The Caribbean coast of Guatemala where Mother Nature really blessed the area. Mountain ranges pushed up from her soil and warm humid jungles grew. Over 400 species of birds beautifully clothed in vivid feathers. Freshwater turtles emerge along with playful manatees.

Rivers are mirrored with wild flowers, overflowing with lianas, orchids, bromeliads, crustaceans, toucans, and howler monkeys. With 200 species of fish, over 150 different land mammals waiting for you to explore the mangrove swamps, there is no other place in Guatemala where such an ecological variety is so easily at hand for those who enjoy exploring.

Sail on Lago Izabal, Guatemala’s largest lake, surrounded by orchards of mango, avocado mameyes and pineapples which fill the air with exotic fragrances. Visit Finca Paraiso where the beautiful hot waterfalls create hot and cold whirlpools and natural steam caves surrounded by jungle. A trip to the village of El Estor, close by the Boqueron Canyon, a 400 foot gorge cutting its way through the mountain.

Canoe up the canyon and float down in complete silence, enjoying the sounds of nature. Sail to the mouth of the Polochic River for a boat ride upriver where hundreds of howler and spider monkeys move about and howl in the trees that line the riverbanks. Sail on to Punta Brava where Denny’s Beach provides a clean white beach for sunbathing and swimming.

Visit the Castillo de San Felipe built by the Spaniards to protect the area from pirates. Then you enter the Rio Dulce, which meanders lazily through the tropical growth to the screaming delight of the colorful winged inhabitants along its banks.

The river continues its course to form the Golfete, overgrown with mangrove thickets and a maze of small lakes seething with life. Visit the Manatee Reserve and nature walk. The Rio Dulce now narrows to rush through steep jungle cloaked limestone cliffs before emptying into the Caribbean Sea next to the Creole village of Livingston, where you can visit and see the remnants of Caribbean colonial architecture.