Zip!

The drive to Ixpanpajul passed through much of the same territory as before, but after the turn off at Ixlu, there was a decidedly different atmosphere along the road. Many small guest houses, hostels and roadside restaurants lined the road; people moved with some sense of purpose, whether it was on foot, on horseback, or on truck. And churches … every few kilometers there was a simple, stucco church. The lake side was thick with marshes, crude wooden docks jutting into the blue lake, and horses grazing in the small grassy areas between the road and the water.

Eventually we reached Santa Elena, a standard-issue concrete commercial center with all the usual trappings, including a small airport, a Burger King and a Pizza Hut. However, just 5 miles away was Ixpanpajul, a private jungle reserve where one can ride horses, walk along a skyway, hike, or do as Ellery and I did -- tour the jungle canopy by zip line. Although only a fairly small track of 6 lines, it was tremendous fun and quite different from our South Africa experience. Ellery even did 2 of the lines on her own, without anyone helping her. Ixpanpajul also brought us another crocodile (I’m sure that, like the crocodiles in Tikal, these are imported for the tourists) sighting and a few more exotic birds that we hadn’t seen before.

We then headed to Flores for lunch. While it is touted as a “quaint colonial town” on an island in the lake, quiet doesn’t begin to describe Flores. It’s dead; almost all the shops were closed, and there were more people working on the roads than anything else. But we had a nice lunch at a restaurant overlooking the lake and then took a leisurely boat ride around the lake.

We returned to La Lancha to swim and relax (some more), again just before the afternoon rains, and settle in for our final night. Tomorrow, we leave at 4:30 a.m. to catch the 6 a.m. bus to Coban, spending a night there, and then making our way to Chichicastenango by Saturday night so as not to miss the “not to be missed” Sunday market.

written by  shoshtrvls on August 27, 2009 from Tikal, Guatemala
from the travel blog: Belize, Guatemala and Honduras (2009)
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