Laguneta Madre Vieja

The bus journey wasn’t too bad, it was full of younger backpackers and there was the potential for the children to get fed up on the journey. However we have entertainment and snacks well-planned now and the children took the journey in their stride. We were heading back into the jungle, the last part of our journey to our hotel involved a 20 minute boat trip, our hotel (Boatique Hotel and Marina) is set on the fringes of the Dulce River/Lake surrounded by the jungle with the only access and egress by boat. It is a really tranquil location (at least until we turned up) and we spent our first afternoon lounging in hammocks, spotting wildlife and cooling off in the pool. Our accommodation was a lovely jungle lodge, with bedframes made from bamboo which fascinated Elana, and lovely views into the jungle beyond.

The following morning we were rudely awoken not by the dustman, but by the local howler monkey family! We spotted them in trees not far from our lodge, whilst it’s nice to be surrounded by nature take it from us howler monkeys are loud – almost like constipated cows (living in the countryside of Devon we know what we mean). Sleep is overrated in any case so we started our day bright and early. We spent the day with a boat trip down the River Dulce to Livingstone which is a town on the Caribbean coast of Guatemala. On route we passed through a local community that purely relies on the river to sustain itself, predominantly through fishing activities. Witnessing the villagers young and old out catching fish (one canoe we passed had two children who must have been between 5 and 8)! We also spent time spotting wildlife, as always Elana is the champion spotter, she has the ability to spot the best camouflaged creatures amongst dense vegetation. There were lots of egrets, herons, pelicans, bats and iguanas to spot along the way! On the way to Livingstone we passed through the Rio Dulce gorge, with limestone cliffs that raise around 90m either side of the river – very dramatic. After emerging from the gorge we arrived in Livingstone. Livingstone is known for its vibrant atmosphere and diverse population. It certainly had a feeling of the Caribbean about it with bbq and jerk chicken dishes a-plenty (as well as some rather pongy salted fish drying in the sun). After a light-lunch we hopped back on our boat to meander back up the river. On the way back to the hotel we stopped off at some hot-springs that emerge from the river bank, Elana couldn’t get over just how hot they were (scalding in places) and Bert was just bewildered! We spent a relaxing half hour in the springs and having thoroughly enjoyed our day on the river we journeyed back to our hotel for a relaxing evening meal and an early night.Read more