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Obviously the 5 hour transfer did not take 5 hours but 6 as the road that we should have taken was closed so a division along another really bad road was needed but at least I was going to my destination. Nick from the transfer to Lanquin was on the same shuttle so we shared our experiences on the crowded shuttle.
Arriving in steamy, crowded Rio Dulce we were mobbed by lancha drivers waiting to take us to hostels - already having my booking for Casa Perico made the choice a lot easier. Nick also decided to join me when I said the place he was looking at was under the massive bridge and had reviews of 4.5 out of 10!
The hostel owner was Swiss and you could tell from the germanic items on the hostel menu! The hostel was in the swamp at the side of Rio Dulce which reminded me a lot of my time in the Amazon. At the bar that night we also met a girl I had met in La Iguana Perdida and between us came up with a plan for the next day.
A relaxed start then a boat ride into town to catch a collective to Castillo de San Felipe at the point where the lake met the river. The castle was built by the Spanish to keep them pesky British and the pirates out of the interior of Guatemala. It must not have always worked as the local town of El Estor was so named because the priates went there on raiding parties when they needed to restock and called it the Store!
The castle was a beautiful small one with great views across the lake and a free guide. One of the saddest things of my trip also happened here when my camera died and would not be revived. I then had to resort to my phone camera which was not nearly so good.
After the castle we returned to Rio Dilcer to catch a collectivo to El Boqueron, a limestone canyon, with a river running through where we cruised in a rustic kayak and even spotted a barn owl (now cursing the lack of my decent camera!). We headed back to town again as it was mid afternoon and lunch was calling.
The next day the same group decided to head to the Mayan ruins at Quiregua where they have the largest stealea found from the Mayan world - over 8 metres high. The journey involved 2 collectivos and a tuk tuk - the second collectivo carrying around 35 people when there were only 15 seats - no health and safety here but they wouldn't let the children stand by the wide open side door!
Arriving at the ruins we walked around admiring the the intricate carvings which even provided exact dates for each statue and over the ruins of the small temples and plaza. There was no handy tuk tuk to take us back to the main road so we decided to walk in the blazing and sweaty heat back the 3km to the main road along a road lined by Del Monte banana plantations - we did not see the Man so no one was there to say "Yes" to us.
The first collectivo was quite easy but at Morales we had to wait ages for one that did not have people hanging out the door - 45 minutes hanging on was not in any of our wish lists! Getting back to Rio Dulce we had another late lunch and back to the hostel again.
I had already extended my staay once and was to do so again to do a day trip to Livingston at the end of the Rio Dulce on the Carribbean coast. This was also where I was to say goodbye to Zoe and Nick as they were staying overnight and I was heading to Flores the next day.
The boat trip on the way down was leasurely taking in the Castillo, a lake of waterlillies, hot springs and through the changing landscape of the river. Arriving in Livingston you felt like you had arrived in a different world - a major Carribbean vibe and I started to regret the day trip. We went with Zoe and Nick to their hostel (first mistake - except I was able to get Wifi to email a hostel in Flores) and then to lunch. We all, with a Swiss couple, had an amazing lucnh at restuarant Gaby - I had tapado a local type of fish stew which included prawns, a whle mahi mahi, conch, cockle type things, whelk type things, a small crab (whole) two types of plantain and coconut milk and probably other stuff I couldn't identify! It was probably one of the best meals I had had since I was away (and before!) but we were gulping it down before myself and the Swiss couple had to rush back to the boat seeing nothing of the Garifuna culture in the town.
The boat journey back only took 1.5 hours and so I chilled at the hostel before packing for the bus to Flores at 9.30am the next morning.
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