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The land to the east of Guatemala City is some of the most varied in the entire country, ranging from the cacti-spiked near-desert around the El Rancho junction to the permanently lush Caribbean coast. Although the coastal area was fairly densely populated in Maya times, it was largely abandoned until the end of the nineteenth century. Its revival was due to the arrival of the United Fruit Company, who cleared the land for the banana plantations that still dominate the area. Fruit-laden trucks thunder along the road to the coast, following the Motagua valley , a broad river corridor dividing two high mountain ranges. A couple of hours before you reach the coast, the route passes the ruins of Quirigua , a small site with some of the finest stelae and carvings in the entire Maya world. At the end of the road is the faded, slightly seedy port of Puerto Barrios , a steamy, largely ladino town, from where it's possible to cross the border into Honduras. To the north of the Motagua valley is Lago de Izabal , a vast expanse of fresh water ringed by lonely villages and swamps, its largely unpopulated shores home to a tremendous variety of wildlife (most of it threatened), including alligators, iguanas, turtles, toucans and manatee. The best base for exploring this region is sleepy, one-street El Estor , from where you can easily venture into the Bocas del Polochic nature reserve. Sailing towards the Caribbean from Lago de Izabal you pass through El Golfete lake and the towering, jungle-covered gorge systems of the Rio Dulce . At the end of the river is Livingston , a very funky coconut-and-ganja town, home to Guatemala's black Garifuna people. Also included in this section are the eastern highlands - dry ladino territory, intermittently scarred by ancient, eroded volcanoes and hot, dusty towns. Though the scenery is superb, there is little for the traveller here, save the beautifully isolated Volcan de Ipala , with its stunning crater lake, and the curious holy town of Esquipulas , whose huge basilica - containing an image of the black Jesus - is the focus for Central America's largest annual pilgrimage.
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