We had wanted to meet up with our friends in Belize when we got wind that they were going to be in the Cayes, but unfortunately their plans put them in Placentia instead which would have been another 5 hours past Belize City for us, and would make for some miserable travel with only 1 or 2 days of seeing our friends. So we opted to do our own thing and go down to Rio Dulce instead, which is small town on the river of the same name, and was only 4-5 hour bus ride from Santa Elena. Once there, we [View Full Entry]

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Having left ARCAS wildlife rescue centre after three weeks of volunteering, we took a lancha (a small and skinny wooden boat) to Flores where we unfortunately had to stay another night but left early morning to take a chicken bus to Rio Dulce, a quiet little town near Lake Izabal. The people were very friendly, the town quite small being centered on one main street and ¨the longest bridge in Central America¨spanning across the lake. We took a day trip to El Estor, also along the lake side, to a castle ¨Castillo de San Felipe¨ which had to have been build [View Full Entry]

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Saludos a tod@s, Como bien les prometí, no van a poderse deshacer de mi tan facilmente..., noooo , les habia prometido a todos mantener la comunicación y ponerles al día de mi periplo por tierras centroaméricanas y sobre todo tenerles infomados de cómo es el dia a dia en esta ONG del que muchos estabais interesados, y como también se trata de cumplir sueños...vamos a hacerlos realdad juntos!! Espero con este blog hacerles llegar un poquito de la realidad que vive este pais y sus gentes y sobre todo la realidad en este centro donde voy a intentar ayudar y cont [View Full Entry]

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Day 787 (26.5.09) - Day 793 (1.6.09) We settled in quickly at Nutria Marina due to it's lovely surroundings and the great welcome by Bex the Manager and dog Fitz, we felt right at home already. Nutria Marina is a couple of minutes in a boat from Rio Dulce itself and is tucked away enough to have a secluded feel, yet with its great food, drinks and proximity to town you have access to everything else you may need. With a dock to swim from, free internet, water, kayaks, movies, free scheduled boats into town and awesome staff it’s got everything [View Full Entry]

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un endroit magnifique... ! de bons souvenirs, une route d'enfer de 12 heures à travers les montagnes sur une piste défoncée le long du Rio Polochic, de belles plongées, de beaux poissons, et la meilleure piña colada de ma vie (ça vient de là mon addiction !) !!! fantastique ! guatemala 2002 [View Full Entry]

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After visiting Costa Rica, I had to travel up to Guatemala to meet up with my friend Jane from the UK, who was in Central America for a month. After discovering it would take around 3 days on the bus, I looked on line for a flight, and hey presto - a ridiculously cheap business class ticket was mine! I have never travelled anything other than cattle class before, so this was something of a pleasant novelty - they brought me drinks (seemed a bit silly to order a G&T at 9am so settled for endless cups of tea and coffee), [View Full Entry]

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Destination 2: Rio Dulce & Livinston The next morning saw us taking the first bus out of Flores for the Rio Dulce or the'Fonterras'. I was excited about the getting there mainly because for me - it signified the Caribbean, my first chance to get a glimpse of it..... What of Rio Dulce? Well its a one horse town, minus the horse. It is essentially one street - that takes one blink of the eye to complete. There are some accommodation options on the 'city´side but it´s worth your while to find a lancha to take you to an establishment somewhere [View Full Entry]

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The Wandke Wanderlust hit me about 3 months after settling in Placencia, and I immediately looked to my southern neighbor for an adventure! I started mentioning Guatemala to people around town, and everyone had a fantastic review or fond memory of time spent there, so I knew this was my ticket! The week before leaving, I heard a friend of a friend was planning on sailing his boat down to the Rio Dulce and he would be happy to have the company! Giddy up! With this news, Antony, my friend who recently moved here from England, said he was up for [View Full Entry]

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This looks like the sort of place you would smuggle a cargo of cocaine or get your dirty cash laundered. Also known as Fronteras , it seems that Rio Dulce has never been able to shed it's buccaneering past. This town is technically not a fronteer but it does bridge the gap between mainland Guatemala and the Caribean coast. In the past it was an entry route for British pirates to come and steal Spanish gold. Now the inland port is a storm shelter for yachts from the seasonal hurricanes that batter this side of the world. The dirt track town [View Full Entry]

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After leaving Honduras we were traveling to El Peten, the northernmost region of Guatemala. Our first stop (just south of the Peten) was the Lago Izabal and Rio Dulce area. We had been in the rain for four days and at least two more rainy days were forecasted to come. We decided that if we were going to be stuck in a hotel, it should be a nice hotel with internet, comfortable bed, hot water, bar and restaurant. We splurged and checked into the resort hotel, Mansion del Rio on Saturday the 17th of January for two nights. Mansion del Rio [View Full Entry]

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