibit! Lots of exotic butterflies freely flying around…
With some good photography subjects when they stayed still long enough!
There was also a laboratory area where the butterflies were reared prior to release. We went to check it out…
Through the entryway…
Where there were live displays of caterpillars of the butterflies we saw…
And a lovely display of chrysalises at different stages of development.
The mariposario was fun, but it was some to move on to the real reason we came to Reserva Natural Atitlán…the nature trails.
Hitting the Nature Trails
If you looked carefully at the trail map, you may have noticed that the individual trail lengths aren’t terribly long. But keep in mind that Reserva Natural Atitlán is built into a mountainside! So although the distances were manageable, the inclines could still be challenging.
Undeterred, we headed into the forest…
Passed streams that portended what lay ahead…
Continued upward…
And eventually reached the monos (= spider monkeys) and coati viewing platform.
This was the best viewing spot to see these animals wandering the nearby tree canopy, and we did see both. Unfortunately, they were a good distance from the platform and we were without our telephoto lenses!
Here is our best attempt to photograph a spider monkey relaxing among the branches!
After about 15 minutes of viewing, we moved onward up the mountain. It was at this point that we entered a series of suspension bridges leading to some sensational viewpoints!
The views were epic and the extensive suspension bridge system was really well done!
We investigated the waterfall more closely…
Before continuing onward along the trail.
Once we got higher up, we encountered a number of lookout points where you could see the zipline routes.
And although we had the park largely to ourselves most of the day, some visitors were up for the adrenaline rush!
The nature trail complex was very enjoyable with lots of scenic payoffs, so I would recommend this park to anyone fit enough for a moderate difficulty hike!
But before returning to the visitors center, we decided to take a side trail and explore the route to the park’s playa (= beach). The route was surprisingly beautiful, carrying us along low-altitude suspension bridges and forest paths that felt oddly similar to the hemlock forests I grew up in.
After about 0.5 miles, the path descended towards the shoreline…
And opened up onto a beach that was the most beautiful of the ones we’ve seen so far.
And you get some nice views of the local hotel embarcadero as well!
We would happily come back to swim and picnic here.
But It Was Time To Return Home…
Having exhausted all of the hiking options in Reserva Natural Atitlán, we were completely satisfied we got our money’s worth. It was a beautiful day in nature and we strongly recommend the park to anyone looking to get outside and explore the outdoors.
But we needed to think about heading back home before the weather turned ugly with late afternoon torrential rain, as is normal on Lake Atitlan in September!
So we departed the park and headed back to Panajachel proper. We grabbed a few deluxe tacos each to tide us over (30 quetzales/$3.85 USD per person), made our way back to the Panajachel embarcadero, and jumped on the first water taxi leading back to San Marcos (25 quetzales/$3.21 USD per person).
And true to form, five minutes after we got home the heavens opened up.
It was a great day!
Thanks for reading!
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4 thoughts on “Exploring Reserva Natural Atitlán”
Great!!
👍👍👍
That looks amazing. I haven’t been on a good hike in too long.
If time is pressing there is always Hueston Woods!