6/14/08
We arrived in Tilapita Saturday at lunch after a tiring 5 hour trip which consisted of two buses and a boat. Tilapita is a small beach village on the Pacific coast of Guatemala, ten or fifteen miles south of the Mexican border. It is one of two access points to a very isolated wetland preserve, which is recently becoming a tourist destination for bird watching among the mangrove swamps.
We checked into the only hotel in Tilapita, El Pacifico, set up a boat tour of the wetlands for 4:00pm, and headed to the beach.
The beach at Tilapita is phenomenal - wide, clean swaths of black sand front a pristine stretch of the Pacific, completely devoid of any pollution or trash. And more remarkable, we were two of about ten people on the entire beach (and we were all spread over a few miles of beach). So basically, Tilapita is a beautiful, empty black sand beach on the Pacific.
We spent the afternoon bodysurfing the wonderful waves which rolled in constantly. By 3:30, I had my fill of the beach, and we headed in to meet our boat tour. Unfortunately, the wonderful wildlife we were supposed to see what totally non-existent, and all I saw was a fish and one bird. The mangrove swamps were cool, though, as Picasa will attest.
After the tour, we watched the sun set over the ocean. It was cool to be the only gringos within 50 miles or more for a full 24 hours. There were many fisherman out netting fish as the sun set.
Back at El Pacifico, we ordered dinner and introduced ourselves to a group of three or four Guatemalans at the hotel's restaurant (remember, El Pacifico is the ONLY entertainment or lodging at Tilapita). They were cousins and nephews of the owner of the hotel, and they proceeded to teach us their favorite card game - "Con Quien." ("Con Quien" means "with whom," and it is worth noting that for the first ten minutes or so a real-life "who's on first" situation developed. After all, "con quien jugamos" sounds more like a question than a declaration.)
After dinner and cards, we retired for the night.
6/15/08
Now begins the cautionary tale. Everything about Tilapita sounds great, right? This is a story about trusting your travel guide to a fault.
My Moonbook guide to Guatemala described the hotel El Pacifico (the only one at Tilapita) as "wonderful," boasting about it's "screened rooms, private baths, and delicious food." Kalya's Rough Guide touted it as "excellent." Well, friends, I would like to report that it was wonderful, but it was nothing of the sort.
Imagine a concrete box. Now put a tin roof over the box, but leave plenty of gaps all the way around. Now put in a divider with a cold water shower. Now add bats on the ceiling at night. Now put that beautiful hotel room in a mosquito-infested swamp. Welcome to El Pacifico.
There came a moment last night when I knew I was screwed. I had no socks. I had not planned on needing socks, as I had only brought Chacos. I was expecting a "wonderful" hotel with "screened rooms." The owner provided us with fans, "because with a fan the mosquitoes will not bother you." It did keep my face safe all night. My feet did not make it.
I was well aware that my feet would soon fall prey to 100s of mosquitoes before I settled in for bed. So I soaked them in 98% DEET. I put it on thick, like varnish. Then I wrapped my feet in the sheets.
When I awoke very, very early this morning, they looked like a war zone. In this case, a picture is worth a thousand words. (WARNING: GRAPHIC IMAGES BELOW)
I am so thrilled to be back in Xela, where the air is too thin for mosquitoes.
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