Guatemala

We have the best showers in all Guatemala." You wouldn't think this would be a hotel's biggest selling point, but as much as we loved this country, our enthusiasm for weak, cold showers was, if you'll forgive the pun, dampening.

"Plus the lake water is 100 per cent clean, you can hire the kayaks free of charge, take any books from the library you want to keep and I'll be damned if mine isn't one of the finest restaurants in the whole damn country."

Roy, you had us at the showers. The Yankee owner of Rio Dulce's El Tortugal floating resort could have saved his breath. Plus we'd heard stories of a nearby waterfall unlike any other and we knew this place would do fine as a base to explore.

And it was the first time I'd slept at what amounted to a floating hotel.

Perched above the warm waters of Lago de Izabal with jungle looming on the shore, El Tortugal is a series of open wooden dormitories with spiral staircases and thatched roofs. Each dormitory is linked by wooden walkways that pass above the water, as well as marshland thick with tropical plants that sometimes form canopies.

The view from the top of our dorm of the masts of visiting American yachts (this is a calm spot during hurricane season), the postcard shimmer of the lake and the dark green of the trees on the shoreline reminded me of the island suburbs of Miami, minus the celebrity homes.

Make no mistake, this is not a poor corner of Guatemala. Indeed, after Mexico, Guatemala is the second-wealthiest country in Central America. That doesn't mean there isn't poverty and that the average family doesn't get by every year on what we might make in a month, but it's not out of the ordinary to find the sort of setting we found in Rio Dulce. And that setting included luxury yachts, perfect weather, anchored sunbathing rafts, jungle holiday homes and controversial kayak races.

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