Tuesday, November 19, 2013

Surfing the Pacific Coast


We have teamed up with our good friends down at the Paredon Surf House on the sleepy but up and coming surf beach of El Paredon.

Unlike many other Guatemalan beaches Paredon as its known, has a good surf break and super fun waves even if your not a surfer.  Our new trip will be sea-kayaking and surfing focused.  Like our kayak trips to Monterrico we will spend some time exploring the back waterways and mangroves before heading out to the beach for a fish lunch.

We'll overnight in ocean front thatch bungalows.   We'll have an afternoon surf lesson as well as one the following morning before breakfast.

Get in touch with us at Old Town Outfitters for more information on this new great trip down to Guatemala's Pacific coast

Friday, November 8, 2013

An Exploratory trip to Guate's Green Heart

This past weekend we took off and headed north from Antigua the the lush green department of Alta Verapaz to the hidden travelers hang out near Las conchas.  This is a place that we had heard about for years but just hadnt for whatever reason found the time to get out and check it out.  It had always be rumored to be what Semuc Champey was before the tourist crowds had taken it over and made it a mainstream Guatemalan dstination of the "Gringo Trail."


No, no, this place is legit!  It is a bit far removed from Antigua but perfected placed in the middle of the country to become THE stopover spot on an overland trip between Antigua and Tikal or the Rio Dulce.
Las Conchas definitely lived up to all the hype that had been circulating  about the remote jungle river and cave system.


We loaded up the 4x4 and rolled out to our friends hostal on the Rio Chiyu just downstream from Las Conchas.  We set out not only to take advantage of cold beers, jungle swimholes and jumping off the staircased waterfalls but to create an all-in-one tour of this area of Guatemala that is not focused on Semuc Champey and the overrun town of Lanquin.



What we found was pretty amazing!  A short pick up truck ride away from the lodge is the trail head to the Setzol caves system.  Its an hour hike through the lush forest to the entrance of Setzol where a beautiful river emerges from the cave.  We spend an hour or so exploring this cave before heading further down the trail to yet another cave that seemingly no one knows the name of!  This cave still has Mayan artifacts inside, making it a truly special place.



Our recee trip has turned into a new classic Old Town Outfitters tour called the  "caves and waterfalls"  tour.  Get in touch with us and join onto our next adventure to Las Conchas before it gets turned into another Semcu Champey!