Kayaking and Hot Springs on the Lake
Trip Start
Jan 01, 2007
1
41
141
Trip End
Ongoing
Rio Dulce,
Guatemala
Wednesday, March 7, 2007
We were picked up at our hostel by the launcha to Finca Tatin. On the boat was a couple from Canada and Harvey from NY. The boat trip through the eastern canyon was amazing. The cliff walls are incredibly tall and the forest is very lush. We arrive at Finca Tatin within 30 minutes and pick out a nice private cabana in the jungle. The finca is on the river Tatin that flows into the Rio Dulce and is totally secluded. The only way in or out is by boat and the electricity is only on for five hours a day. It is made up of a series of cabanas on the river and in the jungle that are all connected by footbridges or stone paths. It has a great communal area and a large dining area. Once settled in we grab a kayak and head up the river. It is a small side river that dead ends at a community center and school that supports the local community. We turn around and head out into the Rio Dulce. We know the hot spring is not that far away and decided to paddle our way to it. Along the way we see many birds and some local fisherman in their traditional cayucos working their fish pots. The fish pots actually look a lot like crab traps with the top open that they pull up really quick to try and net the fish.
After about 20 minutes we pass a brick wall and think it might be the hot spring but are not sure. There is no sign so we keep going thinking it would be marked. About 20 more minutes pass and we have not hit it yet. We are actually at the entrance to the gulfette and know it can not be up here so we turn around.
Canoeing
Kay asks a guy in a cayuko where the aqua caliente is and he points in the direction we came from. We obviously passed it. It turns out that the brick wall was it so we stop and pull up to the wall and the sulfur smell. Nothing like that rotten egg smell to brighten your day. Just on the other side of the wall the water is really hot. I can barely put my feet in so we just sit on the step looking at it and taking the sulfur smell. There are caves up above but we did not bring money to leave as a donation so we do not go in. After a few minutes we paddle our way back to the Finca and put the cayak away. To our suprise we have been gone for two hours. We grab some ice cold showers, I'm talking the coldest I have ever taken, and plop ourselves down in a hammock next to the river to read. Darkness and mosquitos make us move to the common area where I get spanked in backgammon again before we sit down for the communal dinner. I don´t know if you have noticed the theme yet but Kay kicks my butt in most games. The meal of the day is fresh fish, potatos and vegetables. At dinner we chat with some of the other guests and after a few hours we are beat and head off to our cabana for a good night sleep in the jungle.
The next morning was the first morning in Guatemala that we did not wake up to the sounds of chickens! It was great. The weather is a still overcast so we decide to catch the 10am launcha to Rio Dulce with one of the other guests. As we are leaving Dennis, the owner, recommends Casa Perico so that is where we are headed.
Casa Perico - Thurs Mar 8-Sat Mar 10
The ride to Rio Dulce is a lovely trip along the river.
Canoeing in Rio Dulce
The weather is cool but we get to see the jungle along the way and our boat stopped at the hot springs. I love the smell of Sulpher in the morning! (Apocalypse Now reference for non movie geeks) The ride with stops ended up taking about 1:15 minutes and we get to Casa Perico around noon. We are greeted by a nice Swiss fellow who shows us our options. We decide on a nice cabana down a wooded path that has its own balcony with a hammock, table and is overlooking the little creek. This place reminds me a little of the place Harrison Ford built in the Mosquito Coast. (Hopefully it will not burn to the ground while we are here) Everything centers on the main building and is connected by wooden paths suspended over the water and swamp. It is very cool. It is a little too late to try and get to the Hot Waterfalls so we grab a nap and then borrow a cayuko and hit the water. A cayuko is a traditional wooden dugout canoe. It sits about an inch above the waterline and is very stable. We paddle around for a bit and then stop at the swimming platform in the river. Here is where I decide to try and relive my youth when we would spend hours jumping off our deck into the pool making up dives. Kay has plenty of photos of all of this fun and will make sure you get the same laughs she did. After one too many flips I am extremely tired and we just lay on the deck enjoying the weather. Later that same night we enjoyed the buffet dinner at the hostel and the company of Pranav from the UK. We talked sports, politics, movies, books and anything you could think of.
