San Pedro - The perfect place to learn Spanish

Looking from the road above, San Pedro looks perfect, the town is nestled at the foot of a volcano of the same name. It’s one of three volcanoes that surround Lake Atitlan and from this view the landscape looks exceptional.

We took a boat from San Marcos to San Pedro where we rode in the back of a tuk-tuk to the hotel.

Not only is San Pedro tranquil and serene the temperature here is perfectly suited to us British. Being at altitude the temperature is much cooler than the rest of Central America where it’s hot and sticky all day and night. During the day it’s warm enough to sunbathe but not so hot that you can’t walk around. At night it cools enough that you can sleep comfortably without a fan or air con.

San Pedro Spanish School

The main reason for visiting San Pedro was to learn Spanish at one of the many language schools. We chose to study at San Pedro Spanish School. And the choice was a good one, for two weeks we studied by the side of the lake.

It was the perfect place to study, absolutely beautiful.

We tried to speak Spanish with our fantastic teacher Abner but being realistic I’m sure we were talking some sort of Geordie Spanglish. But the humming birds that floated by had no idea.

After the two weeks we graduated, were given a certificate and had to say a few words in Spanish to the group.

Although we are far from fluent, we have learnt some useful skills to aid the rest of our trip and to complement our pointing and hand signals we have been using to get by.

Hotel Mikaso

As we are staying here for two weeks we have decided to stay in one of the nicest hotel in San Pedro, Hotel Mikaso. Although it’s still incredibly cheap by British standards it’s the most expensive place we have stayed in Guatemala. For the price you get such luxuries as private bathroom with a hot shower, fresh towels and a change of bed sheets every day. Usually these things are taken for granted, right now we really appreciate the simple things.

Not only that after Spanish school every day we sun bathed on the roof terrace.

And chilled out in the hot tub.

We lived like kings in blissed out perfection…

Around San Predro

After travelling for so long you start to lose track of the days through lack of routine but in San Pedro we got into quite a good routine.

Nufos gym is near the San Marcos dock and this is where we spent an hour each afternoon after sunbathing. Somehow going to the gym is much more pleasurable when you don’t have to go to work.

Then when the evening came we went out to one of many fine places for incredibly cheap and tasty food. Life here was perfect and you really feel like there’s really no reason to leave.

The owner of the Alegre pub felt just the same, having arrived as a backpacker 13 years ago he never left. The owner originally from Dundee has packed the menu full of home comfort food including English breakfast, pie and mash, Sunday roast and curries which made a welcome change from the Central American cuisine.

He’s not the only one who fell for the charm of San Pedro, there is a lively ex pat community here and they are incredibly welcoming and friendly. There’s people from England including Manchester and London as well as several other European countries, even some Japanese who came here and simply never left. It’s really not hard to see why.

San Pedro is perhaps one of the cheapest places we have ever been to, for example on Wednesday Albert Bar does all you can drink beer for 50 Quetzals, that’s about £4.50. The same price as a pint in Manchester. But to be honest I’m not sure I can even drink 50Q worth of beer anyway.

On Saturdays at El Barrio you can treat yourself to an all-you-can-eat Champagne brunch for 40Q. You get three course cooked for you and a glass of champagne to boot. In pounds that £3.40! Not a bad deal. And on Wednesday there is a pub quiz, which we almost won. We came second with the help of the local book store owner, who was very nice and intelligent man but happened to have the appearance of having drunk too much not only that night but every night previously for several years.

Chi Chi Market

Chichicastenango, or simply Chi Chi is claimed to hold the biggest market in Central America. Located in the Guatemalan highlands a short bus ride from San Pedro. Chi Chi is the perfect place for the local villager’s and surrounding communities to gather to sell their produce.

Chi Chi was amazing, held on Thursdays and Sundays the locals travel to the town the day before to set up there stalls. Women and children dressed in the most fantastically colourful dresses come to purchase fresh fruits, vegetables and meats to cook with and colourful fabrics to make clothes for the family. Once you have done some shopping it’s the perfect place to take a seat and people watch or to simply admire the Guatemalan way of life in full flow.

Kayaking Lake Atitlan.

A good way to explore the lake is to hire a kayak which can be rented for 15Q per hour. This was Leanne’s first time in a kayak and she picked it up straight away.

El Nariz de Indio (The Indians Nose)

It was hard to force ourselves to get up at half three in the morning. The taxi picked us up at four on the dot. An hour or so later we arrived at another village, we headed out in the dark through corn fields with a young boy perhaps only ten or twelve who was to be our guide. He had with him an incredibly vicious and badly behaved dog as his protection. The 45 minute walk up a steep hill was hard going but the views from the summit were breath taking.

As we caught our breath the sun was beginning to show on the horizon on the far side of Lake Atitlan lighting up the sky and clouds that lay beyond the volcanoes that shadowed the lake. Along the lake edge dotted between the volcanoes the lights of the villages glowed in the darkness. It was an amazing sight and fantastically beautiful.

We sat for a while and admired the beauty of the lake in the darkness and then headed a further five minutes up the path to the top of the Indians nose where we sat and watched the sunrise.

The three volcanoes of Lake Atitlan can clearly be seen and in the distance we could see Acetenango and Fuego the volcanoes we climbed the week before. Only today there is no cloud around them.

Once again the beauty of Guatemala has astounded us. We make our way back down in to the waiting taxi and go straight back to bed satisfied that it was all worth it.

After spending two weeks in San Pedro we really need to make a move before we become one of those who never leave. San Pedro really is one of the wonderful places which we will never forget.