Kayak Guatemala Los Elementos Adventure Center — Local services in Sololá

I had the good fortune of recently spending an entire week in beautiful Santa Cruz la Laguna, and during my time there, I booked two experiences through Los Elementos: a cooking class led by Alicia in her home in the hilltop section of the town, and a three-hour hike between Santa Cruz and Tzununa along the Lower Mayan Trail with Manuela as my guide.

First off, the owner of Los Elementos, Lee, was wonderful to work with for coordinating both experiences - very responsive, helpful, and kind. I would definitely book again through Los Elementos on any future trip to the lake. He sits on the board of Amigos de Santa Cruz, which is connected to the CECAP vocational center (with a beautiful restaurant and textile shop) in the center of Santa Cruz. So he is deeply connected with empowering the community and supporting economic opportunities there.

The Mayan cooking class was fantastic - three generations of women led us through the preparation stages of making pulique, a traditional stew, and corn tortillas by hand. First there was Alicia, who officially led the class in Spanish and coordinated all the stages of the preparations. Then there was Alicia's mother Maria, who spoke mostly Kaqchikel, the Mayan language of Santa Cruz, and was dressed in the traditional huipil of the town. She helped us use a massive mortar and pestle to grind a type of chili peppers into roasted tomatoes - hard work! - to use as the base of the stew. Then there was a younger woman who translated everything into English for those who didn't understand Spanish (not sure if she was a family member or from the community). There were only 10 of us in the class, so it was intimate and everyone had the chance to try all aspects of the preparations. My favorite was learning how to make and shape the tortillas. Of course no cooking class would be complete without the chance to eat the fruits of our labor, and it was delicious!

Regarding the hike, since I was traveling solo I was hesitant to hike alone, but really wanted to explore the Lower Mayan Trail between Santa Cruz and Tzununa for beautiful views of the lake and wildflower-studded hillsides. Lee suggested Manuela as a Spanish-speaking guide, which was perfect for my intermediate level of Spanish and provided the opportunity for several hours of one-on-one conversation practice while savoring the natural beauty of the trail. Manuela is warm and engaging, and booking a private hike allowed me to set the walking pace and rest times (am recovering from some knee issues), which she fully accommodated and kept checking in to make sure I felt okay. I learned that Manuela is actually Maria's sister and Alicia's aunt (from the cooking class), so that was a lovely connection to hear, plus at the end of the hike in Tzununa, we took a tuk-tuk to the upper part of the town to a small food stand that some of her other family members' own and enjoyed a refreshing limonada with the sounds of the nearby flowing river as backdrop.

Overall, these two experiences were some of the highlights of my week at Lake Atitlan, and I can highly recommend booking with...

I recently spent a few days of recreation around Lake Atitlan prior to managing a work event in Antigua, Guatemala. It was a last-minute decision to come early to sight-see and I reached out to Kayak Adventure Center to help me coordinate everything with one point of contact. Lee, the owner, helped me put together an itinerary of adventure activities around the lake and the private transfers I needed coming from Guatemala City beforehand and moving to Antigua afterwards. Lissette, my driver, was very professional in her communication for my pickups and then was wonderful to ride with. We talked the whole way and had great conversations. She was very friendly and a great driver. One day I did a sunrise hike at Indian Nose with guide Mario, followed by the two of us kayaking the lake and doing some cliff-jumping and swimming which was super fun, and then he took me to the zip-line spot in the jungle and made sure I was all set there before departing. I enjoyed my time with him and it was a very fun day. Zip-lining was also great as the circuit has you flying over a river in a canyon in the jungle with views of the lake, as well. The next day I did a one-on-one guided summit of Volcan San Pedro. It was only after I booked that I read the reviews warning of armed robbery at the summit in past years. I contacted Lee to ask him about this and he was very quick to reply and reach out to chat about it. My guide Pancho (Omar) also was very transparent about the concerns and made sure to check in at the trailhead about current conditions. We were told there was a police presence that day at the summit itself and many other tourists on the trail so we proceeded. We experienced zero issues, and we met many tourists on the trail who were all jubilant about the hike (it was not overcrowded at all but we didn't feel alone). The hike was difficult but not impossible and Pancho was always ready to support my pace or any breaks I needed, but also keeping things moving forward so we could reach the summit in good time. He was very friendly and extremely knowledgeable about the history and geology of the region and the culture and history of its people. We had great conversations the whole way and I really enjoyed the dense forest on the hike up. When we got to the top there were some clouds but they opened up here and there for amazing views of the entire lake and all of the many volcanoes along the horizon. I felt in good hands the whole trip with Lee...

Kayak Guatemala Los Elementos gave us the chill but active environment for an outstanding vacation. Everything was at our doorstep: the lake for beautiful views, lovely walks, kayakng and paddle boarding, and the mountains for hiking and walking. Cultural experiences were at hand, whether walking up to Santa Cruz village for coffee or a snack, the local market, restaurants, or shopping at a local tienda. We took a cooking class with Alicia and learned how to grind spices, pumpkin seeds, and fire roasted tomatoes culminating in flavourful sauces for pulique and pepian The results made for a spectacular meal and an amazing experience. Alicia's helper, Vanessa, taught us so much about not only Mayan cooking but life in Santa Cruz. Next, the Upper Mayan Trail hike saw us travel up the mountain in the capable hands of our personable guide, Antonio Fernada. He set a good pace and motivated us to rise to the challenge. The icing on the cake was the descent down the mountain to Solola in the back of a pickup truck. Once in Solola, Antonio guided us through the market and to the Mayan Sacred Caves. Throughout our action-packed day, Antonio provided interesting information about the area, past and present. He did not tire of answering my many questions about local life in Santa Cruz la Laguna. I learned a great deal from Antonio about the area's system of education, lifestyle, family life, work life, local activities, and entertainment. Due to these 2 experiences, cooking with Alicia and Vanessa, and hiking with Antonio, we came away with a greater appreciation for Lake Atitlan and its people. Truly, these are experiences not to be missed. Staying at Kayak Guatemala Los Elementos enables the traveler to experience Lake Atitlan on many levels! It's not your...