Guatemala Adventure in Rio Dulce

Our last adventure in Guatemala and Belize was Rio Dulce which means sweet river in Spanish. It took us a long time to get there from Copan, Honduras by bus. And there was actually a live chicken on the bus which was sitting quietly in an old lady’s lap not knowing that it was probably going to be dinner. We got off the bus at the town of Rio Dulce which was hot and sticky, and there were no sidewalks and the big trucks were too close for what I like. We quickly got on a water taxi to a beautiful and amazing lodge beneath a leafy canopy. Now that was really relaxing and we stayed there for a week.

At the lodge we got up early one day to go on a river cruise. First we went up the river a little and saw a little mangrove island covered with cormorants and egrets. They were making a big racket. We got a close look because they weren’t spooked by the boat. Next we saw a Spanish fort which was right on the river and over 400 years old. And to think our last house in Washington was only 10 years old. Then we went back down river and soon we were in Texas Bay. Texas Bay had more tiny bird covered islands. One of these had egrets nesting and we saw some little white fluffy babies. We then crossed some lily pads and there was a little girl in a little canoe selling sea shells. She was really nice and had a big smile so we took a photo of her. We then pulled up to a little store right on the river. The store had a palm thack roof and we bought come green cocos and the water inside was really refreshing. Our next stop was at a hot spring right on the river and we went swimming there. This was special hot spring because the water on the top was hot and the water on the bottom was cold. A type of fished called a cichlid was swimming in the cold water and one big one even had hundreds of babies which would not survive if the swam into the hot water. We traveled a bit farther and the river went through a canyon which was very large and spectacular. Then we went to the town of Livingston which was on the Caribbean Sea. We ate lunch at a seafood restaurant called Happy Fish and it was excellent. We went back to the boat and I can’t tell you much more because I fell asleep and when I woke up, we were back.

We also went to another special hot spring a few days later. This one had a waterfall which you could swim behind into caves but you have to be careful because the waterfall is very very hot. These caves were beautiful with calcium carbonate rock stalactites and it was very steamy inside. When we were done in the caves, I held my breath and dove out of the caves and underneath the scalding hot waterfall which I could still hear underwater. It was cool under there the hot water floated on top.

Finally we had to start back to Washington. It took us four days to travel with stops in Flores, Guatemala then Belize City by Bus. Then we flew to Dallas Ft Worth by plane and the following day to Seattle. And finally another bus to Port Angeles. And that was the end of the longest adventures of my life which I think I will remember forever. And it was AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I think I will now have to change the name of my blog to homeschooling in St. Thomas because a moving the Virgin Islands this fall. So stay tuned to the nudibranch network for the next blog.

Enjoy this video of Texas Bay.