External Reviews
The Independent Online: La Lancha is just the job. Here, brightly painted casitas overlook a tranquil lake and iridescent humming birds dart from leaf to leaf. There is a swimming pool and a restaurant, and only the extraordinary early-morning racket of the resident howler monkeys interrupts the sense of peace.La Lancha is an excellent base from which to explore Guate-mala's own jungle highlights, not least the wonderful ruins at Tikal, the largest Mayan site yet to be discovered. Like Caracol, Tikal's power to mesmerise comes as much from its location as the steep-sided temples that rise above everything else in the area. Tikal emerges from the depths of the jungle, and while the vast site now has a series of paths and cleared plazas (and, unlike Caracol, possesses shops and a restaurant), the sense of a live - and dangerous - rainforest is constant. Spider monkeys surge through the trees, a crocodile lurks in a pool at the entrance. Keel-billed toucans perch imperiously, and snakes slink between stones and logs.
New York Times:
Near La Lancha, where the foliage is powdered khaki with limestone dust, it's clear that eco-tourism is catching on. By the roadways are hand-lettered signs touting horseback tours of the rain forest, along with a billboard portraying a blond hiker in skimpy shorts navigating a suspension bridge slung across the treetops for what's described as a "Skyway total adventure enjoy more canopy tour." (Eco-tourism seems to be defined broadly, however; one news release touts "tractor rides" and A.T.V. rentals along with bird-watching and mountain-biking.)
La Lancha itself looks like a place where you might be greeted by a Zen monk. Simpler and smaller than Blancaneaux, it's all about the transporting view. The open-sided dining room, the two-tiered pool that looks like a pond, the 10 casitas with their clay wind chimes - all overlook glorious, glassy Lake Petén Itzá. In the daytime, nothing seems to move on the lake, which perfectly reflects the endless sky. At night, when the darkness is absolute, I watch the opposite shore, where a smudgy fire signals that cropland is being cleared for the next planting.
Owned by a French couple before the Coppolas bought it in 2003, La Lancha was renovated before being reopened that December. This resort, Mr. Coppola said, "may be my favorite, but it is very rustic." With their white-tiled floors, charming folk art and roughly carved furniture, the casitas are anything but austere; lolling on my porch, soaking in a stillness broken only by fantastic birds levitating from the underbrush, I am insanely content.
The high continues through dinner, which is guacamole and blackened fish caught in the lake. Making the rounds, La Lancha's concierge is chatting with guests, scheduling tomorrow's outings. Along with guided hikes through the nearby Cerro Cahui National Reserve, La Lancha's activity pamphlet lists private Skyway tours, fishing expeditions and trips to small Mayan ruins including Uaxactún, along with Spanish lessons taught in the village of San Andrés.
The major attractions here, however, are the wildlife and the ruins at Tikal, a legendary Mayan city that, by A.D. 500, had a population of about 100,000. As many as 3,000 stunning limestone palaces, temples and other structures have been excavated there since archaeologists ventured to the site in the 19th century.
Painted in garish colors when King Great Jaguar Paw and his ilk held sway, the great temples are inside the pristine Tikal National Park, where 22 types of snakes (including the lethal fer de lance), 5 kinds of cats and exotica including tapirs, silver fox and spider monkeys can be found.
