Many travellers have heard of Lago Atitlan in Guatemala, but the largest lake in Guatemala is the less visited Lago de Isabel, at the outlet of which lies the small harbour town of Rio Dulce. The Rio Dulce river then flows about 40 kilometres out to the town of Livingston and the Caribbean Sea.
The Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary was established in 1986 to protect the jaguar and is considered the most important jaguar reserve in the world. We headed to the sanctuary mid-morning, knowing that we were unlikely to see the nocturnal jaguars.
We headed back to the coast for a couple of days of beach time, staying at a place called Balenario Zac-Ha. There were flush toilets and outdoor showers, and we had the place almost to ourselves, save for when a bus of cruise ship people came in for a few hours. The beach was not perfect, there was a lot of sea grass washed up on the beach and a fair bit of plastic litter, but our camping spot was awesome…..We read, we lay in the hammock, we walked on the beach…
Oaxaca (pronounced Wa-ha-ka) is both a state in Mexico and the capital city of the state. We drove through some beautiful high mountain terrain to Oaxaca city. The roads were quite good, if not all the drivers. I have dash cam video of two cars, a semi and a pickup truck, all shoulder to shoulder trying to pass each other, going up hill and around a corner…..again, wish I had the internet power to upload the video, maybe one day.
Lake Chapala is Mexico’s largest natural lake, but more importantly, it was the location of the condo we had rented for a few days over New Year’s Eve. Daydreams of elaborate meals, prepared in a fully operational kitchen, served on a real table (“Maybe they will have some candles we could light!”), daily hot showers without the need for flip flops, laundry churning away in the washing machine and a full sized bed filled my head as we drove to the lake.
We drove south from Mazatlan to an ocean front campground near the town of Teacapan called Color Marino RV Park. We took the libre (free) road, instead of the toll road, travelling through several small towns. Peoples’ reaction to us varied from enthusiastic smiles and waves, to slight frowns (damn tourists!), to indifference. Many of the small towns we drove through looked very poor, and we later learned that many farms in the area were badly damaged by hurricanes and have not recovered.
Well, we are now officially homeless! We handed over the keys to our house to our tenants yesterday, convoyed in the truck and my car for some last errands around Calgary, then drove out to our tiny cabin in British Columbia. We will be back and forth between the cabin and Calgary for about the next month while we wait for hurricane season in Mexico to end, then we will start our drive south.