Post by Tyler Dambach

Today is our second day at Lake Atitlán. We woke up around 0730 and had breakfast at 0800. Breakfast was a buffet that included eggs, tortillas, fruit, and beans. After we ate breakfast, we enjoyed a beautiful view of the lake while sitting in the sun. At 1000, we joined Professor Cadwalader on an adventure to go cliff jumping in a nature reserve outside the town of San Marcos. San Marcos is located a few towns away along the shoreline from where we are staying in Santa Cruz. 

Google Earth image showing Santa Cruz and San Marcos.

 We took a small water taxi over to San Marcos and walked to the park.  We paid 20 Q to enter, then followed a trail to the cliff-jumping platform. This was one of the most exciting parts of the trip to Guatemala so far.   The distance from the platform to the water is more than 40 feet.  Professor Cadwalader was the first to jump and showed us how it’s done. The majority of the group jumped off the cliff, but Prof C, David Krise, and I were the only three who jumped three times. 

View of cliff jump platform

After cliff jumping, we were given free time to enjoy the lake. The group split, with some people going to San Pedro while Evan Pierce, Ryan Essam, Nick Paolini, and I stayed in San Marcos. We took a walk up the hill and had a nice lunch at the Eagle’s Nest, which is on the side of a hill that looks over the whole lake.  We then headed back to the pier, where we boarded a water taxi and headed back to Santa Cruz. 

Enjoying UV rays and the prospect of future skin cancer.

After enjoying the sunny weather for the remainder of the afternoon, we got ready for dinner at the hostel. We were served chicken with lentils, rice, pasta, and veggies. After dinner, we took part in various hostel-sponsored activities at the bar to finish off the day. These activities included a costume contest, musical chairs, Twister, limbo, and a catwalk. Ryan Essam earned the victory in musical chairs, bringing great glory to MMA.  Go Bucs!