The road to Lanquin
Trip Start
Apr 23, 2009
1
15
31
Trip End
May 23, 2009
Where I stayed
Lanquin, Guatemala
Thursday, May 7, 2009
Because of the roads, we had to go through Guatemala City. The traffic and pollution in the city was almost more than we could bare. Miles of countryside was filled with the smell of burning as people cleared forests for planting. The hillsides smoldered from garbage burning, even plastics. Guatemala didn´t yet have an national infrastructure in place for garbage pickups nor any sort of emissions control. I hope with increasing foreign investment and development in the country, these situations will be changed in the near future.
El Retiro Lodge is the kind of bucolic place you´d lose yourself in for weeks. Some people that have stayed here actually have. White cows munched grass on the hillside yonder over the Lanquin River, monkeys howlered in the distance, palm leaf thatched huts dotted the green lawns amid red tropical flowers and hammocks were strewn about random trees. We decided on the Eagle Room loft. Quaint. 2 beds and a ladder to climb, outdoor showers and bathrooms to boot. We signed up for their famous Italian vegetarian buffet at the Restaurant and ran out for a tour.
Our 5:30 p.m. Grutas de Lanquin night tour was a much needed adventure after a day sitting in a bus. Climbing through muddy caves, walking over slippery steps and best of all, seeing and feeling thousands of bats flying out for the evening. We came back just in time to make dinner. What a crazy madhouse of a scene. 70 people signed up to be served but the kitchen catered to them all. Food was outrageously delicious, so good that we´re firmly decided to eat here again tomorrow night for their fish buffet. Who taught these guys how to make a lasagna that rivaled a real Italian restaurant? When the third bell sounded, Stacey and I shamelessly went up for seconds.
