A short stay in the Guatemalan jungle with snakes, scorpions and good friends, does that tempt you?
If this place is nowadays listed in some guides, it was, in 2014, very difficult to access.
It took a lot of determination and all possible stubbornness to get there: taking no less than 2 local buses (small overloaded vans), crossing 3 km of jungle, loaded like mules (water and food) in the tropical heat.
We then had to reach an “Eco Lodge” in the middle of the jungle, without electricity and running water. This “pied-à-terre” with its rather pompous name is in fact a rather basic wooden construction. But the geographical location of this big hut is worth all the sacrifices: it is situated on the edge of a lake of pure and transparent water in the middle of the forest, sorry, of the jungle.
Laguna Lanchua is located northwest of Cobán, Guatemala, in a protected park
This expedition is worth all the effort you will have to put in to get there: It’s beautiful, beautiful, and beautiful again.
You will have to sleep in barracks made of Spartan planks, welcoming a whole little world with wings, stings and antennas. It is quite possible that an aggressive snake, scorpions and spiders will be part of the adventure.
Almost alone at the edge of this crystal-clear lake surrounded by tropical forests, you can greet the setting sun, the rising sun, the bright light and the song of the jungle. It is an unforgettable stay, at the same time disturbing and bewitching, a little trip that awakens the brave that lies dormant in each one of us.
You may have to travel for miles sitting on the burning engine of the bus, cohabit with gallinaceous animals, be forgotten by the driver in the middle of nowhere and enjoy a warm beer by candlelight in a kitchen full of bugs… The adventure for sure.
