Panajachel's Best Kept Secret EXPOSED

Oh, Panajachel, why must you be so coy? You are a little Guatemalan shopping town, constantly humbled by Lake Atitlan and its surrounding volcanoes. Guidebooks will tell us to pass you by for nearby indigeneous villages on the lake, and to treat you only as a launch pad for better places to spend time. But Pana, you must stand up for yourself as a respectable tourist destination! No? You don't want to brag on yourself? Okay, we will do it for you!

Pana: not just for shopping anymore!

Upon our return from an exciting summer in Europe, we had the pleasure of hosting a family friend from Neosho (one of my Mom's best friends and former neighbor), Tammy! Tammy's visit helped us to get a second Guatemalan wind, falling in love with the country all over again. We hiked Volcano Pacaya, spent a few days in Antigua, and spent some time along Lago Atitlan in the small lakeside town of Panajachel.

Spider Monkeys weren't the only ones
swinging through the tree tops at the Nature Reserve

Yes, Panajachel is worth the visit, and worth a stay! We discovered one of Guatemala's best kept secrets while there...the Nature Reserve. The nature reserve has everything you need to keep you busy, awe-inspired, happy, and maybe just a little bit scared, too! It has hiking, waterfalls, suspension bridges as part of the hikes, excellent flora and fauna, splendid views of the lake and volcanoes, a viewing platfform to watch (and feed!) spider monkeys, a butterfly garden, and best of all (drum roll, please:) Zip Lines!

The little person in red pants zipping across mountain sides is Tammy!

Coming in from a zip line

Before this week, James nor I had ever gone zip lining, and didn't necessarily think Guatemala's zip lines would be good enough or safe enough to try, but when we got the recommendation from the hotel owner at Posada Los Encuentros that the zip lines were awesome and US/EU certified safe, we were excited to try them, and even more excited that Tammy wanted to try them, too!

James (far left) looking at a waterfall from a suspension bridge

Well, it was amaaazing. There were 8 zip lines in all, of different inclines, speeds, and heights above the tree canopy. We had two guides with us who kept us safe and happy, so all we had to do was get hooked in and told when to go swinging across the mountain sides! It was truly exhilarating to be flying over the tree canopy and looking out across the lake at the volcanoes! Wow!

Our view from the mountain side, which opened up
to see the volcanoes as we zipped across

This definitely ranks as one of the coolest things we've ever done in Guatemala! We will be spreading the word that Panajachel has more than just shopping and boats to other towns on the lake!

Watch the entire process of Beth getting hooked in and zip lining!