Laguna del Tigre National Park, National park in Petén, Guatemala
Laguna del Tigre National Park is Guatemala's largest protected area, located in the northwest of the country near the Mexican border, in the Petén department. It holds the biggest freshwater wetland in Mesoamerica, combining large lagoons, flooded grasslands, and areas of tropical forest.
The park's wetlands were designated a Ramsar Site in 1990, placing them among the most important freshwater zones in the region. Since the 1970s, waves of settlement, illegal logging, and oil exploration have steadily changed parts of the land.
The scarlet macaw nests in specific spots within the park, such as El Perú and Peñón de Buena Vista, making this one of the few places where visitors can reliably spot them in the wild. Local guides from nearby communities, like Carlos Cuz Coc, carry knowledge of the land that no written guide can fully replace.
The dry season, from December to June, makes trails and roads far more accessible than during the wet months, when mud can block most routes. From Flores, Santa Amelia is reachable by bus, but the final stretch to the park often needs a sturdy vehicle or a boat along the Rio San Pedro.
The park contains the archaeological site of Perú-Waka', an ancient Maya city once linked to other cities by river routes and still largely unexcavated beneath the jungle. Night hikes along the trails offer a real chance of spotting jaguars, which rarely show themselves during the day.
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