Clouds and Lakes

The road winding through the jungle along the Guatemalan border was really a strange one. Gone were the accustomary corners/topes and instead there was a long straight road. For most part the surface was excellent and you could fly along at over 60mph, until you suddenly hit some massive broken up section where you would drop a foot or bounce over the rough road worse than a bucking bronco.

As we had over 4 hours drive to cover going slow wasn't much of an option and we hit a few things way too fast. Then when we were on the gravel road down to our camp spot we heard a loud clunk and Elvis had a new rattle. It didn't take me long to realise one of our brand new front shocks was hosed, and without the dampening effect it was a bit bouncy onward journey.

Fortunately we didn't have far to go to get to Las Nubes. The name 'The Clouds' comes from the white spray kicked out of a pretty small but ferocious waterfall. We had a nice walk through the rainforest, including navigating the labyrinth of large rocks some of which you had to crawl under, and took in some amazing miradors (viewpoints). Maya absolutely loved it and was haring around like a dog possessed! We rounded it off with a cooling dip in the river, a safe distance away from the falls and the scary whirlpools that drained some of the pools.

The next day we continued to limp along, and decided to spend the night at the beautiful National Park of the Lakes of Montebello. We camped right on the waters edge, but the weather was a bit iffy so we whiled away a lazy afternoon. In the morning it brightened up and we did a short hike to the 5 Lakes area. It was a gorgeous walk through the rainforest, punctuated with incredible views over the lakes from high up on the limestone cliffs. The calcium makes its way into the water and gives the lakes an sumptuous milky blue glow when the sun reflects off it.Read more