3 Best Sights in Monterrico, The Pacific Lowlands

The Petén-based ARCAS, whose name is the Spanish acronym for "Association for Rescue and Conservation of Wildlife," maintains an operation in Hawaii National Park, east of Monterrico near the Salvadoran border. ARCAS is always looking for volunteers, both experts and lay people, with a passion for conservation.

The Biotopo Monterrico, officially, the Monterrico Natural Reserve for Multiple Uses, encompasses 6,916 acres along Guatemala's Pacific coast and includes everything from mangrove swamps to dense tropical forests. This is a haven for ornithologists, as the reserve is home to more than 100 species of migratory and indigenous birds. Marine turtles swim ashore from July to January, and you can often see them digging nests for their eggs at night. We recommend an organized tour of the reserve. Although the visitor center sits in town a couple of blocks east of Calle Principal, visiting on your own is logistically difficult. Naturaltours (East of Calle Principal 060245958–9491) leads boat tours—in Spanish only—of the canal, mangroves, and lagoons. Rise and shine, for they begin at 5 am, an hour necessary to take advantage of the best wildlife-viewing opportunities.

CECON, based at Guatemala City's Universidad de San Carlos, operates the Biotopo Monterrico and an interesting in-town visitor center that documents the life cycle of the turtles, as well as iguanas and caimans. It also manages Monterrico's most popular event, and one of Guatemala's most fun: the weekly turtle release during the July to January nesting season. Each Saturday at 5:30 pm the week's hatchlings return to the sea in a well-attended event. For a Q10 ticket you can sponsor a turtle, and release it at the starting line, and watch it scurry across the sand and make it to the finish line. The tide is the goal, of course—whoever said turtles are slow never witnessed this race. Win or lose, your Q10 goes to a good cause.