Casa Awänímä

Pour qui ?

This suits teachers and organizers looking for a dramatic setting on Lake Atitlán, with a local team handling logistics on the ground. Groups curious about Kaqchikel Maya culture, not just the lake, will get the most out of the temazcal and the garden-grown meals. Budget real travel time from Guatemala City airport: this isn't somewhere you reach on short notice.

Ne convient pas dans ces cas : you need hotel-standard comfort across the board. Some rooms share a kitchen and showers, the simplest rooms have outdoor shared bathrooms, and the property doesn't have smoke or carbon monoxide detectors installed (the team can walk you through the precautions they take if you ask)

Les espaces et les pratiques

The yoga deck looks out over the lake and the volcanoes and physically fits around 25 people, though the team recommends closer to 13 for a comfortable practice. Mats and basic equipment are provided, and there are covered or indoor spaces to fall back on when it rains. Some of what you eat comes out of the permaculture garden.

Temazcal, fire or cacao ceremonies, weaving workshops and other Maya cultural experiences can be booked as extras, through a network of local practitioners and facilitators rather than the resident team itself. Pricing depends on the activity and who's running it, and none of it is mandatory.

What happens during the day is really up to you and whoever's leading the retreat. Casa Awänímä doesn't run its own program; it just gives you the space and that network of providers to work with.

Hébergement et repas

Seven separate accommodations are spread across the property, built from natural materials like adobe-straw and local wood, and decorated with Guatemalan crafts. Total capacity runs up to 20 people, facilitators included, depending on group size and how beds get shared.

Casa Vista is the biggest, sleeping up to 5: one bedroom with two single beds, another with a double, and a sofa bed in the living room. Tzukasa is a standalone casita with its own kitchen and bathroom, a queen bed in the loft and a second queen on the ground floor. Fuego and Agua are suites with one queen and one single bed each; Colibrí has two singles plus a bunk bed. These three suites share a kitchen and two showers. The Leo Room (one double bed) and the Montaña Room (three singles), set further back, are the simplest in the house.

Meals aren't part of the rental price. The on-site team cooks with what comes out of the garden, around $13 a person per meal, and there's also a shared kitchen if your group would rather cook for itself.

Sur place et aux alentours

Tzununá is a Kaqchikel village on the north shore of Lake Atitlán, framed by the San Pedro, Tolimán and Atitlán volcanoes. You can hike the hills behind the lake or take a boat over to the other villages around it, like Panajachel, San Marcos or San Pedro. Local artisans are easy to find too. Dry season runs November to April; the rest of the year brings more rain, usually in short bursts late in the day.

Les particularités du lieu

Casa Awänímä started as founder Mackenzie Barth's project to build something rooted in permaculture on the shores of Lake Atitlán. The team running it day to day is local, from Tzununá and the villages around it. The buildings follow permaculture thinking (earth care, people care, fair share), and there's real care put into the handmade craftsmanship throughout.

Part of what's cooked on site comes from the garden. A network of local practitioners and facilitators, separate from the resident team, offers temazcal, ceremonies and other Maya experiences as optional extras.