Tikal, Rio Dulce, Livingston - Guatemala

September 2014

It took me 9 hours, 5 buses and friendly conversations with local travelers to make it to Flores from Semuc Champey, Lanquin.

Flores is a very pretty town on the lake Isobel.  

Tikal, the famous Maya ruins located in the jungle. Discovering these old temples is not the only attraction of the site. We got to see beautiful birds like toucans or quetzal-family birds, and also monkeys, crocodiles... and a big anteater!

Anteater

From Flores, I took a bus to Rio Dulce. 6 hours I think. The town of Rio Dulce is not really pretty, it smells fried chicken and it seems to have only one road with shops on each side. 

From there, I took an expensive boat ride (140Q) on the large green 'sweet river' to the Finca Tatin. It's a lodge hostel in the jungle, on the river bank. There are cabañas and dorms, hammocks... the delicious dinners are family style: "take it or leave it", no menu. I staid 2 nights there. The activities were kayaking on the river and in the mangrove, swimming, reading in the hammocks and bathing in the hot springs...

Fort San Felipe

Within 20min of boat ride toward the East, we arrived in Livingston, a very special city at the mouth of the river, on the Caribbean cost. This city presents an interesting mix of Garífuna, Afro-Caribbean, Maya and Latino people and cultures. I loved it.

I staid in a very nice hostel "Casa rosa". The dorm was a huge room very bright with big windows and a view on the sea.