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Guatemalan Getaway Print E-mail
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Reporter’s Refuge
Harris Whitbeck's home on Lake Atitlán, Guatemala, is a respite from covering war and strife for CNN

Story and Photos By Al Argueta
Real Estate Notes
Lake Atitlán Guatemala
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> Location
Though Antigua Guatemala, 45 minutes south-west of Guatemala City, is the most popular locale for foreign property buyers, tranquil Lake Atitlán, three hours northwest of the capital, is catching on. Most of the land speculation among expats on Lake Atitlán is on the north shore, on account ...
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The sun sets quickly in Guatemala. I notice this as I wait for CNN correspondent Harris Whitbeck at his home on Lake Atitlán. Never one to sentimentalize, Aldous Huxleycalled Atitlán, with its three sentinel volcanoes and a dozen or so Maya villages scattered along the shores, “the most beautiful lake in the world.” The view to the west is over the rest of the quaint settlement of Santa Catarina Palopó, home to the exclusive lakeside residences of many of Guatemala’s well-to-do, with Anglo names like Smith, Bickford, and Whitbeck.

Soon an SUV makes its way up the vertiginous hillside driveway, and Whitbeck climbs out. Just in from Guatemala City, he is accompanied by longtime friend and former producer Ingrid Arnesen, one of many guests joining us for a weekend at the lake to celebrate Whitbeck’s 42nd birthday. After grabbing a shower, the correspondent comes out to chat and offer Arnesen and me a drink.

The product of a marriage between a Guatemalan and a southern belle, Whitbeck grew up in Guatemala City and has been coming to the lake since he was a young boy, when his family would congregate at his grandmother’s home in a neighboring village up the hill. Whitbeck has fond memories of those weekends, and especially of his Aunt Lucy, a travel writer whose tales of faraway lands inspired Whitbeck’s career. He started as a driver for CBS News and eventually rose to CNN bureau chief in Mexico City in 1999. His latest contract will have him switching from Spanish to report for English-language CNN, which means he’ll be constantly on the road. That frenetic lifestyle is precisely what led Whitbeck to return to Lake Atitlán; he had his second home built here in 2003 during a stint as an embedded journalist with an American combat unit in Iraq. While in the field, Whitbeck received frequent e-mail updates on the construction progress. He says that as bombs and artillery fire blasted around him, knowing his tranquil home awaited his return gave him peace of mind. “This place is my anchor—it keeps me grounded,” he says.

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Harris Whitbeck
Whitbeck has just returned from an assignment in the Congo, where he spent time with Guatemalan troops who are part of a UN peace-keeping force monitoring the conflict there. The irony of a peacekeeping team composed of Guatemalan soldiers is inescapable: For years Guatemala was a blacklisted human-rights abuser embroiled in a civil war between leftist insurgents and a string of right-wing, U.S.-backed military governments. The war ended in 1996 thanks to a UN-brokered peace agreement, and Guatemala, with its exotic Maya culture and breathtaking landscape, is finally getting the attention it deserves. Its tourism industry is second in Central America, after Costa Rica’s, and foreigners have begun snapping up property around the country. Guatemala’s former colonial capital, Antigua Guatemala, may still be the country’s largest expat community, but the shores of Lake Atitlán are the place for those seeking serenity and cool mountain scenery. Whitbeck enthuses about climbing volcanoes and kayaking on the lake—there’s fishing for largemouth bass too— but admits his favorite activity is still just enjoying a book by the pool.
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