Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
The Sierra de las Minas is a vast, 242,642-hectare mountain park harboring an astounding
diversity of plant and animal life and encompassing a motley assortment of ecosystems,
including cloud forests harboring several species of endemic conifers, as well as tropical
moist forests and rainforests. The park extends 130 kilometers eastward (it's 30 kilometers
wide) into the neighboring department of Izabal, where it meets with the lowland forests
and grasslands of the Río Polochic delta. The biosphere reserve ranges in elevation from
400 to 2,400 meters and is composed mainly of cloud forests throughout its mountainous
core in Baja Verapaz. Sixty-two permanent streams have their source in the upper slopes
of the biosphere reserve, making it an important watershed supplying the Motagua and Po-
lochicRivers.Itishometohealthypopulationsofquetzalsandjaguars,amongotherexotic
species. Together with the adjacent Bocas del Polochic Wildlife Refuge, the parks account
for 80 percent of Guatemala's biodiversity.
Thebiospherereserveisprivatelyadministeredby
Defensores de la Naturaleza,
awell-
known local conservation group with ties to The Nature Conservancy, among others. Al-
though you may contact this organization for trips to the reserve, your best bet is to go
via one of the local
community tourism cooperatives
in the villages near the park, which
have trained guides who can take you on trips of a few hours or several days. Contacting
this NGO proved virtually impossible despite repeated attempts and some help from the
folks at INGUAT.
San Rafael Chilascó
San Rafael Chilascó is a small agricultural settlement that serves as the rallying point
for visits to nearby waterfalls and into the biosphere reserve. The town's well-organized,
friendly, and professional Chilascó Community Tourism Organization has stepped in to
cater to visitors' recreational needs where NGOs have fallen short. It runs the local
Tourist Information Office (tel. 5301-8928 or 5776-1683, elsaltodechilasco@ yahoo.es,
www.chilasco.net.ms
,
7 A.M.-4 P.M. daily) at the entrance to town. The visitors center
chargesthe$2admissionfeeforentrytothefalls,rentshorses,cansetyouupwithaguide,
and provide you with comfortable accommodations with a local family or in its own basic
lodge ($5 per person). Meals are available at local
comedores.
SanRafaelChilascóisreachedviaa12-kilometerdirtroadbranchingeastfromthemain
highway heading northward toward Cobán (CA-14). The turnoff is at Km. 146. There are
daily buses to Salamá leaving at 5:45 A.M., 8:30 A.M., 12:30 P.M., and 3 P.M., all of
which pass by the Highway CA-14 turn-off ($0.50). You can flag down a northbound bus
to Cobán or southbound to Guatemala City from the turnoff.
El Salto de Chilascó
Among the places local guides can take you is the spectacular El Salto de Chilascó, which
they claim is the highest waterfall in Central America, at 130 meters. Other sources,
