This might might not be recent news, in fact, according to this Reuters article the ruins were discovered in 1996, however I can attest to the fact that this is not common knowledge here in Guatemala. Ever since I heard about the ruins under Lake Atitlan, I've been asking tourists, expats, Guatemalans from the city, and the Mayan people in the village where I reside if they knew about this. Almost all of them respond the same way; they stare at me incredulously with wide eyes and stutter, “wow, incredible!”
Indeed, before the recent news break, this was not common knowledge amongst the Maya inhabitants of Lake Atitlan nor amongst the tourists who frequent this enchanting travel destination. In all the years I've been coming here and in all the time I've lived here, I too missed this one. It kind of makes me wonder, if I failed to hear about the Maya ruins in Lake Atitlan, what else am I missing out on?
One of the things I love about Guatemala is that I seem to discover new things every day. Without a doubt I could have written a similar blog entry after I ended up in a local Shaman's house were there were over 7 Maximon (Saint Simon) statues. And here I thought that the real deal was in Santiago de Atitlan! My point is; Guatemala is full of surprises and Lake Atitlan is no exception.
Still, Maya ruins on a sunken island at the bottom of a sacred lake conjure up an image in my mind that could rival the greatest surrealist painters. Though I know I shouldn't be surprised by this due to the lake's obvious historical importance to the Mayan people and the frequent discovery of ancient Mayan ceramics in the area, I can't help but let my imagination run wild. Now, every morning when I wake up and stare out at the lake, I can't help but imagine the ruins that lay beneath the surface. I'll definitely be waiting to hear more news about this fantastic discovery!
Read more about this story on Reuters.
Visit the Extreme Mayan Adventures website here.
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