Panajachel

Last Monday morning we headed out to the city! It seemed hard to believe that ten weeks had gone by since the kids and I had left town at all! We were all looking foward to a mini vacation.

After some running around in the city on Monday, Tuesday morning we drove three hours to Panajachel. Panajachel is a town located on a beautiful lake surrounded by three large volcanoes. It was really exciting to see some new areas of Guat.

We were very thankful to see that the place we had booked on-line was so beautiful! It was very Guatemalan (which we like-when we are in Guatemala!). We had a two bedroom cottage with a lovely front porch.

Our room didn't have a kitchen, but a delcious breakfast was included and served in this cute restaurant.

It was not very busy here so we had the place pretty much to ourselves! It was perfect for a family with five little kids. Although the temperature is quite a bit cooler than at our home, we still enjoyed the pool.

Even though Panajachel is located in such a beautiful spot, it is not a fancy resort town. The town dumps their sewage directly into the lake so swimming is not really...attractive. Most of the hotels (ours included) are located several streets up from the lake.

Many local Guatemalans make a living by taking tourists out on the lake. I think our boat trip was a highlight for all of us!

The one big disappointment was that all of Guat. is living under kind of a haze right now. They are burning all the sugar cane fields and as a result the view was not very clear! We took these pictures off the internet to show the three large volcanoes a bit clearer than we were able to see them.

This shows you how hazy it was for us! Disappointing, but still beautiful.

The kids loved being in the boat! Mainly we boated along the shore-just a short distance around the lake. There are some really large places-owned by either Americans or rich Guatemalans.

Panajachel from the water.

An evangelical church having a baptismal service in the lake.

After two restful nights in Panajachel, we went back to the city. In a much earlier post, I posted some pictures of the seminary we usually stay at while doing business in the city. When that seminary is full, we stay in another seminary. This seminary is very nice as well although much smaller and not as good for kids. Still we are very thankful for both of these places!

The apartment we stayed in is just to the left of Nate.

Saturday morning we packed up the truck and headed home!

We are so thankful that the Lord kept and protected us.

We arrived home Saturday afternoon and the kids were joyfully meet by all the other little blondies :)
Thank-you for your prayers!