Jalapa Department: Ecotourism at Parque Ecológico Pino Dulce

Parque Ecológico Pino Dulce is located in Aldea Pino Dulce, Mataquescuintla, Jalapa Department. It specializes in ecotourism and adventure tourism. Its aims include protecting forests and wildlife and promoting ecotourism in Guatemala. This brings together a specific focus on activities and a commitment to nature conservation. When choosing a destination, you can weigh these two aspects separately: the park’s focus and the duration and content of its walking tour offering.

The park offers a roughly four-hour walk through the grounds, during which visitors can see waterfalls and cross suspension bridges. Plan the walk as a longer activity and use the approximate four-hour duration as a guide. This lets you take both the time commitment and the experiences mentioned into account when choosing a destination: Is a longer walk featuring waterfalls and suspension bridges the nature and adventure experience you’re looking for?

The park’s focus helps you categorize the destination by theme; the approximate duration of the walk, by contrast, is a concrete planning consideration. This lets you compare the nature and adventure experience with the amount of time you want to devote to a single activity.

Guatemala: Cultural and natural landscapes

In Guatemala, the Quirigua Archaeological Park and Ruins preserve 17 monuments carved between 426 and 810 AD. Stelae and carved calendars document social, political, and economic events of the Maya civilization. Antigua Guatemala was founded as Santiago de Guatemala in 1524 and has preserved its 16th-century city plan as well as most of its architectural heritage. Numerous churches and monasteries attest to the influence of the Christian Church on all aspects of city life during the colonial period. Quirigua and Antigua thus represent different archaeological and urban records of Guatemalan history.

Tak'alik Ab'aj adds a long time span to Guatemala’s history. The site’s 1,700-year history covers the period from 800 BC to 900 AD; during its first half, the transition from the Olmec civilization to early Maya culture took place. Innovative water management systems have been found there, and sacred spaces and buildings were designed according to cosmological principles. Indigenous groups affiliated with 22 different Maya-speaking communities continue to regard Tak'alik Ab'aj as a sacred site and visit it for rituals.

Tikal National Park covers 57,600 hectares of wetlands, savanna, and tropical broadleaf and palm forests. Its roughly 400-hectare inner urban zone includes palaces, temples, ceremonial platforms, ball courts, terraces, and large and small plazas. The area figures refer to different scales: the entire national park and its inner urban zone. Notable wildlife includes five cat species, among them jaguars and pumas, several monkey species, anteaters, and more than 300 bird species.

Discover more destinations: Jalapa, San Marcos Department, Retalhuleu, Huehuetenango, Chimaltenango, Jutiapa Department, Santa Rosa, Guatemala

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