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SEE MAP
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Rio Dulce, A Natural Wonder
Diverse natural beauty & topography
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Natural History
Submerged in an ecosystem which recalls the richness of the Amazon forests, from which it proceeds, the Izabal rain forest is uniquely imposing. Possessing the highest biological diversity in the country, with an exuberance of vegetation on the river banks, it rightfully became known as the “Jade Coast.”
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There is an extraordinary abundance of fresh water and salt water fish in the area. Some like the jack mackerel, are the delight of fishermen and locals’ dinner table. But many other game fish such as the shad and bass, make these rivers and lakes a growing paradise for sports fishermen.
The Birds are a wonderful part of the Caribbean coast. Noisy or shy, snow white or colorful to the extreme, large and small, they are abundant, varied, and give an aristocratic touch to the area. This peculiar diversity enhances its imposing beauty, and has attached the best known ornithologists to this world of Eden for bird watchers.
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There is also a great quantity of hidden species, part of a group of endangered animals which have found safe habitats here: otters and manatees swimming with silent grace, jaguars, moving on padded feet through the jungles or swamps, tapirs opening formidable pathways through the underbrush.
Such splendid nature is organized in ecosystems: savannahs under palm trees, floodable jungles, grasslands, swamps, lakes, rivers, mangrove swamps, reefs and marine coastlines. There is no other place in Guatemala where such an ecological variety is so easily at hand for those who enjoy boating, trekking and exploring.
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In quantifiable terms, it is estimated that in the Izabal region there are some 400 species of birds, nearly 200 species of fish and at least 150 different land mammals. But figures express very little… The biological richness must be lived and discovered.
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Unique Geography
This area on the Caribbean coast appears to be untouched. In keeping with its peculiar geologic history, dating back at least 400 million years, Izabal is a complex mixture of karstic caverns and hills, colossal depressions, rivers, lakes and swamps covered in somber seas and large plains. It is geographically a mosaic of contrasts, where almost at the water’s edge, accessible mountain summits & lands can be explored.
There is so much water in Izabal that it could well be called the aquatic territory. Here we find the country's largest lake, the fastest flowing current, the longest river, the most varied swamps, the most copious rains, and the eternal waters of the Caribbean sea lapping at the white sand of its beaches.
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Such is the abundance of water that it creates a formidable communication system. Whether in a luxury yacht or a plain dugout canoe, the most remote corners become accessible destinations. Even widely separated mountains come together in brotherhood, joined together by navigable white water from Alta Verapaz to Izabal over the untamable Cahabon river.
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