Mosquitoes in Atitlan, Oct/Nov

It depends on where you are staying - some areas may have more problems with bugs than others and even some neighborhood within a town. In San Pedro we haven't had a problem with mozzies other than in the evenings down by the lake; if we keep moving, no bites. We don't have screens on the windows of our little place (5 or 6 blocks up from the lake, 3rd floor) and at times the flies have been annoying but we haven't been bothered by mozzies.

We don't have screens on the windows of our little place (5 or 6 blocks up from the lake, 3rd floor) and at times the flies have been annoying but we haven't been bothered by mozzies.

That would be because mosquitoes do not go above the 2nd floor.

Right now on the lake there are many people that coming down with Chikungunya, another disease carried by mosquitos. Generally it seems to be people living on the shore or nearby. It seems to last two weeks as my maid has it and after two weeks she is feeling well enough to come back to work.

I've stayed in various towns around the lake a number of times in Oct/Nov, several of those times with a toddler. We had no problem with mozzies, but we were sleeping indoors. Are you sleeping outside? Not many mozzies at the mile-high altitude. I don't recall even seeing any during out stays. One of the stays was in November close to the water front just outside San Pedro. There are some DEET products that are extremely effective, but READ the labels. There are a couple of non-DEET products that work well for shorter durations, like a couple/few hours. Check Consumer's Reports for the best source on info about repellents.

Buen viaje!

Yeah, breezer - that was part of our decision making. ;-) Like I said, depends on where you're staying. In general mozzies haven't been a problem for us even closer to the lake but I pack along little packet bug wipes - sometimes use them in the evenings for our legs in open air restaurants.

If you are sleeping inside, you might want to try Raid plugins. You have to replace the refill every 12 hours or so, but they worked great for me in rooms that otherwise had lots of mosquitoes sneaking in. I bought them originally at a La Bodegona but some other places in Guatemala have them. They had them locked up inside a glass case near the entrance. They ended up costing me $3 or so a week (for a bedroom). Even if you sleep in a mosquito net, what is going to protect you before you go to bed or right after you get up? I've seen similar plugins for sale in the US if you don't want to worry about buying while you are down there, although the prices in the US are much higher. The level of mosquitoes can vary even within the same neighborhood. I know the plug ins work because I have entered rooms that already had lots of mosquitoes flying around--then I watched the mosquitoes go crazy trying to get out of Dodge within a couple minutes or so of plugging it in for the first time.

Don't most the lodging rooms have nets if needed? In CR if there are mozzies, there are nets above the beds...

Don't most the lodging rooms have nets if needed? In CR if there are mozzies, there are nets above the beds...

Maybe in expensive CR rooms but NOT in the average CA establishment.

Not so, I stay in cabinas all the time in mozzie zones, and they have nets...even in Tortuguero at $20 night.