Panajachel is full of special, truly beautiful and unique views. I realised that shortly after arriving to this small village on Lago Atitlán. Meaning I grabbed my camera and set off.
I saw several views of Lago Atitlán, but this one is my absolute favourite – at least of those that are neither an official mirador nor look down on the lake from a volcano or mountain.
It was the tranquillity and seclusion of the place, the imperfection and simultaneous beauty of the view, and the fact that it was so different from all the others. To be honest, the view has a slightly mystical atmosphere and the whole place seems a little mysterious and dark. And I honestly admit that I didn’t manage to capture the beauty of the place. At least not really.
This view basically consists of three access points, which all offer a similar perspective, but are still so different that each one is worth seeing. At least to my mind.
You can get there via a kind of garden path at the back of the properties. The first two places are hostels (the first has a jetty with sun loungers from where you can see the view and the second is right next to it and has a tree house at the waterfront). The third viewpoint is reached via a footpath that leads to a deserted beach where a few wooden boats bob in the water, there’s a bit of rubbish and stuff lying around, and when I was there, someone was doing laundry or collecting something. It not necessarily is a beautiful place in the classic sense, but it still had me immediately.

Go or not? Personally, I found these views really beautiful, but I don’t know if everyone would be captivated by the magic of this place. Photographers definitely would, but otherwise… I don’t know. Up to you 😉