Guatemala: Monterrico, Lanquin and Rio Dulce

The highlands of Guatemala and around Lake Atitlan are frequently rainy and chilly in the evenings, so after a week or so of getting wet feet every evening, we decided to move further south and check out Guatemala's main beach resort, Monterrico. Getting to the coast proved a bit complicated. Simon is a massive fan of taking chicken buses everywhere (the more the better). However, Guatemala is one of the few countries in Central America to offer easy tourist shuttles around most of the main attractions. Having taken heaps of chicken buses in Panama, Costa Rica and Nicaragua, I was looking forward to taking it easy on some touristy shuttles but in this instance, the chicken buses won out. So, we ended up taking SEVEN chicken buses AND A BOAT to get to the coast. Ok, it wasn't as bad as it sounds, and it was an adventure.

Monterrico is a very quiet beach resort, comprising one main street, a dramatic black sand beach and a wildlife reserve for the hatching and release of sea turtles. The waves are HUGE, resulting in quite a steep beach, with sand at odd angles. I ventured in to swim once, and was duly dumped on by the waves and was lucky to stagger out in one piece! Our aims in visiting Monterrico were as follows: a) find a hammock b) have some cocktails c) enjoy the beach. Turns out this was easily achieved and before we knew it, three days had passed in a heavenly haze of sunsets and snoozes, although we did go on an early morning boat tour of the nearby mangroves. Possibly one of the most interesting parts of Monterrico is the fact that it has only emerged as a tourist destination in the last 15 years and we had some good conversations with locals about how the town has changed, affecting their livelihoods in both positive and negative ways.

From Monterrico we were lucky enough to catch a lift back to Antigua with the hostel owner and from Antigua we took a tourist shuttle (I won that time) up to Lanquin, in the Central Highlands of Guatemala. Lanquin a tiny town popularized by its proximity to Semuc Champey, a valley of natural crystalline spring water pools. There is also natural limestone bridge over a giant waterfall flowing into the river through large caves that can be explored.

From Lanquin, we launched into an epic day of travelling on chicken buses (in this case, 3 buses and a taxi) - a full 11-hour day of adventure.. perhaps too much adventure. In any case, we finally arrived at our next destination, Rio Dulce, on the edge of Lago Izabal. This town is a haven for yachties, deemed one of the safest places to dock in the Caribbean. Most backpackers stop by Rio Dulce mainly to undertake the river trip to Livingstone, where ferries can be caught to Belize and Honduras. The river trip was fantastic - we chose to do a day return trip to Rio Dulce, stopping at a castle and hot springs en route. The river meanders through the Guatemalan highlands, winding through riverside villages and limestone canyons before arriving in Livingstone, a curiosity in Guatemala due to its strong Garifuna, or Black Caribbean heritage, making it seem much more a part of Belize or Honduras than Guatemala. We had to sample the garifuna specialty of tapado, a seafood and coconut soup, as well as guifiti, the local liquor soaked in various roots and herbs, said to have healing and potency powers.