A real change of pace and scenery now as we step off the beaten path and into the wilds of the Mexican Lancandon (Lan-can-don) jungle. First stop is Las Guacamayas (Las Gwaaka-mayas) which means "The Scarlet Macaw". This is an eco tourist lodge run by the local indigenous people and is founded to ensure that the endangered scarlet macaw is protected.
This lodge is located on the banks of the fast flowing Rio Lancantun (Lancantun River). We are giving the Aeroguard a good workout now as malaria is a risk.
We are immediately greeted with the most god forsaken noise I have ever heard, yes it beats the rockets of San Cristobal, it is a deep guttural roar that echoes throughout the jungle and is terrifying. Imagine the sound of a T-Rex dinosaur and you could be close to the truth. It seems to be coming from behind our cabana and high in the jungle canopy. The origin of this noise is the Howler monkeys and we search the tree tops until we find the male and his mates. Lauren is beside herself and gets the camera out quickly. It is quite funny now that I see them to think that such a god awful noise could come from something so small and cute. Then just as suddenly as they started, they stop and now all we can here is the squawking of the macaws.
The lodge has an aviary in which they keep 5 pairs of macaws. We wonder why they have them until we read in Lonely Planet that their number have only risen to 100 pairs since 1991 and that their numbers were decimated through poaching and deforestation. They are big, they are beautiful and they stay with their mate for life.
We are no longer woken up by exploding rockets at 5.30am... instead we are now woken up by the howling of monkeys at 5.30am. Still we would rather listen to them any day.
After breakfast we have arranged for a 3 hour jungle river cruise. Not sure what to expect here, the guide cannot speak English and we cannot Spanish. Somehow though it just works out and through charades, Lauren's pidgeon Spanish and patience we each work out what the other is saying.
The cruise is amazing, and we encounter a diverse range of jungle flora and fauna which includes vultures, egrets, kingfishers, pygmy kingfishers, bats and other birdlife. We can also appreciate the term crocodile infested waters. I can recall that we saw at least a dozen small to large crocs, so god knows how many we didn't see. The largest I would put at a good 3 - 4 metres. Tomas, our Mayan guide ensured us they don't attack people, but I have my doubts about that. He didn't seem concerned by them and took us to within a couple of metres of them. He also told us that jaguars and panthers live within the jungle as well, but on this occasion we didn't get to see any. However at the lodge they have a photo of a paw print that is the size of a man's hand,so I am kind of happy not to see them in the wild.
This cruise is by far the best thing we have done on this trip.
