EL ORIENTE AND IZABAL - Guatemala - page 393

For overall comfort and relaxing riverside ambience amid refreshing breezes, this place
can't be beat.
On the street parallel to Playa Capitanía is Gil Resort (tel. [phone], ht-
tp://www.gilresorthotel.com/english/index.html , $50 d), housed in an airy, two-floor
wooden building. The comfortable rooms have wood paneling, TV, and a/c. There's a nice
sitting area with sea views and a Jacuzzi hot tub. The nicest of the town's accommoda-
tions is Vecchia Toscana (Barrio París, tel. [phone], www.vecchiatoscana-living-
ston.com , $48-80 d). The tastefully decorated rooms feature mosquito netting and a fan or
a/c and are built on well-manicured grounds surrounding a swimming pool.
On the other bank of the Río Dulce and at its mouth, Sierramar Eco-Lodge (tel.
5590-0789 or 7832-3885, www.sierramar.com , $25 d) is a comfortable eight-room lodge
with bungalows fronting a pretty beach on Bahía de Amatique.
FOOD
The specialty here and elsewhere in Izabal is a dish known as tapado, a seafood stew pre-
pared using coconut milk and bananas.
On par with the wonderful accommodations at Hotel Casa Rosada (tel. [phone],
www.hotelcasarosada.com , 6:30 A.M.-9 P.M. daily) is its excellent restaurant, where deli-
cious meals are served on charming hand-painted tables in a thatched-roof covered patio
overlooking the Río Dulce. Dinner is a three-course set menu, including fresh salad and
coconut bread, main course, and dessert costing about $11. Typical entrées include lobster,
shrimp, filet mignon, Thai curry, and fish. Lunch and breakfast are served à la carte and
include sandwiches, fruit salads, and quesadillas. Try the banana pancakes for breakfast.
Excellent coffee and espresso drinks are also served here.
A few doors down Calle Marcos Sánchez Díaz, heading west, Malena's (inside the
HotelPosadaElDelfín,tel.[phone], www.turcios.com/eldelfin , 6A.M.-9:30P.M.daily)
is one of Lívingston's finest restaurants, serving a varied menu of international dishes at
reasonableprices,includingvegetariannachoswithProvençalsauce,chicken,burgers,and
veggieburgers.Seafoodentréesinclude tapado, ceviche,fishchowder,andseabass.There
are delicious homemade desserts, coffee, and espresso beverages to top off your meal. The
restaurant is on the second floor of a two-story dock jutting over the Río Dulce with pleas-
ant modern decor, sea breezes, and the unmistakable feel of the tropics.
Along this same street close to the municipal dock, Restaurant Buga Mama (tel.
7947-0891, 10 A.M.-10 P.M. Tues.-Sun., noon-10 P.M. Mon., $5-25) is a good place for
reasonably priced fish, shrimp, and pasta dishes. The restaurant, housed in a bright-blue
wooden building, is wonderfully staffed by tourism industry students from a local school
run by grassroots development organization Ak' Tenamit. Try the spicy pasta.