Castillo de San Felipe, Rio Dulce, Guatemala

Castillo de San Felipe, Rio Dulce, Guatemala, a photo by Adalberto.H.Vega on Flickr.

An amazing colonial structure rises in the Lake Izabal, Guatemala, near Rio Dulce, one of the nicest spots in eastern Guatemala, where you can spend a couple of days exploring the surroundings and having a most exciting boat ride downstream  Rio Dulce through the gulf ending in the quaint little Garifuna village of Livingston.

The Castillo de San Felipe de Lara is a Spanish colonial fort located at the entrance to Lake Izabal in eastern Guatemala. Lake Izabal is connected with the Caribbean Sea via the Dulce River and El Golfete lake. King Philip II of Spain ordered the fort to be erected in an attempt to reduce pirate activity in the area.

This site was added to the UNESCO World Heritage Tentative List on September 23, 2002 in the Cultural category. (via Wikipedia)

Overlooking the Lake Izabal

"Castle of San Felipe de Lara, it is composed for defensive strength that watched over the entrance to the old Kingdom of Guatemala from the Caribbean sea, built during the time of Spanish dominance (1524-1821). This construction has served from protection to important cultural goods for the reconstruction of the history of this type of monuments. It is connected in a natural, simply impressive landscape." ~via UNESCO

Interior passage

Traveled to Central America? -- ...share your photos on Flickr!

We have created a Flickr.com Group named Visit Central America and another one called Visit Honduras, where you are welcome to share your photos of your travels to this enchanting region. Please feel free to publish as many photos as you like, and also please add the following 'tags' for easier handling and display: geotagged, geotag:Honduras, Honduras (or corresponding country accordingly).

You can also pin-point your photos to a map (check out the Map) for the Group (or any other Flickr Map) just use 'geotags', there are several methods, but I found this one very easy: You can use Google Earth plus Trippermap Tool as explained here

This is a sample of some of the photos added lately:

Color and texture - Chichicastenango, Guatemala

Chichicastenango Market, Guatemala, originally uploaded by Adal-Honduras.

AOL travel blog site Gadling.com has honored us by choosing one of our flickr pics as Photo of the Day 4.27.09 a few weeks ago.

Man, if there was *ever* a study in colour and texture, this fabulous photograph is it. Shot and shared by Adal-Honduras, you can almost hear the sounds and smell the smells of this Guatemalan market. Beautiful capture! — Gadling

It is indeed our region landscapes and people —like these Chichicastenango kaqchikels—with their colorful and elaborate textures who provoke those reactions. It is truly a proud for Central Americans to have such a diverse culture and riches, all contained in such small area of land.

Central America has a lot to offer to the traveler eager to experience living cultures, lush forests, abundant wildlife, artistic samples of ancient sculpture, mystical archeological sites, colonial towns, breathtaking white sandy beaches in the Caribbean Sea of crystal-clear pristine waters and home to the World Heritage Site Belize Barrier Reef spanning down to Roatan, second in size yet number one in biodiversity in the world —and closer to the Northern Hemisphere.

There are indeed 15 places in the region declared World Heritage Sites by UNESCO:
Guatemala

• Antigua Guatemala
• Archaeological Park and Ruins of Quirigua
• Tikal National Park

Belize

• Belize Barrier Reef Reserve System

El Salvador

• Joya de Cerén Archaeological Site

Honduras

• Maya Site of Copan
• Río Plátano Biosphere Reserve

Nicaragua

• Ruins of León Viejo

Costa Rica

• Area de Conservación Guanacaste
• Cocos Island National Park
• Talamanca Range-La Amistad Reserves / La Amistad National Park

Panama

• Archaeological Site of Panamá Viejo and Historic District of Panamá
• Coiba National Park and its Special Zone of Marine Protection
• Darien National Park
• Fortifications on the Caribbean Side of Panama: Portobelo-San Lorenzo
• Talamanca Range-La Amistad Reserves / La Amistad National Park

Central American main cities are around 2 - 5 hours flight from main gateways in the U. S. there is wide connectivity to/from Europe and South America as well.