El Retiro Finca & Lodge Lanquin

Well finally we made it back to the sun sun sun and are now in Utila in the Bay Islands a carribean divers paradise with white sand, plam trees and lots of fish! Betsy is relaxing on the mainland in the company of George, a Greek, US ex pat who has a lovely place on the beach just outside La Ceiba. Before we left Guatemala we went up north to Semuq Champey where there is a national park with a natural limestone bridge and several cascades its a pretty special place in the middle of nowhere. W...

Note: Onceagain, I am nowhere near Honduras. Spent Monday-Thursday at Lanquin- 7 hoursfromAntigua.OKay, clearly this space bar isnt working-so hang with me. I checked into Elretirolodge (actually3words, notone)-a beautiful spot on the river. The hostel is a series of thatched roof bungalows with dorm beds, and some private rooms. The restaruant and bar are beatuiful, with swings as bar stools-a design feature I am definately incorporating into my future house! This place, seemed to exist not ...

We arrive in Lanquin and to our hostel "El Retiro" (the retreat) in the afternoon. This place contains wooden Palapa's (Cabana's) sublimely -located on a hill overlooking green fields and hills covered in coffee plants and pine trees. It also located beside a beatiful river which flows from the Lanquin Caves. This wonderful English-Guatemalan-owned lodge has an extensive grassy riverside plot and very attractive palm-leaf-thatched cabañas with mosquito screens, plus camping. There's great veg...

Is there a new and different way to describe the lush green wonder that is the Guatemalan landscape. I think not, but the drive from the cool volcanic highlands to the humid central region provided more of the mouth-gaping scenery to which I have become accustomed. As we descended the landscape changed from mountainous to fern-covered craggy lumps of hills that undulated dramatically along the horizon. Scenery this astounding can only be traversed in a curvy mess of roads. So we twisted and t...

This past week, we traveled to a little town called Lanquin and a nearby paradise called Semuc Champey. We had to take a 2 hour bus from the nearest big town, and traveled down gravel roads through the mountains to get to a backpackers "resort" called El Retiro, which was just outside of Lanquin. El Retiro was set on the river and had many little bungalows with hanging hammocks to lounge around in. Since we arrived late at night, we had to stay in the "tree house" option, which were pretty mu...

Hola! I trust this finds you well - Esther and i have arrived in paradise....after a nights kip in the town of Coban, we arrived yesterday at El Retiro, which is near on as perfect as a hostel can be! We are sleeping in a thatched and stilted hut, one of a few that are scattered along this hillside which slopes down to a gorgeous (and rather fast flowing!) river. Our hut looks out on a pristine vista of verdant hills, with parrakeets flitting from tree to tree and chickens rooting about in th...

The day after Tikal we headed south to Coban and the bus ride was beautiful. The landscape changed from flat to lush, rolling hills. It was probably one of our best bus rides, it took about half a day and thankfully was uneventful. We headed to Coban because nearby is one of nature´s wonders called Semuc Champey. It is a formation of natural limestone pools fed by mountain streams. What makes it unique is that these pools formed overtop of the river that flows down from the mountain. You´ll s...

Did you know it takes 2 hours to drive 11k on a dirt road? We do! Tracy here, after a 4hour bus ride which was really an 8 hour bus ride we have arrived in central guatemala. The area is amazing. Many hills and mountains all jumbled together. We have a small cabana which looks out on to a river. 9k up another dirt road is an area called Semuc Chamey. It is a river gorge which is famous for a limestone bridge which runs over a cave system creating crystal clear pools of water terraced with sma...

The journey to Semuc Champay was pretty uneventful. Patrick had arrived a day early (thankfully) and scored a cabana for us - a good thing as El Retiro was an awesome hostel and full as a result.

The scenery here was pretty stunning. Green valleys, coffee plantations, mist and fog, a river to tube down and a sauna. Ohhhhh that sauna was gooooood - beer in hand and right by the cold river:-)

We didn´t realise it at the time, but the guy doing the now infamous ´bum dance´ in the ...