May 9th 2012 – Life in Livingston

This town is a jetty and one main street, which leads off to a handful of smaller streets, or so we thought. On our first day we met ‘Pollo’ a Garifuna Blackman (a small group of abandoned African slaves who originally set up on the Island of Roatan next to Utilla, settled here a long time ago). we got talking, well actually there was no escaping Pollo, but he turned out to be a facinating man and really good company. He was educated by a fund set up by Geri Garcia from the band ‘The Grateful Dead’ who spent time here, and unlike others who took thier money and education and left, he returned to Livingston and works hard to educate and hold together his community. The Garifunans do not get any funding from the Spanish based Guatemalan municipal and have to do everything themselves. He took us on a walk, leaving behind the paved streets of the Spanish community and into an area we would not have gone – or even known existed.  He showed us the destruction of the last hurricane, and leading us down dirt paths took us into the house of two fantastic old Garifuna ‘Grandmas’, then on through the ‘Township’ – segregation is alive and well – and into an area where we met some brilliant kids. The whole time we chatted and laughed and learned to walk at Garifuna pace…reeeeally slow…and felt really privilaged to know this guy. At one point he stopped to talk to a very young girl, who he found had not yet eaten that day. He talked to the mother and it seems they had nothing. But he did say there was a ‘pot fund’ and she would get something from that.  Everyone knew him and seemed to look to him with respect so we felt confident to put a donation into the pot. Its times like this I wish I was loaded and could make a real difference.

Livingston Main Street

But this is not a depressing place! The people are loud, colourful and born survivors, though we do have beef with them for not looking after their dogs properly – we did a few food runs and filled some dogs bellys over the days we were there. Although you can never really change anything when you are just passing through, its good to do what you can when you can.

View of the sea from Livingston, granted… not a very good pic sorry 🙂

The food is a bit ‘iffy’ in Livingston. We had the ‘Ganster Breakfast’ at our hotel, and in no way would it sustain you through a mornings gangland activities – it was miniscule! But in the four days we were there we managed to find a couple of places that served half decent portions that were reasonably eatable. A small hotel tucked into one of the back streets has a great view over the sea, and okay food, but the real reason we went back was to see the group of Iguanas living in a big tree next to our table.

An Iguana!!!!!

I found it very easy to fall into the Garifuna pace of life, and do nothing really slowly for a few days. (No?? Really Doug??). Luckily Jane had picked up a good book (about life in the Alaskan Wilderness, this being the second on the subject I’m getting worried about what travel plans she has next!) back in Rio Dulce or she would have been stir crazy! She still made me go for a walk in the bloomin’ humid 35 degree heat though! We leave tommorrow (Guatemala has been beyond our expectaions and we will be sad to leave) to cross the border into Honduras and head for La Ceiba.

May 6th 2012 – The Journey to Livingston, Guatemala

There are no roads to Livingston, but as our favourite form of transport are river boats, this is not a bad thing! The boat picked us up at the hotel and then started to travel in the wrong direction towards the main lake. It took us west through the small channel we had kayaked through a couple of days earlier, and then we realised the boatman was proudly showing everyone the scenery – a lake so big you can’t see the horizon – and we settled in for a good trip.  We began heading perfect east, leaving Lago De Izabel, and started travelling down the Rio Dulce, a massive river nearly two miles across at its widest point. We had barely left the town behind when the boatsman pulled up next to a bird breeding island in the river – it was chocablock with river birds, including two that looked like vultures, and lots of young white herons with jaunty orange mohicans on thier heads.

Birds and birds and birds and birds…

The journey was fantastic. Miles of peaceful river unfolded and now and again the boat would slow to let us take in the native settlements. In quiet parts of the river, where the water slowed, the surface was covered in lilies and the native families were out on the water transporting stuff back and forth – kids as young as 5 or 6 where handling dugout canoes with perfect skill. Amazing.

A young girl smiles for photos in a Rio Dulce river community

Our next stop was a riverside platform where you could grab a bite to eat, or, our personal favourite a coconut drink, while you soaked your feet in a hot (and I mean HOT!) spring. There was even time to pay a guide to take you up to a limestone cave if you wanted – but we’ve seen enough of them!:) Eventually we passed through a limestone gorge and continued on the last stretch to the mouth of the river at Livingston.

An abandoned boat on the way to Livingston

Its a different world as you approach the coastal town. It really does feel carribean as you start to see pelicans and other huge sea birds perching on abandoned boats from a bygone era, that sit skew-wiff in the water, and you begin to pass more and more riverside huts and fishing jettys until suddenly the ocean is right in front of you and tall black dudes, standing on the main jetty, are welcoming you to Livingston in a laid back drawl. We had landed at Gutamelas most Southeastern point – don’t quite know what to expect!

A view from Livingston Dockside