How to Visit Las Guacamayas in the Jungles of Guatemala

Sitting in the dense jungles of a Guatemalan jungle I wondered when the screaming would stop. Dense and lush green surrounded me making it almost impossible to see even five feet in to the bush at certain places at Las Guacamayas. Throughout the air the screaming had been going on for at least an hour: the howler monkeys were talking.

As were the birds, humming birds, spider monkeys and an array of other animals I could hear but not see. This was how time passed at the Las Guacaymas Biological Lodge in Penten, Guatemala.

My husband, Chris, and I were at Las Guacamayas for a week. We were volunteering and helping them to photograph their lodge, the wildlife and surroundings.
Despite the screaming, the lodge was one of the most peaceful places one could be at. There was no road noise because there were no roads. There was an extremely rough 4×4 road that when necessary archaeologists can (hopefully) pass when they are working on a site further into the park. Otherwise all goods, supplies and people make it to the park by boat.

So what was one to do at Las Guacamayas? A lot.

There was a large deck with tables and chairs looking out towards the water. Five hummingbird feeders attracted multiple species of hummingbirds who all day long fiercely fought to feed.

The beating of their tiny wings and high pitched chirps made for at least 13 hours of daily hummingbird TV. They were mesmerizing and it almost felt as if that wasn’t enough time to watch them.

At 5:40 pm exactly, they went to bed. This time of year that is when dusk is. There would be a huge last commotion of flurry and then like the snap of a finger, the birds were gone. It happened so fast each night I still felt like, despite sitting right there, I missed it every time.

This was the jayco hummingbird. This guy was the house favorite to watch as this is often a difficult hummingbird to spot.

Kayaks are available to use on the river. Our new friend and biology student from Guatemala City, Anna was eager to join us on the river. As Chris and I were getting into our two person ocean kayak and Anna was climbing into her single person she remarks, “I have never kayaked before.”

As any first time kayaker will be prone to a bit of wobbling and learning curve on how to maneuver the craft. We thought about the deep, dark water and crocodiles swimming under the surface. We asked Anna, “You can swim though, right?” She assured us we could and after a few circles we all merrily paddled up river.

Human instinct tells us we should fear the crocodile. Oh my goodness, animal instinct near Guacaymas tells the crocodile they should fear humans at all cost and take no chances to be seen by them. At least from a slow moving kayak. We went out in the kayaks several times and before we even had a chance to spot a crocodile in the distance, we would hear a big splash as they plunged themselves back into the murky brown water and away from sight. When in a motor boat, they are more used to that craft puttering by them. In a slow and quiet moving kayak, it seemed an impossible task to even get close enough to get a glimpse. The same was true of many bird species.

Blue herons, green herons, jacanas and kingfishers could sense of coming from hundreds of yards away. They would let out a warning call and take to the air to escape our slow moving presence.

The jungle was thick and even when walking on a trail, one had to watch their footing. Leaves, nuts and branches fall to the ground, often a result of spider monkeys feeding and moving through the branches above. A few days before our arrival the fer de lance pit viper had been spotted. Although we would have loved to intentionally have seen this venous snake, alas we never did. Many people remark they are the ones afraid to go into jungles or that there are so many poisonous animals lurking there. In 15 years plus of looking for wildlife we can say they are so much more afraid of us. We really have to look for them and have a bit of luck. Unfortunately the only snake we found was a brief glimpse of a tree snake in a gutter.

Two hundred meters up hill from the lodge was a mirador, or lookout. A wooden tower, painted green, blended into the surroundings. Gazing out to the front were flat spans of land that went as far as the eye could see. Behind us the dense jungle continued through crested and waving hill top ridges for miles. It was one of those few select places that gave the impression one was at the top of the world.

The mirador is a good place to pass some time. We were there for sunrises, sunsets and to escape the late afternoon heat. In the jungle because of the dense foliage there is almost never wind down low. It’s near impossible for a breeze to flow threw the thick vegetation. Unlike down below, from a top the mirador black vultures cruised the wind currents. The reprieving breeze touched upon our faces making it easy to pass time up there.

The addictive thing with wildlife watching is much of the time it’s a gamble. It’s a gamble of time and luck as to what one will see. There are certain things one can do to increase their chances such as going early morning or late evenings, those crepuscular, or known as those dusky or dim times of day. Being quiet. Being near a water source and so on. But ultimately the number one rule of wildlife watching is: you have to be out there.

And we were and we got a big reward.

New Wildlife Sightings at Las Guacamayas

Have you ever seen this animal? Do you know what it is?!

I will confess that I was not fully aware of this creatures existence either prior to going to Las Guacamayas.

This is a Tayra. It’s endemic to Central and South America.

One of the attributes of this creature I found the most enchanting was it’s long neck. How? What? Really? I just stared and stared, as much as one could in a one minute sighting, at the unique length of the neck and multi-colored fur pattern.

