Meeting Maximón
Two septuagenarians on a bench are sharing a joke. The taller one adjusts his Stetson-like hat and smooths his iron-grey moustache. Had this been North America, they might have been cowboys but it was Central America, Guatemala, and anyway, their long, red and white striped, elaborately embroidered shorts would make any self-respecting cowboy blush.
Santiago de Atitlán, home to these cool seniors sits on what was once described by Aldous Huxley as “the most beautiful lake in the world”, deep in the Western Highlands. It is a vision of tranquil blue smoothness at the foot of three volcanoes: Atitlán, Tolimán with its velvety green slopes and San Pedro. They stand guard like sentinels casting their conical reflections across the calm surface of the water.
Santiago de Atitlán, home to these cool seniors sits on what was once described by Aldous Huxley as “the most beautiful lake in the world”, deep in the Western Highlands. It is a vision of tranquil blue smoothness at the foot of three volcanoes: Atitlán, Tolimán with its velvety green slopes and San Pedro. They stand guard like sentinels casting their conical reflections across the calm surface of the water.
Children splash in the shallows to cool off while Maya women, selling rainbow-hued hand-woven blankets, wait hopefully nearby. A lone fisherman occasionally paddles past in a rough wooden dugout. He glides slowly across the mirror-like surface where the blue of the sky melts into the translucent waters. At the wooden jetties, boats rock gently, waiting to take passengers to the villages dotted around the shore. There are thirteen in all but the one not to miss is Santiago de Atitlán. The surprises it holds don't stop at the fancy shorts of the village elders.
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Gateway to this luminous lake is Panajachel, a town on the northern shore of some eleven thousand people, which somehow got stuck in the sixties. It has an expat community of American women “d'un certain age” who never made it home from the hippy trail but instead lingered on - and on - in Guatemala. They serve home-made cheesecake in their cafés and dispense New Age alternative therapies in the back room. “Pana”, a pleasant place but of little interest, is a handy base for visiting the lakeside villages. Santiago is just 20 minutes away.
In this part of Guatemala a strong Maya culture still holds sway. Each village has a different traje to wear, a kind of badge of honour, making its people easily distinguishable. Despite their striking attire, the men of Santiago de Atitlán are easily outdone by their womenfolk.
In this part of Guatemala a strong Maya culture still holds sway. Each village has a different traje to wear, a kind of badge of honour, making its people easily distinguishable. Despite their striking attire, the men of Santiago de Atitlán are easily outdone by their womenfolk.
By tradition the exquisitely embroidered motifs on their blouses must be exclusively of birds and flowers. Their crowning glory, now worn mainly on fiestas, is a halo-style headdress called a toyocal, made of a 12 metre long strip of red cloth wound around the head. It’s on Guatemala's 25centavo coin. The bustling market, daily though best on Fridays, is a good place to admire the impressive handiwork of the women, maybe sample unfamiliar exotic fruits or meet one or two of the locals.
There is one resident in particular you really should not miss. For a quetzal or two any young Atiteco will lead you to la casa de Maximón, a character who can only be described as a mix of devil and deity. His effigy, dressed in Western clothes - a black suit with a big black hat and a cigar permanently hanging from his lips - is moved from house to house every year. The customary offerings for this evil saint are fags and booze in line with his well-known ladino or non-indigenous vices. Outlawed by Catholics but revered by the Maya population, Maximón is seen as a miracle-worker who can either hurt you or harm you. Legend has it that while the village men were out working in the fields one day, Maximón slept with all their wives. When the deed was discovered, in their fury the men cut off his arms and legs. Hence his short stature and lack of arms. Creepy.