The other weekend thirteen of us decided to take a little weekend vacation to the beach. It was (surprise surprise) an excellent idea. Tulate is in the department of Retalhuleu and because the department of Retalhuleu is a "yellow zone" for the Peace Corps we had to take extra precautions when traveling there. So instead of all of us hopping on a camioneta with our cooler and all of our stuff we hired a private shuttle to take us there and back. It was much more expensive than the alternative but also a lot easier.
Unlike Monterrico, the last beach we went to, this one was only an hour and a half away from Xela. The water is also much much calmer on this beach and we spent most of the weekend in and out of the water and the best part was that the water was warm!
We had heard from previous volunteers that there wasn't much on the island and to come prepared, but we had no idea just how serious they were. We came with enough food for two dinners and a breakfast, but we were not prepared for us to have to walk over 20 minutes down the beach just to get water (never drink the water in Guatemala!)
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| Playa de Tulate |
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| Where we stayed |
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| Two of my favorite Peace Corps Peeps, Kelley and Farah |
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| The whole group |
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| Yum lunch |
Definitely one of the coolest things that we did while at the beach was releasing a whole bunch of baby Sea Turtles. Apparently the bungalows that we stayed at had a Sea Turtle conservation program and they let us watch as they released them into the ocean! Another plus to the lack of regulations in Guatemala was that we got to pick up a few of the little ones as they made their way into the ocean. I feel like that wouldn't be allowed to happen in the U.S., but we were careful!
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| Releasing baby sea turtles |
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| Random refrigerator in the middle of the island |
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| A boy and his boat...not quite sure what happened |
Then maybe most amusing of all was all of the livestock roaming about the beach. This was clearly not a very touristy spot and it was great.
Are you sure that those pigs and cattle on the beach are not Photoshopped in? Very bizarre. Shouldn't they be somewhere with grass?
ReplyDeleteYep I'm sure! There were many pig sightings while we were on the beach although we did not see any in the water.
DeleteOkay, so maybe the pigs weren't photo shopped, but surely the refrigerator was - yes? Great pictures. It's clear it's not the beach in Ogunquit but it's just as beautiful. That lunch looks delicious and was served on a pretty plate. Mom
ReplyDeleteYour posts are a highlight of my life. I see the world through your eyes and your camera lens and love it. You should consider sending your posts to the NYT travel section! I see a regular column in your future. And you already have an online subscription, right so maybe they would actually pay you a fee? LOL
ReplyDeleteI am so glad that there are still beaches in the world where pigs can roam. Thank you for brightening up my day, Meg.
ReplyDeletePS - The baby turtles are fantastic.
ReplyDelete