After Nancy and Allison left we pretty much just hung out and did schoolwork. Eventually we got bored of our routine and decided to do a week and a half trip for the last part of our time in Guatemala. First we would go to Rio Dulce for a sailing trip along the river, then we would go up to a place called Finca Ixobel which is a combination of a Farm, a really run down "resort" and a hostel. Finally we would go to the Tikal Ruins and then make our way back to Antigua. Okay starting from the beginning. The first day of our sailing trip was quite interesting; we got up at 4:30am, went outside and stood outside of our hotel in Antigua, and stood there until five. At 15 after five the shuttle still hadn't gotten there and it was supposed to have picked us up at five. We were about to go call a taxi, because we needed at least 45 minutes to get to Guatemala City to catch our bus to Rio Dulce, then our shuttle (which wasn't really a shuttle it was just a regular car) pulled up and we sped off towards
Guatemala City. Unfortunately we got stuck once we got into Guatemala City we got stuck by traffic. At six our shuttle driver called the bus station and asked them to give him 5 more minutes to get there. We got to the bus station and got all our stuff out of the car, our shuttle driver had gone off somewhere so we just were kind of standing there. After about a minute our driver came running back and told us to get in the car because the bus had already left, so we went speeding off down the streets of Guatemala City. Luckily the bus hadn't gone far and after about two minutes of chasing down the bus we found it and got on the bus. After that the bus ride was unexciting and I pretty much just slept the whole way to Rio Dulce.
When we got to the river, we were told to go and wait in a restaurant that would be where the sail boat would pick us up. When we got into the restaurant we saw two other groups that were going on the sailing trip. After two hours of sitting in the restaurant a guy in a little dingy
boat pulled up and shuttled us across the river to a 40 foot Catamaran. The captain showed us our rooms on the boat and then we set off down the river. The rooms were tiny and they were quite stuffy but they had hatches on the ceiling where you could get some air at night. The boat also had two hammocks at the bow and those were nice to lie down in. The first day was pretty much just sailing to the place where we would anchor that night, and I got really bored because I had finished my book and it was too windy to play cards. Once we had anchored for the night it was time for dinner which was chicken, rice, and veggies. It was really amazing what the cook could do in the tiny kitchen on the boat. After dinner everyone pretty much just went to bed.
In the morning we woke up and had breakfast which was the typical
Guatemalan breakfast which is eggs, re fried beans and plantains. Once we finished breakfast we got our bathing suits on and got ferried over to the shore. Then we walked for about a half an hour to a hot waterfall. The waterfall was really impessive because it was steaming hot and there were little fish in the pools under that would come up and nibble at you. We swam for about an hour then we walked back to the boat for lunch. For lunch we had soup with some kind of fish in it. The soup was really good and they also had really fresh veggies on the side. After lunch we sailed towards the old Spanish fort, which was near where we had gotten on the boat the day before. The fort was really cool it had tons of old cannons and we had to walk through these winding tunnels all over. When we were done at the fort we got back on the boat and sailed to our night spot. I was really surprised at the captains choice of night spot; we docked at a small hotel or house that had barking dogs and tons of mosquitoes. For dinner we had spaghetti which was very good and we had fresh baked chocolate cake for dessert! Luckily the dogs were quiet when we went to bed and I didn't notice any mosquitoes biting me in the night so overall it was okay.
The next morning we woke up to find that we were already sailing. We were in this huge canyon, with lots of fog and tons of pelicans. We sailed for about an hour and then we got to a town on the coast called Livingston. The cook brought out breakfast which was pancakes and fresh fruit. All of it was great and after we finished we ferried over to the town and walked around for a little while. In the main park of the town they had this pool that had three crocodiles in it. Luckily the pool had 4 foot concrete walls around it but still it was kind of freaky. After looking at the crocodiles we walked around the town some more and found an Internet cafe where we checked our emails.
When we were done it started to rain so we made our way back to the boat. Once everyone had returned to the boat we set off back up the river. Halfway up the river we turned off onto a side river and sailed up that for about a half hour. After we had anchored the captain got out these flat kayak things that looked like surf boards. We kayaked around for awhile and then we went back to the boat and swam. Later we got back on the boat and sailed to a spot where we could hike to the top of a hill and then go explore some caves. On our way there we had lunch on the boat, lunch was a heaping mound of mashed potatoes and grilled guiskil (which is a type of squash). Once we got to the caves the captain ferried across the river and we hiked to the top of the hill. The caves were super damp and dark and we didn't want to get lost in the caves so we didn't go far in. When we were done in the caves we went back to the bottom of the hill but we couldn't get our captains attention because the boat was across the river. So we went over to this little shop on the dock and bought some coconuts. The coconut milk tasted kind of weird but it was refreshing. Finally we got our captains attention and he came over and picked us up. The rest of the day was unexciting we sailed to a small lagoon where we spent the night. Dinner that night was a tuna quiche, rice, and some veggies. After dinner we played cards and then went to bed.
We woke up the next morning and packed up our stuff. Then we had breakfast but I don't remember what we ate. After breakfast we set off towards the town Rio Dulce where our sailing trip would end. When we reached Rio Dulce we got ferried over to the same restuarant we had been picked up at, we said goodbye to the other people from the boat and then we walked to the bus station. We caught a bus that was going up to Finca Ixobel and thats when the second adventure starts. (I am going to put our next adventures in a different post because this post is getting really long.)
Larissa
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