Santa Catarina Palopó - The Painted Village of Atitlán

For a variety of reasons, Lake Atitlán confuses me. Just about everyone speaks of this place in glowing terms. Yet, we had a difficult time enjoying our two-visit. While we enjoyed our visit to Santiago Atitlán, our visit to San Pedro and San Juan was very disappointing. For our final morning, we had a couple of hours between check-out and the shuttle bus back to Antigua. Since there was not enough time to travel across the lake, I started researching adjacent villages accessible by land from Pana. It did not take me long to be intrigued by a nearby village called Santa Catarina Palopó.

Santa Catarina Palopó, a town of several thousand, has long been a backwater regarding economic development. Traditionally, the town’s economy relies on subsistence farming, so the village missed the tourism boom that benefited places like Panajachel. On the one hand, Santa Catarina Palopó retained its indigenous identity due to the physical isolation. Almost all local women wear traditional dress, handwoven huipiles in various shades of blue. Unfortunately, the city also suffers from chronic economic hardship. The poverty rate reached as high as 70% at one point.

To reach Santa Catarina Palopó, it was a quick 12-minute tuk-tuk ride from the center of Panajachel. While the distance between the two towns is walkable, it has quite a bit of elevational change and unpredictable traffic. The ride cost us 50 GTQ, and the tuk-tuk struggled to climb over the steep hills in some places. Along the way, beautiful views of Santa Catarina Palopó and Lake Atitlán popped in and out of views. In hindsight, we should have asked whether we could stop at various viewpoints along the route.

Before long, the driver dropped us off at the village’s main square and the parish church. As luck had it, we visited on November 25th, the feast day of the town’s patron saint, Saint Catherine of Alexandria. Colorful papel picado turned the main square into a festive environment. When we arrived, many villagers were attending mass at church. Funny enough, people were setting off fireworks simultaneously at the adjacent plaza. Because the church was packed to the brim, we did not feel right barging in while wearing shorts. It just didn’t seem respectful enough. I hoped the festivity would kick into high gear before leaving.

So why were we in Santa Catarina Palopó after all? Well, it was all for a non-profit initiative called Pintando El Cambio, or Painting for Change. About ten years ago, Guatemalan journalist Harris Whitbeck started a project that modeled the successful regeneration project in the favelas of Rio de Janeiro. The project goal is to paint the houses in the community and generate social cohesion in the process. In Rio, the project reduced crime and instilled pride within the community. At Santa Caterina Palopó, the focus is economic regeneration and developing the town’s tourism potential. I would say the project has already been successful since it drew us there.

This house is undoubtedly my favorite in town.

The goal of Pintando El Cambio was to paint all 850 houses in the village. With help from those who worked on the Rio project, the group worked with local Mayan artists and local leaders to develop a coherent design for the village. The color scheme they settled on is based on blue, which reflects the blue water and the blue blouses local women wear. A rotation of Mayan animal motifs and a selection of bright colors were also approved. Among the iconography featured were deer, the two-headed bird called Ixcot, and corn. Most intriguing are geometric patterns commonly found in local women’s textiles. The results of the project thus far are dazzling.

To learn more about the project, pop into the project’s office right on the main square. It is the most richly painted of all the houses and is decorated with colorful tassels along the eave. The one-room office doubles as a welcome center where staff are happy to answer any questions. The display includes models of painted houses and informational boards regarding different patterns and colors. According to the young lady there, they have managed to paint approximately 750 and are actively working with the rest of the homeowners.

Through fundraising, the foundation supplied the necessary paint, tools, and scaffolding. Each homeowner could select the exact colors and iconography they most identify with. The owners must meet a few conditions to “qualify” the new facade. First, they must pledge to keep the property clean and tidy. Secondly, they must pitch in the labor and help with the project’s team of painters. Lastly, the owners must promise they will send their children to school. Unfortunately, Guatemala has one of Central America's lowest primary education rates. It was particularly acute in its indigenous community. Something as minor as “free paint” may be enough incentive to keep young children in school.

The painted houses of Santa Catarina Palopó.

For this project, a local paint manufacturer created a paint formula with a high concentration of lime. It is supposed to provide additional protection against mold and fungus. Walking around town, we were both taken aback by how effective and vibrant the place was. The village of depressing concrete houses is now an artistic wonderland. Compared to Rio’s painted favela, the painted houses of Santa Catarina Palopó are far more culturally rooted in the local community. To achieve voluntary, widespread adoption was a true achievement.

It should go without saying that all these materials and labor did not come cheap. The organization relied on fundraising outside the community and donations from many private suppliers. Some local hotels partner with the project by encouraging guests to volunteer for the painting project. For me, this is the kind of initiative we love to support. In addition to cash donations, we purchased a few postcard-sized weaving, sporting the same Mayan patterns on the buildings. They are by far our favorite souvenirs from Guatemala.

Maybe because of the feast day, the back streets of Santa Catarina Palopó felt quite deserted. I can’t help feeling we were trespassing on private properties. According to Brian, he heard villagers yelling “you shouldn’t be here” at us. Meanwhile, I was unfazed as I did not know more than a few words of Spanish. While most structures in the village have been painted, the best collections of houses seem to be located on the narrow streets up on the hill. This is easily the most photogenic village on the lake. I could hardly believe there weren’t more tourists milling around here.

The soccer pitch of Santa Catarina Palopó is spectacular.

Objectively speaking, there aren’t many must-see sites in Santa Catarina Palopó. After wandering through the back lanes, everyone evitably headed to the water. I was shocked by how beautiful their lakefront is compared to other villages on the lake. I was most impressed by the town’s soccer pitch, which has the most out-of-the-world background ever. Right next to the field is a temporary fairground with carnival rides. I could only assume they were here for the Feast of Saint Catherine.

Just steps away from there is the boat dock. There is technically no regularly scheduled ferry service from Santa Catarina Palopó, which may explain why there were so few tourists here. At the same time, this was the only lakeside town where we did not feel hassled by eager vendors or guides. But it is still possible to charter a private boat here from any other village on the lake. It was clear that tourism had only just started to arrive here, and this is perhaps why I found this place so delightful and a perfect end to our visit to Lake Atitlán.

At the end of our trip, we both concluded that this would be where we would stay on our next trip to Lake Atitlán. Even though it has only a fraction of the visitors as Pana, the town happens to have two incredible tow hotels: Casa Palopó and Hotel Villa Santa Catarina. On our way back to the plaza, we got to peek into one of the hotels. It certainly feels a lot more relaxing than our apartment in Pana. I am curious how Pintando El Cambio, and tourism by extension, would change this place in the next five years. I hope it will not succumb to the rampant commercialization that overtook Pana.

As we were standing on the main square looking for a passing tuk-tuk, we realized it might take a while before one showed up. Then I remembered that a popular way to travel between Pana and Santa Catarina Palopó was to jump on the back of a pickup truck. For a tenth of the cost (5 GTQ) of the tuk-tuk ride earlier, we got a taste of the locals’ daily commute. It was for sure that was not the authentic travel experience Brian was expecting. While I enjoyed the thrill ride, Brian held on to the railings with his dear life. It was a perfect ending for our Lake Atitlán visit.

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Santa Catarina Palopó - The Painted Village of Atitlán

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