Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Colectivo lanchas
go down the Río Dulce (from the new dock) to Lívingston, usually
requiring eight to 10 people, charging Q125/200 per person one-way/round-trip. The trip
is a beautiful one, making a 'tour' of it, with several halts along the way. Boats usually
leave from 9am to about 2pm. There are regular, scheduled departures at 9:30am and
1:30pm. Pretty much everyone in town can organize a
lancha
service to Lívingston and
most other places you'd care to go, but they charge more.
El Castillo de San Felipe
The fortress and castle of San Felipe de Lara,
El Castillo de San Felipe
(admission Q20; 8am-5pm)
, about 3km west of the bridge, was built in 1652 to keep pirates from looting the villages
and commercial caravans of Izabal. Though the fortress somewhat deterred the buccan-
eers, a pirate force captured and burned it in 1686. By the end of the next century, pirates
had disappeared from the Caribbean, and the fort's sturdy walls served as a prison. Even-
tually, though, the fortress was abandoned and became a ruin. The present fort was recon-
structed in 1956.
Today the castle is protected as a park and is one of the Lago de Izabal's principal tour-
ist attractions. In addition to the fort itself, there are grassy grounds, barbecue and picnic
areas, and the opportunity to swim in the lake. The place rocks during the
Feria de San Felipe
(April 30 to May 4).
MANATEES
In the days of New World exploration, reports of mermaid sightings were commonplace. Columbus' ship's log
from January 1493 recorded: 'On the previous day when the Admiral went to the Rio del Oro he saw three mer-
maids which rose well out of the sea…' It's pretty much accepted now that what sailors were seeing were in fact
manatees - who, along with the dugong, belong to the biological order Sirenia, a name taken from the Greek
word for mermaid.
Distantly related to elephants, these huge (the largest recorded manatee weighed 1775kg, while newborns
weigh around 30kg) vegetarian mammals seem destined to become an endangered species. They were hunted as
far back as Maya times - their bones were used for jewelry and their meat (called
bucan
) was prized for its res-
torative properties. It's believed that the buccaneers (the original pirates of the Caribbean) were so named because
they lived almost exclusively on
bucan
meat.
Some scientists claim that manatees were once sociable creatures who swam in packs and readily approached
humans, but have adapted in response to human hunters, becoming the shy, furtive creatures they are today. You
have to be extremely fortunate to see one in the wild - they scare easily, can swim in short bursts at up to 30km
per hour, and can stay underwater for 20 minutes. In Guatemala, your best chance of seeing one is in the Bocas
del Polochic or the Punta de Manabique. Good luck.
