wejetset - magazine - Travel Moments: A Calm Pause on Lake Atitlan

Travel Moments: A Calm Pause on Lake Atitlan

Written by Brittany Kleinman: On a calm pause in the middle of Lago de Atitlán, I found myself surrounded by 4 volcanic mountains with farm land stretching to the waters edge. As we drift in route to Santiago Atitlán, a few fisherman, in wood plank boats, stop by to show us their catch for the day.

In 1955, Lago de Atitlán was mostly unknown to the rest of the world, and Guatemala was seeking ways to increase tourism and boost the local economy. It was suggested by Pan American World Airways that stocking the lake with a fish prized by Westerners, would be a way to put the lake on the map. So, a non-native species, the black bass, was introduced into the lake in 1958 quickly began eating the native inhabitants of the lake. The predatory bass caused the elimination of more than two-thirds of the native fish species in the lake and contributed to the extinction of the giant grebe, a rare bird that lived only around the Lago de Atitlán region.