Agua Caliente but not in the shower (January 18 -19 2010)

Rick and Christine were, like us, moving on the next day to Rio Dulce and Lago de Izabal. So we all decided to travel together. We manage to get a ride into Poptun from a collectivo that had dropped someone off and then in Poptun we find the Fuerte del Norte bus station (shack) and listen out for the man shouting “Rio Dulce, Rio Dulce” We find him and load the bags in the back. Then we get on – not the best bus we have been on and after two hours of bumping along all our bums were numb. The countryside was great – cleared bush, now beef fincas (farms). Isolated clumps of palms, large banana plantations and the sun was shining – happy happy happy.

We had decided to go to El Paraiso, a remote finca on the lake – so again managed to find a very local bus that would drop us off at the entrance. It did – but then we realised that it was a two km hike to get to the lake shore….. Faced with this prospect Gill insisted that some stranger (remember the rule – never get into any strangers vehicle in Guatemala) take us in his pickup. He did, and the wages for his act of good samaritanship was a flat tyre from the rough road. We felt a bit guilty….. But we got there…..

El Paraiso was a cute little collection of straw bungalows on a black beach right on the lake shore. A nice place to kick back, but again no hot showers for Gill – she is beginning to get desperate now!! Ant and Rick washed by taking a swim in the lake, Gill and Christine chatted and put the world to rights, and another day passed us by, lots of laughter, lots of booze and a local speciality for dinner – boiled hen soup (Gallano) – no big deal but nice to share. A game of dominoes after dinner – Gill won, but sadly, the prize was not a hot shower…..We also loved sharing the magnificent huge sky of stars, with the Milky Way delighting us yet again.

The lake is beautiful and the green mountains across the lake are shrouded in mist and yet bathed in sunshine were beautiful.

The real reason we’d come here was the local thermal waterfall – agua caliente. Up early the next day, pack the packs and off in the back of a pick up with all we have in the world into the woods! The falls were magnificent, a gorgeous wooded setting, scalding water, tumbles 12m across a broad drip rock face into the sparkling pools below. Because we got there early we almost had it to ourselves. So here we were at last with all the hot water in the world – did Gill partake? NO!!! Contrary or what?
The water in the pool was cool, the falls boiling, so you’d get hot and cold currents. It was amazing to swim (very quickly) under the boiling falls into a shallow cave that was like a sauna, a backpacker child had a didgeridoo with him, and it made haunting, yet beautiful sounds. Could have stayed in the water all day.
We had made a tactical error in taking the packs to the falls, now we had to carry them all the way back to the road and await a local bus in the searing heat. A fab fab morning. The little bus trundled along and picked us up – 15 Q each (about £1.20) for the most enjoyable trip back to Rio Dulce town for our last two nights.