We needed to find internet access to make sure our accommodation in Antigua was confirmed for next week. Semana Santa is the week long Easter celebrations in Spain and Latin American countries. Antigua, Guatemala, happens to be one of the biggest festivals in the world so securing accommodation was paramount.

A quick glance in Lonely Planet showed that Atlas was just round the corner from where we were, it had free WiFi and served breakfast. Bookings were made and and a very tasty breakfast was eaten. It was very similar to what we had been eating in Mexico except the tortillas were a bit thicker, maybe a different type of flour is used here.

Walking back down the street from a visit to an ATM, we saw a travel agent. They booked some accommodation in Semuc Champey and shuttle transfers for us. Once we had some local currency in our pocket and all accommodation booked over the busy holiday period, it was time to relax and enjoy Lago de Atitlán.

At the lakeside, we took a 'lancha', a very basic, small boat with an outboard motor to hotel La Casa del Mundo. The lanchas act as ferry service, continually going back and forth on the lake, stopping at the various villages and private jetties. As we carried on further round the lake, the mountains seemed to get closer to the edge of the lake, to the point where buildings were actually built with a very small footprint but on many levels up the steep incline.

La Casa del Mundo was no different, from the jetty we had to climb 76 steps to get to the office/reception. It wasn't a boring set of stairs though, it was a meandering (steep) path through beautifully kept gardens with countless small terraces with seats to admire the view across the lake. Our room was a further 82 steps up the hillside and if the climb didn't take our breath away then the view certainly did. Our bedroom had a window facing straight over the lake at the three volcanoes on the other side - simply stunning!!

This was a place you could explore and hide, there were so many paths and terraces you never saw a soul and could only hear the water lapping on the shore. Down at the lakeside you could see submerged terraces and paths. It turns out that there was exceptionally heavy rain from from two tropical storms and the level of the lake rose permanently because there is no river from it.

Dinner was designed as a family affair, no separate tables like a restaurant, it was one long table to encourage guests to mingle and chat. The food was delicious and the company very good. For some reason we had 12 Canadians around us and none of them knew each other either. We never got to chat to the other 4 at the furthest end of the table to find out where they were from but a fair guess would be North America.