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HIKING: Short hiking
from Santa Elena to Flores. Also, you can walk around the whole island of Flores
in just an
hour; it is a short but very interesting walk!
WATER
RAFTING: Outside of Flores there are incredibly fantastic
water rafting adventures, from one to ten day trips, click here for
more detailed
information.
CAVING:
Near Santa Elena, there are the ACTUN
KAN AND JOBITZINAJ CAVES, known as the "cave of the
serpent," because of a large snake that used to live there. Aktun Kan
is an easy cave to tour without a guide. Lights have been installed
and there is a small charge for entering the cave.
COLONIAL
MONUMENTS: Peten is
full of Pre-Columbian sites. However, when the Spanish conquered America, they left
traces of their power and the Castillo de Arismendi is an example of it.
The Castillo de Arismendi located in the north side of the central park is the second fort in the territory of
Peten. The first one was in Poptún.
LEARN
SPANISH :
At San Andres village, around the lake, there is a Spanish School called Eco-Escuela
de Español Tel: 928-8106, (202) 973-2264 in USA. This school is similar to the
Spanish Schools from Antigua. You can choose to either stay with a Guatemalan
family or in a pension or hotel. Boats for the villages leave regularly from
Flores, and there are buses from Santa Elena town.
PLACES OF INTEREST AROUND
FLORES:
Besides the Pre-Columbian sites of the area, there are a few worthwhile
places to visit if you have the time. The ecological reserve Cerro
Cahui on the eastern side of the lake at El Remate village is one. It is
nice and has several natural walking trails so you can enjoy the rainforest. On
the northwest side of the lake there is a small town San Andres. Also
around the lake is Petencito Zoo, 4kms from Santa Elena a small zoo with jaguars, raccoons and
monkeys. You can arrange a boat tour to these places behind the hotel Yum Kak
for about $15 per person round trip.
Voluntary Work: If you're interested in doing some voluntary
work, ARCAS (Asociación de Rescate y Conservación de Vida
Silvestre) tel 926 0946, at the Petencito zoo, 2.5 miles from Santa
Elena, is taking volunteers to help to preserve the wild life. You
need to sign up for at least a week in advance and there is an
approximately cost of $80 per person including food and lodging.
TOURS:
There are several types of tours for Peten, so Click here
to see what is available.
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