Updated 07/12/2006
 View of the Backpacker's Hotel on the Rio Dulce from the Bridge |
After 44 days on the road in Guatemala and Belize, we decided that it
was time to come home and update the website. Guatemala was
spectacular. The country has a large diversity of culture and
topography with many 'must-see' sights. We started our land excursion in San Salvador then traveled by a very nice bus to Guatemala City. We spent 1 night in scary 'Zona 1', then caught another bus to Rio Dulce. We spent 5 nights in the Rio Dulce area before heading off to Livingston on the Eastern coast of Guatemala. Background Photo: Peeling paint layers on wall. |
We
left Terra Firma in an estero in El Salvador on a mooring and began our
trip in San Salvador, the capital of El Salvador. We spent 1
night in the city and visited the Cultural Museum and the Museum of
Modern Art. Both museums were very well done and we were very
impressed by the paintings on exhibit by an artist named Carlos Canas.
The piece below is a commentary on the inadequacy of the public
transportation system. The buses are very crowded and pickup
trucks are commonly seen picking up the slack. People stand in
the truck bed and hang on to a cage fastened to the truck.
From
San Salvador, we rode a very nice bus to Guatemala City and spent the
night before continuing on to Rio Dulce the next day. Were were
glad to be off buses and out of the major cities when we arrived.
The photo to the left is the center of Rio Dulce, and that really
is just about all of it.We stayed at 2 very different, but very cool places while in Rio Dulce proper. One was Bruno's (below left) run by an ex-pat American. Bruno's was also the hangout for sailors.
The second place was the Backpacker's Hotel (below right). This place catered to the more budget-minded (us) and younger crowd (not us, but we liked pretending!). The hotel helped support a local orphanage by providing accommodations for volunteers.
