Rio Dulce and the fortress of San Felipe

A beautiful park and a gorge surrounding the river on both sides spread on the banks of the Rio Dulce. In some places the height of gorge walls is more than 90 meters. It is densely covered with plant forms such as teak, palm trees, red trees. However, the main part of the coast of Rio Dulce, which extends for about 43 km, is occupied by flowering species. The most interesting species of wildlife are the howler monkeys and toucans.

Amazing scenery will allow you to admire the canyon which was cut by the rapid river waters in the limestone rocks for millions of years.

There are some bird reserves on the banks of the Rio Dulce. The local hotel «Banana Palms» is noteworthy here. Its area is like a big botanical garden: so many kinds of tropical vegetation rarely could be found in one place. Local flowers are especially impressive – huge, bright, fragrant. The small crocodiles live in a special pool. Large monsters are found in a nearby Izabal Lake. In the hotel you can hire a boat with a captain and go for a swim in one of the thermal wells: mineralized hot water flows into the river from the cracks in the rocks.

The fortress of San Felipe is located near the town of Rio Dulce. It was built in 1652 to defend against pirates. Despite good security, the pirates were able to conquer it by storm in 1686, and after the capture the fortress was destroyed. At the end of the XVIII century the pirates disappeared from the Caribbean region, and the fortress (partially rebuilt), was used as a prison. Subsequently, the fortress was finally abandoned and destroyed. In its present form, the San Felipe was rebuilt in 1956.