Lago Atitlan in the Western Highlands of Guatemala

Lago Atitlan is a large lake, measuring 8 kms across and 18 kms wide, and 300
meters deep, and represents a volcanic caldera formed from a fairly recent eruption. The super-duper eruption happened about 85,000 years ago leaving a vast hole which filled up with water. Since then a number of volcanoes have sprouted up around the perimeter thus making the fantastic contemporary scene. The lake is at an altitude of 1562 meters and the volcanoes range from 3000 to 3500 meters high, one of them, Volcan Atitlan 3537 meters, is still warm and smokes away.

The tourist town on the lake shore is Panajachel, population ca 15,000, which is a great place to buy Guatemalan craft goods (fabrics etc), whereas across the lake is wonderful San Pedro village where I could chill out for ever, or maybe a fortnight.
FISHING: You would think that such a beautiful mountain lake would be stocked with trout! (Like NZ's Lake Taupo, which is also a volcanic caldera lake, but only 2000 years old) Several times I have fished the lake from the shore but alas there are no trout.

In the evenings at San Pedro one sees the locals out in primitive wooden canoes obviously fishing, but for what? My investigation revealed that they catch bass, large mouth variety, on baits. I did watch a local guy catch a 2 lb bass spin fishing from the shore at Panajachel. Also they use nets to catch small (6 inch) silvery white fish, and tilapia which have escaped from the many fish farms around the lake.

All the restaurants sell "pescado del lago" which is a deep fried tilapia, and it is a tasty dish. The local name is "mojarra' and they grow to about 1/2 to 1 lb size. The tilapia originates from the Nile river system and is now the most farmed fish in the world, throughout Africa, SE Asia and Central America. Every farmer that has a dam stocks it with tilapia so as to feed the family and supply the village market.

To learn more about this part of Guatemala see my article Guatemalan Traverse
Fotos: Boat landing at Santiago Atitlan
Tilapia dish at Panajachel restaurant