Made a long trek down to the southeastern part of Guatemala the other day that took a long time from start to finish but didn't require a whole lot of travel. I missed a few connections by a few minutes which made me wait up to an hour and a half til' the next bus came. It also happened to be in the part of the country that is known for sweltering hot temperatures and cowboys wearing their pistols on their belts for all the honest world to see. I got into Rio Dulce around dark was pretty tired and got a lancha to my hostel. The Rio Dulce area is a very large estuary that is protected from the ocean by a long lush river by the same name. The water reminded me a bit of the Annapolis area as there was always tons of land in sight, tons and tons of sailboats from all over the world and a few large yachts. In fact, the US Coast guard has labeled this area the safest harour in the Western Carribean during hurricane season, which would account for all the nice boats being stored in the area. There are tons of things to do here, all outdoors and it was raining pretty solid all night and day so I moved on down the line to Livingston, a tiny town on the coast that is a mixture of Spanish speaking, Black Carribean and Mayan Indigenous peoples all Guatemalans. There are five languages spoken here: Spanish, the local Mayan dialect, English, Creole and Garifuna. Garifuna is the language (and the name of the people) of the African descendants that were taken here in the slave trading days who then settled and married. Creole is a mixture of French, Spanish, English, Portuguese and probably a few languages more that i'm forgetting. Linguistically speaking, my head was spinning. Regardless, the town of Livingston is nothing like any other part of Guatemala. It has a Carribean vibe but is distinctly unlike any other Carribean nation I have seen or heard of. There is a definite relaxed vibe the slightly seedy underbelly of a small port town. About a half hour lancha ride away is Puerto Barrios which was built by United Fruit Co., back in the day, to export bananas to the US. This is the seedy port town, which allows Livingston to have the seedy port town vibe without the true seediness. Perhaps a bit false, one might think, but false or not, it suited me just fine.
To get to Livingston, we took a lancha ride through the Rio Dulce estuary area and passed an old castle that protected the area from pirates, apparently poorly because it got sacked hundreds of years ago and was only rebuilt as a tourist attraction and picnic area in 1956. Here old canons keep you company as you eat your lunch.
The estuary area is fed by the river Rio Dulce which snakes inland from the Carribean through a dramatically steep jungle gorge. Again the pics don't do it justice but it was very pretty.
Once in Livingston I heard of the best tourist attraction was called something like the Seven Falls. Apparently there are seven waterfalls that feed seven pools that are great for swimming, not to mention good jumping from the rocks and rope swings scattered around the park. I was told to go straight to the beach, turn left until you can't go any further, then walk up the path along the river for another half hour til you get to the falls. There were no signs and I was told I couldn't miss it... but I missed it. I had sat on the south side of the lancha on the way to Livingston and walked for an hour in the sun and had gotten a little burned so I decide to call it a day besides, the wrong turn I took took me right back to where I started so the decision was made for me. Actually I had realized pretty quick my error, but due to the sunburn I threw in the towel to avoid further sun damage. The good side is that my left inner thigh and my right outer thigh have not only healed but have turned golden brown to contrast each legs respective other part, which is still butt white.
I had a few drinks with the kids at my hostel that night and headed out in the morning. Another half hour lancha ride and a bunch of micro and chicken buses and I was at the El Salvadorean border. Adios Guatemala, you were pretty good to me!
