Day 24 – Canyon del Sumidero
We awoke after a nice night’s sleep in our secure parking area and cooked muesli for breakfast for the first time in what feels like ages. It was then a rather scary ascent out from Aguacero along the steep gravel hill, with two thin strips of pavement that you had to line up with your wheels to get traction.
Back to the highway, we proceeded the few hours to our next stop – the Canyon del Sumidero, which had been recommended to us by our waiter a couple nights ago and we read about in Lonely Planet. We parked our car in Chiapa de Corzo and were immediately accosted by an aggressive boat tour salesman. We knew that we wanted to do one of the boat tours that went up the canyon, so we allowed him to help us find an ATM and bring us to the ticket sales office. We bought tickets (230 pesos, or $13 each) for a 2.5-hour tour in a 20 person boat up the canyon.
The tour was lots of fun. We saw crocodiles, herons, and pelicans all while deep in a high-walled canyon, 1000 meters high at the highest part.
Making it back to the car, we paid a tip of 20 pesos to a sketchy guy who told us he’d watch our car while we were gone and then proceeded up up up into the mountains to the touristy town of San Cristobal. We looked around and found a hotel for all of 230 pesos a night ($13) that happened to be run by a Canadian. We took a brief walk around town and after smelling something delicious, we walked in, and had a fantastic dinner at an Italian restaurant, Madama Do Re, run by an Italian expat who makes her own pasta in-house.
Day 25 – San Cristobal
San Cristobal is a colonial town that’s become a very popular spot for travelers and expats. It’s trendy, with a lot of hipstery cafes that roast their own coffee, international restaurants, and chocolateries.
Having the free breakfast of eggs with ham, beans, and toast at the hotel, we walked to the central market, filled with souvenir stalls. Spending a couple hours there, we found a nice jaguar mask along with a colourful embroidered shirt for Viki. We proceeded to have coffee at a nice coffee shop and sat and read there for the rest of the afternoon.
Day 26 –El Chiflon Waterfalls
This morning we walked up to the top of the hill in San Cristobal upon which there’s an old church. It happens to have some rather new-age neon lights around the Virgin Mary, which we found a little odd. We then bought orange traffic triangles as we’ve read that they’re required in Guatemala and tourists are often fined for not having either them or a fire extinguisher in their car.
We drove the two hours to El Chiflon and hiked past the beautiful sequence of five waterfalls. The evening light was very nice, with the sun shining, but some serious looking storm clouds off in the distance. After hiking up to the top of the trail we took a refreshing dip and washed. We’re now parked in the parking lot and excited to cross into a new country tomorrow – Guatemala!
