NEWS: I’m going off-grid in the jungles of Guatemala for 1 month!

NEWS: I’m going off-grid in the jungles of Guatemala for 1 month!

That’s right! I’m heading into the jungle!

To be specific, the jungles of Rio Dulce National Park in Guatemala’s far eastern corner. Rio Dulce (Sweet River) runs from Guatemala’s largest lake, Lago de Izabal, over to the country’s tiny Caribbean coast near the villages of Livingston and Puerto Barrios.

Rio Dulce is probably most famous for its dramatic gorge that it passes through just before emptying into the Caribbean. But the park has many other equally great features including waterfalls, hot springs, a manatee reserve, river dolphins, a plethora of tropical wild animals and hundreds of bird species.

canoe-ing in Rio Dulce – photo by Walter Rodriguez on Flickr CC

It is tropical, so it will be hot & steamy, lush & colorful and crawling with insects & critters. Just my kind of place!

And I’m lucky enough to stay there for one entire month!

It all starts on Tuesday, December 15^th when I head into the heart of steamy Rio Dulce to begin my off-grid adventures.

How’d this come about? Simply put, HelpX. I applied for this volunteer gig back in August while planning my trip to Central America. Happily, the European owner was eager to take me on board.

So I will be doing a work exchange at a small eco-resort situated along the shores of Rio Dulce, right in the heart of the national park. And it’s exactly my kind of place – thatched huts, organic food and home-made breads, canoes, bird watching, hiking, yoga and visits to waterfalls & hot springs….

Naturally the kind of people who would visit such a place, in the first place, will be the lovely guests I’ll be helping look after.

I don’t know exactly what my duties will be, but it’s been mentioned that I will more or less be liason-ing with the hotel’s mainly European clientele, making sure they’re all comfortable and well entertained. Sounds like fun to me!

I’ll also be teaching yoga to guests who request classes!

In my spare time I plan to enjoy lots of wildlife and nature photography, canoe the river, soak in hot springs, splash in warm waterfalls and thoroughly love being totally immersed in nature again. Yippie!

As for being off-grid… I’m told that once a week I’ll be able to catch the hotel’s boat through the famous gorge to Livingston town in order to stock up on supplies, take a break from jungle life and explore Garifuna culture in Livingston. Apparently I’ll be able to access the internet there, too.

So potentially I’ll be able to slip in little updates and hellos here & there, from life in the jungle. Let’s see how it goes!

If that doesn’t work though, well then, I’ll catch you all again in mid January when I head up into Belize.

Lash in Krabi, Thailand

I hope you all have wonderful holidays this year.

Catch you on the other side – aka 2016! 

cheers, Lash

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in the meantime, you might enjoy:

My First Impressions of Guatemala

12 Views of Toliman Volcano on Lake Atitlan – photo gallery

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You might also enjoy:

My First Trip to Central America Starts Sunday! STORY NOMINATED BY SUZY GUESE AS ONE OF WEEK’S BEST FIVE GUEST POST ON HikeBikeTravel Website… MERRY CHRISTMAS 2011!