Posada el Ensueño in Antigua Guatemala

Extending over 126 square kilometers, Lake Atitlán is Guatemala's second largest body of water. Located in the western Highlands, in the department of Sololá, Atitlán is the highest lake in altitude, reaching 1,562 meters above sea level, with a maximum depth of 333 meters. Known the world over for its extraordinary beauty, its shores shelter many sulphur springs and fountainheads of natural mineral waters. Its surface is agitated almost daily, during certain hours, by strong winds which the Maya inhabitants call Xocomil. Intense volcanic activity accompanied by geological faults gave birth to this lake. Its gigantic cavity is possibly a volcanic cauldron. Atitlán receives various tributaries, but has no known outlet, for which it is presumed to hide a subterranean escape current. The level of its mirror of water changes cyclically. The volcanoes of San Pedro, Tolimán, and Atitlán surged from the waters that filled the crater of an ancient volcano in which the lake was born. Encilopedia de Guatemala, Volumen I, Editorial Océano.

Translated from Spanish into English by Ana Herrerías