Rio Dulce, Livingston and Flores
We left Antigua in Mini Vans and I really started to miss Rosita (our truck from the last trip). The vans were cramped with no air con so it was a long 6 hour drive to Rio Dulce.
However when we arrived it was well worth it - we were staying on a hotel on an island and had to catch a boat accross (Hotel CatamaranIsland). There was a really nice pool with a poolside bar and a 4 hour happy hour!! We stayed in cabins which were top quality - there was also a big lizard that we saw on the island but I wasn´t quick enough to get a photo.
Rio Dulce Island
After lazing by the pool for the afternoon (yep - I really miss working for a living!!) I had diner with the group on the island and finished the night with a few beers under the stars.
I opted for a boat trip the next day to the Garifuna town of Livingstone. The trip took us down the Rio Dulce (Sweet River!) to the Izabal lake past the castle of San Felipe de Lara which was used to defend the town from English pirates.
There was a lot of bird life to see along the way as well as some Iguanas which were so hard to spot as they were the same colour as the trees at the side of the river (again I was too slow with the camera!).
Livingstone itself was a small town - the Garifuna people who live there are said to originate from African slaves who were shipwreked close by.
We headed by boat back to the mainland then onward by mini bus to Flores. We decided to go and watch the sunset and were just settling down by the shores of lake Peten with our drinks when a massive thunder and lightening storm started - it was spectacular to watch as the reeds blow accross the lake and the thunder and lightening crash overhead. That night we had to race through the heavy rain for diner and a presentation on Tikal (the ruins which I´ll tell you about in my next entry) - however we had a bit of a wait as the storm cut the power - the presenter was a German Architect who was an Archeologist in his spare time and was so glad we turned up in the rain that we got a free Tequila!
However when we arrived it was well worth it - we were staying on a hotel on an island and had to catch a boat accross (Hotel CatamaranIsland). There was a really nice pool with a poolside bar and a 4 hour happy hour!! We stayed in cabins which were top quality - there was also a big lizard that we saw on the island but I wasn´t quick enough to get a photo.
Rio Dulce Island
After lazing by the pool for the afternoon (yep - I really miss working for a living!!) I had diner with the group on the island and finished the night with a few beers under the stars.
I opted for a boat trip the next day to the Garifuna town of Livingstone. The trip took us down the Rio Dulce (Sweet River!) to the Izabal lake past the castle of San Felipe de Lara which was used to defend the town from English pirates.
There was a lot of bird life to see along the way as well as some Iguanas which were so hard to spot as they were the same colour as the trees at the side of the river (again I was too slow with the camera!).
Livingstone itself was a small town - the Garifuna people who live there are said to originate from African slaves who were shipwreked close by.
We headed by boat back to the mainland then onward by mini bus to Flores. We decided to go and watch the sunset and were just settling down by the shores of lake Peten with our drinks when a massive thunder and lightening storm started - it was spectacular to watch as the reeds blow accross the lake and the thunder and lightening crash overhead. That night we had to race through the heavy rain for diner and a presentation on Tikal (the ruins which I´ll tell you about in my next entry) - however we had a bit of a wait as the storm cut the power - the presenter was a German Architect who was an Archeologist in his spare time and was so glad we turned up in the rain that we got a free Tequila!
posted by Phil at 9:08 PM
2 Comments:
The storm sounds really cool and the site is really interesting - Pirates of the Carribean like!
Jen
x
Hello Phil
South America sounded a real adventure, I hope New Zealand is just as good.
Sean ( Jen's brother )
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