Guatemala, El Sombrero Eco Lodge...

Arriving after dark (once again), it's difficult to get a grasp of exactly where we are and what is around us. I do know we headed east after getting back to Flores. I know that we passed through the small villages of Macanche and El Zapota and that we've travelled 22 kms down another very bumpy dirt track to get here from the main highway, so I'm guessing we are a little off the beaten track. We meet the lodge owner, eat and head to our rooms, ready for an early start. We are now at El Sombrero eco-lodge.

El Sombrero Eco-lodge

The next morning I get my first proper view of the lodge and its surroundings and I'm not disappointed. Set on the shores of the Laguna Yaxha and surrounded by jungle, the lodge has an enviable position looking across the water to the distant Mayan ruins of Yaxha itself.

Green Iguana

Northern Jacana

The setting is beautiful...really beautiful!

The shoreline at El Sombrero

But before you think 'I'd be in there having a swim', think again.  There's a Morelet's Crocodile just under the surface of the water right by that jetty and it's a big one!

Morelet's Crocodile, and he's a mean looking one...

Morelet's Crocodile. As soon as it dips below the surface
it completely vanishes, you wouldn't know it was there.

And it certainly isn't worried about people.
That's it by their feet!

This is one tough animal. At some point in its past, someone has
driven a nail into its skull. It didn't seem to have any effect at all.

The crocs aren't the only thing down on the shore though. They share their habitat with a few other species too, including Central American Spider Monkeys.

Central American Spider Monkey...male

And plenty of Neotropic Cormorants. Similar to our own Cormorants but they have a much finer, elegant head shape and bill.

Neotropic Cormorant

We were scheduled to spend two full days here and it was going to be great. Tomorrow we were going to visit the ancient Mayan site of Yaxha and film the wildlife there.