Rio Dulce, Guatemala

San Felipe Fort, Rio Dulce, Guate

from the Pacific coast's Monterrico to the Caribbean coast's Rio Dulce, Livingston, and later to Flores, the Peten rainforest and Tikal
From Tuesday through Thursday; leaving Flores in a rainstorm at 9:30 for Guatemala City.

Rio Dulce, "Sweet River" runs from the top of lake Izabal through a stretch of water teeming with pelicans, cormorants and white egrets...

Getting to Rio Dulce and sleeping there make a good story to tell later on; we took off in a launch for 15 people at 9 am on Wed the 9th the pilot took us by San Felipe Fort which the Spanish built to defend against English pirates in the 17th century
Ciao

Monterrico, Pacific Coast, Guatemala

and we have been to Panajachel and Chichicastenango in the Highlands,
back to Antigua,
then to Jocotenango and San Felipe
Sunday morning left Antigua for this remore village on the Guate's Pacific coast

Ruins of Santa Clara Convent and Church, Antigua, Guatemala

Tues 1 March 2011
Today we prepared for our short trip to Panajachel and Lake Atitlan
We had to do our washing at one of the local coin laundries, traveling by tuc-tuc and searching around; two small bags washed and folded cost us Q85
Then we had to take out cases from Soleil to Lo de Bernal, highly recommended by Travelocity -turned out to be a small but recently remodeled hotel near the La Merced Parish on the Calle 1 Poniente
We started rambling to visit the Hospital of Brother Pedro which we stopped by -Aura planned to have her father taken care of here before he passed away suddenly...
Not far away we found a neglected buy once beatiful public garden where a number of indigenous people were relaxing in, at the end of which where what used to be the public clothes washing pool, and behind that the magnificent ruins of Santa Clara