Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
local scientists here are working to protect. A nearby biological station offers comfortable
accommodations on a nice stretch of jungle river. Some travelers extend their stay to in-
clude a hike to the impressive cliffs of
Buena Vista,
which stand out from the surrounding
jungle and afford wonderful views from the top.
Getting There
Access to the park and, more specifically, Waka'-Perú, is via a dirt road heading northwest
from Flores to the village of Paso Caballos (two hours). From there, it's a 20-minute mo-
torboat ride up the Río Sacluc to the biological station and another five minutes to the en-
trance to Waka'-Perú.
Ironically, Guatemala's civil war helped protect many pristine areas from invasion and en-
vironmental degradation. This was especially the case in Sierra del Lacandón, a moun-
tain chain in the western part of Petén along the Usumacinta River, where guerrillas and
so-called Permanent Communities in Resistance (CPR) hid out in the jungle along the
Guatemalan shore. Their presence discouraged illegal logging, poaching, and looting, as
well as the surveying activities of dam engineers. The subsequent absence of the expelled
CPRsaftertheendofthecivilwarlefttheareaopentoinvasion,illegallogging,andsmug-
gling of immigrants, arms, Mayan relics, and drugs.
The 1996 Guatemala peace accords and the Zapatista Rebellion across the border in
Mexico reshaped the nature of things in the Usumacinta watershed. Bandits began robbing
rafting trips, including the author and eight others while camping on the Mexican bank in
April 2004. Wilderness travel on the river north of Yaxchilán (Mexican bank) has pretty
much ended since then, putting a monkey wrench into one option for low-impact, econom-
ically beneficial activities contributing to the conservation of this beautiful area.
Thatsaid,theparkisextremelyimportantasabiologicalcorridorandisbelievedtohold
one of the largest populations of jaguars in all of Central America as well as an incred-
ibledegreeofbiodiversity,qualitiesenhancedbytheruggedterrainofthisjunglemountain
park. Hidden in the forests are the remains of several Mayan sites, the most important of
which is Piedras Negras, deep inside the park along the Usumacinta River. The only other
way to reach the site is by air.
The park is privately administered by Fundación Defensores de la Naturaleza. In June
2006, together with The Nature Conservancy, it completed the purchase of 77,000 acres of
privately owned land in the core zone of Sierra del Lacandón. Soon thereafter, a number of
ranger stations inside the park were burned to the ground by squatters invading parklands.
As in other cases, the squatters are said to have ties to drug traffickers and smugglers of il-
legal immigrants who find these remote areas very attractive. An attempt to evict squatters
