Long Live The Sar

I have been too busy to write for the past few days. Swimming, reading, fishing, sunbathing, itching mosquito bites, kayaking, and eating are just some of the many leisurely activities that have filled the past three days here on the Rio Dulce. This little slice of heaven is the stretch of river between Lake Izabal and the Caribbean; we are staying at El Tortugal , where they ask you what size your boat is when you reserve a room. Rio Dulce is supposedly the safest place for boats in the Caribbean during hurricane season, however the entrance to the river is only 5.5 ft deep in some places and so larger boats have to be tipped onto their sides to make it through (and this only works during the two extra high tides each month). Our hotel consists of an open dining room over the water, docks running off to either side filled with 30-60' sailboats, and raised walking platforms winding through mangrove swamps to the cabins which have tall ceilings with roofs made of thatched banan...

Since my last post on Friday, we have left Lake Atitlan (after visiting two more towns around the lake, cross-dressing for our hostel´s weekly drag party, and spending the night in a room that strongly resembled a jail cell with its only ventilation coming from the men´s bathroom next door) for Semuc Champey. Our 8-hr bus ride yesterday ended at El Retiro Lodge, a rustic hostel on the outskirts of Lanquin. We were given the room next door to our friends from Iguana Perdida which was nice and then had a nice meal prepared by the local women who work at the lodge - note to all readers and everyone else: never watch your food get prepared in Guatemala...ever. It is not a pretty picture that involves many unwashed hands, silverware used for raw meat, cooked meat, vegetables, oil, and garlic, and in our case, child labor (probably holds true elsewhere but I have seen it here with my own two eyes) Our room was perfectly habitable after I exterminated the alien-esque creature that resembl...