Sights

Las Guacamayas [1] offers guided excursions by foot and boat, most priced by the group (up to eight people; ask at reception about joining other guests to share costs). Hour-long guacamaya tours (US$25 per group)—leisurely walks around the center’s grounds and surrounding areas, sometimes including the village itself, to spot nesting macaws—are available most mornings and evenings. A bit more rigorous, Reserve tours (US$40 per group) are two-hour guided hikes through protected rainforest areas belonging to the Montes Azules biosphere reserve.

You’ll get deeper into the reserve on a boat tour, though the price—US$100 for two hours, US$115 for three—can be prohibitive unless you can share the trip with other guests. Tours leave in the early morning, heading a short distance down the Río Lacuntún (which forms the border of the biosphere reserve) before cutting up a small tributary that winds through a dense canyon of trees where it’s common to spot howler and spider monkeys, toucans, egrets, herons, king fishers, and other birds. There is usually an opportunity to get off the boat and walk a short distance in the forest.

Between trips—which take place in the morning and evening—you can enjoy a nice river-stone beach and swimming area, plus an observation tower and a small enclosure with a few deer walking about. You might also spot a family of howler monkeys that hangs out in the trees here. That said, if there’s a critique to be made of Las Guacamayas [1], it’s that there’s not enough to do, especially if you stay more than just a night or two. Bring a good book and a deck of cards.