The hidden treasures of northern Huehuetenango: Laguna Brava

Two years ago, I had planned a trip to hike to the Laguna Brava o Laguna Yolnajab but never went. So when I realized it was close to the Posada where we were staying I knew I had to go. 

On the third day of our stay, we left the Finca early with my dad and our guide to get to the community where the treck starts. As the Laguna is on a private land owned by three communities, you need to hire a local guide (75 Quetzales) even if you already had a guide from the Finca (130 Quetzales) and you need to pay the entrance fees (25 Quetzales per person). 

It’s known as the Laguna Brava because at certain times, but often in the evenings, the wind enters the valley and the waves of the lagoon are heard from afar.

It took us 45 minutes on a hilly and muddy path to get to a high point where the descent to the Laguna starts. From there you can see the river meandering to the Laguna. In the area, they are cultivating corn, sugar & coffee so you can see local working.  In 30 minutes, you got from 1600 m to 1150 m high on a steep path that can get really muddy when it’s raining. We were lucky that the weather had been quite dry before we arrived! Then we still had an hour walk on planned land to get to Laguna. When there is some sun, the water appears emerald and really clear. It's beautiful!

La Laguna is 4 km2 of turquoise water. You can only see a small part of the Laguna and for the rest you need to go by boat. They have 4 cabanas with 4 beds each where tourists can spend a night & visit the Laguna by boat the next day. 

We enjoyed the view of the Lake while eating our cereal bars. As it's only accessible by foot, it's really calm and we could hear the birds singing.  It took us 2h30 mn to walk back to the car with one hour of hard climb. Back at the community, a cold drink was waiting for us. 

 My dad and our guide, ready to start the descent to the Lake.

 You can see the lake at the back

 Laguna Brava

our two guides in a long discussion

the cabanas where tourists can sleep for a night

The hidden treasures of northern Huehuetenango: Mayan Painting & Hoyo Cimarron

Around Finca Chacula there are many beautiful places to discover than not many people have to the opportunity to see while visiting Guatemala. 

The first day of our stay, we drove an hour from the Finca to see some very old Mayan paintings. As they are on a private property, you can’t go on your own. Even if you wished you would not be able to find them as they are well hidden. We had to wait for an hour for our local guide to arrive as the guide from the Finca did not call him before to warn him of our arrival. By the time we started walking it was 11 am, so very hot & sunny. The path is rocky and with not much shade, so one better leaves early! But the walk was worth it as we saw the Maya paintings not many had the opportunity to see. Unfortunately, nothing has been done to protect them and some modern graffiti are decorating the wall. Nobody really knows how old they are as a specialist would need to come to study and as our guide said, that cost money.

Entrance fees are 20 Quetzales per person and the guide is 80 Quetzales for the group. 

In the afternoon, we left my mum & Logan at the Finca and went to the Hoyo Cimaron with my dad. 20 minutes by car followed by 1 hour walk and you get to the impressive hole.  The path to get there has been restored not a long time ago but it was done at Guatemalan way, it’s better to walk on the side than actually on the path. The Cimarron is a huge hole of limestone rock, perfectly round and has a diameter of approximately 200 meters and a height of 150 meters. 

On the edges of the Cimarron, the climate is relatively dry, with particular vegetation. At the bottom of the Cimarron however, moisture is evident, possibly because of the underground streams (there is a nearby lagoon and one at several kilometers) and features a green forest, totally different from the trees to the ground level.

There is a legend about the Hoyo that said that the first owner of the Finca Chacula was very rich and was exploiting the people. The Mexican Zapata heard about him and came to kill him. But the owner hearing the rumor fled with 3 donkeys carrying the entire god he had. They were trapped at the border of the hoyo and he thought that if the god was not for him it will be for anybody else. So he pushed the donkey into the Hoyo and jumped after them. So it’s believed that there is god in the Hoyo.

Entrance fee is 10 Quetzales per person, parking is 10 Quetzales and the guide is 80 Quetzales for the group but this is very easy to do it on your own if you know where the parking is.

 On the way to the paintings

 Mexico is not far

 the painting

 hunting scene

 a dog?

 Walking to the Hoyo Cimarron. The path is so uncomfortable to walk on!

 The Hoyo

 Eagle waiting for some food

Get off the tourist path: Laguna de Lachua

Last January, I took the opportunity to visit Laguna de Lachua, north of Coban. I had heard about the place by a traveler friend and saw a few pictures which made me want to explore it.

Our trip started in Chisec, a small town 1 hour north of Coban. Early in the morning, my friends and I took a minibus to Playa Grande, which was supposed to drop us off in front of the Laguna de Lachua Park, which lies 2 hours North West of Chisec. But the bus got a flat tire. While we were waiting, a guy in a pickup stopped and offered us to give us a drive. Mario happened to be the owner of a big finca close to the Laguna. He ended up inviting us over  for a crème brulee (who can refuse such an invitation?) and then went to visit his finca. My friends even had a free horseback ride and felt like real cowboys!

