Rio Dulce
GUATEMALA
A Guatemalan Jungle
By AARON
Saturday, May 3, 2008
So after spending 11 days in Antigua, Guatemala (about 7 more than we wanted, but hey, I needed my check card!), Lyndi and I took a chicken bus to Guatemala City, and then hopped on a pretty nice bus to Rio Dulce. The ride was nice, we even got to watch 2 movies: “I am Legend” (“Soy la Leyenda”), and “Rambo” (“Rambo”). Once we arrived at Rio Dulce, located on Lago de Izabal, we were bombarded with “helpers”, wanting us to stay at their particular place, showing us pictures, haggling prices, and giving the “evil eye” to their competitors right next to them. But now Lyndi and I were seasoned travelers, hardened to the busy haggling and constant pressure of these barnacles, clinging to you as if to say “these 2 are mine, back off!”. So after fighting off all of them with the machetes we had bought in Honduras, we walked to the dock where the boats (“lanchas”) pick up travelers. Unfortunately, once we got to the dock, we realized that we didn’t have the number to Casa Perico, the place where we were staying. Luckily, one of the “helpers” (he had survived our lethal machete skills) had followed us to the dock, and called Casa Perico on his cell phone to come pick us up. And how much did that cost us???? Absolutely nothing, as it turns out, Casa Perico paid the guy a couple Quetzals, we jumped in the lancha, and we were on our way.
Arriving at Casa Perico gave you the feeling that you were on a trek down the Amazon river, surrounded by jungle on both sides, tree roots stabbing their way into the water from the riverbanks, while vines hung down from the branches. Casa Perico was located on the other side of the lake, and in a little river inlet that took you into a “junglesque” territory of Lago de Izabal. The entire hostel had literally been built half on the river, half in the jungle, with decks leading you everywhere – to the main thatch roof bungalow where the game area and bar were, to the lodgings, set deeper back in the jungle. Our plan was to stay at Casa Perico for 2 days only, and then take off on an adventure to a remote place called Oasis Chiyu.
Our stay at Casa Perico was nice, we kayaked (Kayak’d? Kayak’ed???), swam on the docks, and played darts and cards on the main deck with other travelers. Since we were in the jungle, or “quasi- jungle”, the wildlife was incredible. We got some great pictures of a green tree frog, and a giant beetle with some psychadelic colors on its back. What we didn’t get a picture of, probably because I was paralyzed in fear, was the Brazilian Bird Tarantula that decided to prop himself about 1 foot from the head of our bed we were sleeping in. But don’t worry, Bruno (one of 3 Swiss that owned Casa Perico), assured us that it was “just a junior”, and was more interested in insects and birds than humans. Ooookaaaay. We still “ushered” him out of our room and into the wild where he could enjoy all the insects and little birds he wanted. What I wondered though, as I lay in bed not being able to sleep now, was “how did a Brazilian Bird Tarantula end up all the way in Guatemala? Did he take the train? Did he hitchhike? Was he just traveling north for the summer to meditate and find his inner chi?” These were questions I didn’t get to ask and unfortunately will never know…