In the cabana next to us was a girl with the most anoying voice I have ever heard.
Canoeing kay
She was also very young and her stories were told just like the band camp girl from American Pie. ¨"This one time..." Kill me now. For a reference to the sound of her voice think of the movie Dumb and Dumber when Jum Carrey says "You want to hear the most anoying sound in the world" and then he makes that crazy sound, yup thats her voice. Our second day the weather is great and we grab an early launcha to head out to the Fort and the Host Waterfalls. We are joined by Karen and Bailey, a mother and daughter traveling team who are from Fairfax VA. Again a very small world. The launcha drops us off at the Castillo San Fillipe which is a 15th century Fort built at the point where the river flows into the lake. This position allowed them to defend the lake from pirates who traveled in from the ocean. They actually used to run a giant chain across the entire mouth of the river to try and stop the ships. Oh yeah they had cannons too. The fort has been restored to near perfection and the landscape is very well manicured. This is one of the best kept sites in Guatemala. At the Fort a lovely man takes us on a tour of the entire structure explain each aspect of it. At one point he lights candles and takes us into the dungeon and shows us how people were chained to the wall. The worst part of the dungeon is that in the rainy season it would fill up with about 4 feet of water. So prisioners would be chained to the wall in a sitting crucified position with water up to their neck. Not so good. They were often kept in this position for years.
We grab a shuttle to town and then hop on the bus to Finca Pariso for some swimming in the Hot Waterfalls.
Casa Perico - Our Hammock
The bus takes one hour, costs 10Q and is on the bumpiest road we have been on yet. I´m sure an X-ray of my spine after the ride would scare a few doctors. We traveled along the lake and amongst some amazing bananna plantations. At the Finca we have to pay a 10Q entrance fee and walk about 15 minutes to the falls. They send a guide along with us as security and he slept the entire time we were swimming. When we get there we are the only people at the falls . The site is made up of hot waterfalls that run over a ridge and crash into a cool stream below. It creates a great balance of hot and cold water. The waterfalls are so hot that you can only stay under the water for maybe 30 seconds before feeling a burning sensation. The water is steaming in some spots. We swim around and explore the site enjoying the relaxing water. We even climbed up the side of the falls to try and see if we could find the source but it disappers into the forest. If you go here watch out for the little fish becuase they like to nip at your ankles. We end up spending about 3 hours here swimming and relaxing before we catch the return bus to Rio Dulce. Back in town we head to Sundog Cafe for some lunch. It is a great little cafe that makes homemade bread and Dutch apple pie that is excellent. The owner, Yuri, is Dutch so you know the pie is good. They have a chocolate lab named Lukey that is very playful and loves to make you chase him and is a lot of fun. We order food and some drinks and relax. You can not go wrong with anything on the menu. Karen and Bailey stike up a conversation with a man who owns a sailboat and he offers to give them a ride back to the hostel. Kay and I realize that happy hour is starting in a few minutes so we stay. When it is happy hour you sort of have to!
Over a few beers we meet Leo from Holland and Pablo from Austrailia. They just arrived and are looking for a place to stay so we tell them about the Casa and they decided to stay there also. While they order food we hit the internet cafe to do some work on the site. After they eat we all head to the Casa on the same boat. The Sundog cafe has a CB and calls the hostel for us. The ride back is pretty cool. The launcha has only a flashlight as a lightsource and the lake is very dark. We can pretty much see every star in the sky and play amateur astronomers. At the hostel we are tired and head off to bed.
It rained most of the night and into the morning so we decided to stay another day and figure out the bus to Honduras. We head back to Rio Dulce and work on the website for a few hours and hit Sundog Cafe again to watch the Real Madrid v Barcelona soccer match. It was a very exciting game and ended in a 3-3 tie. That night we enjoyed a huge buffet and the company of Emeil and Sanne from Holland. If you can believe this he is a brewmaster/taster for Bavaria beer in Holland. We will definately need to visit them.
The next day we are up early and packed to grab the 10am bus to San Pedro Honduras.