The Tayra is an opportunistic omnivore. Their diet consists of rodents, small mammals, birds, lizards and they can climb trees for honey and fruits. We had been going to the mirador every day to sit for at least an hour. For this particular encounter we saw the tayra within five minutes of being at the mirador. We continued sitting another two hours and saw almost nothing. So this was two hours of sitting for a one minute encounter with photos acquired. That’s what we’d call a very big success. 🙂

Days passed as Carlos, one of the main guides for Las Guacamayas, led us into the jungle and to check on the wildlife cameras. Hundreds of years ago the Maya created and used these stones as water holders. Today they make for the perfect spot to place a wildlife camera.

On the cameras they have seen jaguars, ocelots, tapirs and other elusive animals.

While hiking we caught some glimpses of birds and were able to enjoy hiking through these massive forests.

Carlos also took us out to a bat cave. Anna absolutely loves bats. So this was a must do and we easily passed an hour standing at the entrance to the cave and admiring the bats.

Mix in time spent updating notes and referencing books in the comfortable lounge area time passed quickly. There was also a good enough wifi signal from 6-9pm when the electric generator was turned on.

What the Rooms Looked Like

As far as accommodations, we stayed in the researcher and volunteer area. We thought these were great researcher accommodations.

If you were a full paying guest, the rooms were even nicer.

I just loved how each room was nicely designed with an animal theme.

The staff worked hard to upkeep the grounds and paths around the lodge.

Beautiful Landscapes Galore

For each of our days there the atmosphere was different.

One day was misty and cool.

The next was bright and sunny.

And the sunsets were amazing.

By the end of our week at Las Guacamayas we left with hundreds of photos, new animal sightings and new friends. Shown here from left to right was Maria, Chris, Marcelo, Glenda, Anna, Carlos and Tiff.

If you are keen to spend some time in the jungle either as a volunteer or full paying guest, we found Las Guacamayas a great place to be. It helps provide jobs to the local community and brings people in to learn about the jungle surrounds.

Thank you Las Guacamayas for a great week in the jungle. I’m sure those howler monkeys are still screaming.

If you go:

Website: google: Las Guacamayas
Options: You can either be a volunteer or a full paying guest.
Volunteer work varies based on what your skills are and what you can offer. Because we are photographers, they were so excited to have our perspective of photography and we spent all our time taking pictures. We also helped clean up after meals.

Volunteering costs $40 usd pp Mon-Fri for accommodation, meals and transfer. We thought this was great value. The process of just getting there is ~2.5 hrs one way. We were happy to pay this for the chance to be in this location, get a behind the scenes type of experience and get to still participate on activities like taking out the kayaks.

Booking a tour means you get a fancy room and nicer meals. Costs vary. If you don’t have a lot of time and flexibility, being a paying guests might be better for you. If you are a volunteer you go by their schedule. For instance on our exit day because they were preparing for a full lodge weekend, we actually had to wait until 5pm to depart back to Flores because that is what worked for their schedule. So it just depends on your circumstances which situation might work best for you.

Contact: Cornelio at: info@lasguacamayas.org

What to Expect:

• Electricity is on everyday from at least 6-9pm.
• Wifi signal should work when generator is on.
• Hot water is solar powered. On the day it was super cloudly I didn’t wash my hair. Otherwise it was decently warm.
• Meal times are 7am breakfast, 12-ish lunch and 7-ish dinner, although there can be a lot of variation to this.

What to Bring:

• First Aid Kit – bring anything medical related and first aid that you might need.
• Snacks – it’s definitely nice to have some snacks.
• Strong mosquito spray – a must.
• You must have outdoor/hiking type of clothes. Closed toes shoes or boots are a must. This post highlights much of our favorite outdoor gear.

Lower your Impact:

• Pack out any excess trash you have. The staff take out the extra trash anyway, so help save this step. We just used the packaging from our eaten snacks to hold all our wrappers and tidbits of trash.
• Bring a reusable water bottle. They have filtered water there to drink. If you have any excess plastic bottles, pack them out with you.
• Familiarize yourself with Leave No Trace (LNT) practices.

Logistics before & after:

The main office is based in Flores and they will pick you up and drop you off to your hotel there. The exact hotel we stayed at was Hotel
Posada Tayazal. It was a decent budget option. If you don’t like a small bathroom, don’t book here. But we didn’t mind and the shower was hot. The wifi was a bit hit or miss but did work overall. There are plenty of great restaurants around Flores with solid wifi.

Misc:

The gear listed in this post is the same exact gear we use to travel the world or our back yard.
These booking resources are the same exact ones we use to find deals and acquire points for more travel.
I will never recommend to get a credit card unless you are 100% solid to pay it off in full every month. If you will and are going to be making some big purchases, this Chase card is the same exact card we use and it offers great travel points and perks.
Finally, if you have not used AirBnB before, use this special link to sign up and get $40 off your first booking. We have been finding fantastic deals with AirBnB all across Central America.

What else? Any other questions, let me know in the comments below so others might benefit too or feel free to send me an email.

Have you ever been out to a remote jungle lodge or stayed some other location you thought was super cool? Tell us about it below.