When it was time to leave Mario’s company, it was already 2 pm and we had to wait for a while before a bus came. Through It was packed, the ayudante offered us to climb on the roof of the minibus. 30 minutes on the roof of a minivan on a bad Guatemalan road, an adventure we will never forget!

Upon arriving at the Park, we paid the 40 Quetzals entrance fee and hike the 2 km through the forest to get to the mirador, which offers a beautiful view of the lake and the surrounding area. Laguna de Lachua is renowned for being  a perfect round, pristine turquoise Lake. The colour is just amazing ! It is also amazingly deep. The deepest part, at 222 m, is a full 35 m below sea level.
Another 2 km further on we arrived to the beach where during the weekend many locals come to swim and picnic. But we didn’t have much time to enjoy the environment because the last bus was at 4 pm. So we took a few pictures and soon had to head  back to catch the bus. You can camp there for a 25 Quetzals a night. I so wish we had seen the howler monkeys and tropical birds in the early morning, so I will have to come back! We ended up having a ride in a pick up (which had a flat tire just before arriving to Chisec. Can you say bad karma?) and arrived back at Chisec for the night.

For more information, check here   .

For more pictures, check my album
































Let to right:
Mynor
Stephanie
Irene
and me!!

Get off the tourist path: visit Yaxhá in Peten

My first trip to Peten was back in December 2005, so I decided recently to return to this amazing region during Semana Santa. My friend and I left Flores early on Saturday to go to Yaxhá, an archeological site at 30 km southwest from Tikal. I had heard about it from a friend and had planned to go for a long time. But going without an organized tour used to be complicated. So when a travel agent told us about a new bus going directly to the site for 150 Quetzals per person ($20), I knew it was my opportunity. The bus leaves Flores at 7 am every day (with 2 persons minimum) and returns at 3 pm. You can buy a ticket in any travel agency in Flores.

Because it’s situated on the Zenith, Yaxhá is an unique religious and ceremonial  archaeological site in Petén. The temples were built so the Mayas could observe the sun from sunrise till sunset. The name means Green Water. Teobert Maler, a German explorer who devoted his life to  the ruins of the Maya civilization, stumbled upon the covered site during a 1904 expedition. The restoration work began in 1989, and over the years, archaeologists have restored and excavated many of the buildings. Today, the former shape of the city is once again recognizable with more than 500 structures.

Now back to the trip. After  a 2 hour drive, we paid the 80Q ($10) of entrance fees and arrived at the Blue Azul Lagoon. After the crowds at Tikal, we enjoyed the tranquility of the site, listening to the birds singing and the monkeys howling. Signs explain the history of each temple and point of interest, something very useful for a lazy traveler like me who doesn’t like to read the history section of guide books. You can visit the site in 2 or 3 hours and finish by climbing the temple 216, which offers an amazing view of the two Lagoons Sacnab and Yaxhá, as well as the temples surrounded by forest. It’s a good place to see the sunset but we dind’t hang around long enough to see one. 

I definitely preferred Yaxhá to Tikal – it’s less touristy and the lagoons are beautiful. You can camp there for free, which is something on my To Do List for Guatemala. Maybe I’ll see you there!
For more information on Yaxhá, check this web site

Get off the tourist path : Hiking in Nebaj

Nebaj in a small town in the Cuchumatanes mountains in the northwest of Guatemala and situated in the Ixil Triangle. Last December, I organized a hiking trip there with friends.

Our Guide Nicolas was a man in his fifties and a local farmer speaking Ixil and Spanish. Our first stop was the village of Xeo to have lunch with a family.  Their only access is by foot or horse. For lunch we had a soup with some noddles, an egg and some tortillas. That would be our main food for the next 2 days. We soon understood why the guide office told us to bring some extra food !  We continued climbing the hill to the village of Vicalama where we spent  the night. It was a 3 hour hike on a dusty track with a limited view as it was very cloudy and froggy. 

We came upon a local house, with two rooms, one serving as bedroom and living room and one for the kitchen where they cook on a fire lighted in the middle of the room. Being at 2800 meters, the cold arrived as soon as the night fell, and we were happy to warm ourselves.  The latrine was in the back of the garden in a small hut. For dinner we had a soup of frijoles and tortillas. We all slept in the same room, two per beds with the guide on the floor. Well, we wanted some adventure, didn’t we ? I hardly slept because of the cold. We were then up at 5 :30 am to start our second day of hiking.

We left to go to Cotzol, another village a two-hour hike away. We hiked up to 3000 meters, to have a nice view on the valley. Then the rain started and followed us almost the rest of the trek. We had breakfast in Cotzol. I’ll let you guess what we eat ! A soup with noddles and an egg, with tortillas off course ! The last 3 hours were the hardest. Climbing up the mountain on a muddy trail, in the rain, with nothing in the stomach (the breakfast was far behind). We arrived in Nebaj wet and muddy but we did it !! 37 kilometres in 2 days, not bad. 

Want to hike around Nebaj ? check the Ixil Guides website

To see my pictures check my album