Guatemala's West 🇬🇹

We spent the last week of our trip in Guatemala in the western part of the country. First in Flores and then in the jungle around Rio Dulce. After over 10 hours of driving, we arrived in Flores. Axel, however, was not very enthusiastic about our hotel for the next 2 days. I only saw the large pool in the middle and was convinced, haha. However, we ultimately didn’t spend much time in our small room with a sparking showerhead. Flores is known for being a small island in the middle of Lake Peten Itza. Our hotel was not directly on the island but in the town on the mainland. What we didn’t know was that in the town, no tuk-tuks are allowed to operate after 8 PM, so we had to walk back to the hotel through this not-so-safe town. Well, the next morning, we went a little further north to the ancient Mayan city of Tikal. In pouring rain, we viewed the Mayan pyramids, where a Star Wars film was also shot. It was truly impressive to see how these were built thousands of years ago, right in the middle of the jungle. For the rain, the jungle provided decent shelter. On the way back, while the rain stopped, we enjoyed a cozy afternoon by the pool and in Flores. The island is quite nice, but you can walk around it in 30 minutes, and since it’s currently not the season for Guatemala, it was really quiet here. So, the next morning we leisurely continued south to Rio Dulce. We spent the next days in a small jungle cottage right by the river between two lakes. Here we truly felt the rainy season for the first time, especially at night when we could really hear it. At night, there was intense thunder, but during the day it was pleasantly warm. Since we were now super close to the Caribbean, we took the first chance for that. We drove to the nearest town by the sea and then through a rather secluded area in the jungle to reach a Caribbean beach. After a while, we finally arrived. Okay, it wasn’t the white sand and super blue sea you imagine, but we definitely felt the Caribbean vibe. We spent the afternoon there before returning to our jungle cottage. The next day, we had a new Caribbean beach to visit, which was only reachable by boat. We set off in the morning with light rain, but it quickly cleared up into better weather, and we were able to fully enjoy our boat ride. We saw many different birds, a manatee (possibly), waterfalls, and many fishermen along the way. After about 2 hours of boating, we reached the beach. Well, it wasn’t exactly what we had in mind for a Caribbean beach, but it was nice nonetheless, and we enjoyed the warm sea for a few hours. Afterwards, we went to a small town on the way back, which could also only be reached by boat — Livingston. On the way back, we had something to eat, and in the late afternoon, we returned through the jungle along the Rio Dulce River. It was another very successful day for us. We spent the last day quite leisurely, as it rained more or less the whole day, and we couldn’t quite find our planned destinations on Google Maps. On the long way back, we stayed another night in the middle of Guatemala to get some tattoos. After 2000 km, 13 days, and countless memories, we arrived back in Guatemala City. For us, sadly, it’s time to say goodbye again, as I won’t be heading home quickly. But we definitely look back on an unforgettable trip! 🫶🏼