Río Dulce, Part 2

After Livingston, we spent another couple days exploring the Río Dulce by kayak from the tiny rustic Hotelito Perdido , run by a couple from London & Poland.     15.7766, -88.8025 

We loved this place! It was a great opportunity to relax from our adventures, learn about the culture from a new point of view, and have some time to play and explore the wild side of Guatemala. Chris, one of the two owners, picked us up in Livingston and brought us there by boat.

Hotelito Perdido has a couple backpacker beds in a loft over the central lodge, and a three private bungalows elsewhere on the property. Communal meals (with homemade bread!) and refreshments are provided if you want them, and are kept track of by an honor system. Electric power is provided by solar panels. Our hosts entertained us with long stories of the area, especially regarding what it takes to open and run a hotel in Guatemala. We loved exploring the areas around their hotel, as well as just napping in the sun on their dock by the river.

Our first kayak trip was to Catarata Lámpara, a waterfall up the river. Here is the little map our hosts drew to show us how to get there:

We encountered all sorts of curious creatures, plants, and people while paddling along the water.

This is a huge bug we found gnawing on a tough softball-sized fruit growing by the side of the river. Sorry we didn't get any great photos of this big fellow, but believe us — it was bigger than a finger!

These curious birds look to be muscovy ducks:

Then, suddenly, it started to rain. And we don't mean a light Seattle drizzle — it dumped! We tried hiding under a tree, but finally gave up and continued kayaking. Luckily we have a waterproof camera !

We reached the end of the navigable portion of the river, and got out to hike the rest of the way. We encountered a bunch of local people waiting out the rain in a boat hut.     15.7492, -88.7755 

We were already soaked, so we decided to hike on through the rain.

Catarata Lámpara — the waterfall — unsurprisingly, was raging!     15.7469, -88.7708 

The rain tapered off to late afternoon sun.

The next morning, we kayaked in the maze of water passages that make up the Manatee Reserve on the north side of the river. There were lots of birds and plants to investigate, but we didn't spot any manatees. (Apparently it's pretty rare to see them.)     15.7654, -88.8845