Rio Dulce and Livingston

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Setting off at 4am on a Friday morning is no easy task and this morning was no easier. But it was for a good cause so I didn´t mind one bit.
We were off to the Northeastern part of Guatemala to Rio Dulce and Livingston. We got a shuttle from Antigua to Guatemala City where we then got a coach for 6 hours up to Rio Dulce. As it was such an early start I managed to sleep most of the way and when we did stop to get out the difference in climate was amazing.
Rio Dulce is really hot as it is on the caribbean side of Guatemala.
After checking in to our hotel which was only reachable by boat we spent the rest of day relaxing and generally doing nothing!!
But it was another early start the next day as we were up at 5am to kayak across the rio dulce for 20 minutes in the howler monkey park where we watched the monkeys swinging from tree to tree. We wanted to be there for the wake up call but unfortunately the monkey had decided to get up early that day so we missed it. Never mind it was still really good just to see the monkeys!!
After getting back to the hotel at 8.00am we had breakfast and prepped for the next part of our journey. At 9.30 a boat picked us up from the hotel and we made our way down to Livingston.

"The town of Livingston is very interesting with a laid back, very Belizean way of life, grooves of coconut palms, gaily painted wooden buildings and economy based on fishing and tourism. The language spoken in Livingston is Garifuna - the people of Caribbean Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and southern Belize trace their roots to the caribbean island of St Vincent where shipwrecked africans mixed with the indigenous Carib in the 17th C. When the British took over St V most of the inhabitants were deported and many ended up on the caribbean coast of Guatemala. The Garifuna language is a mixture is a melange of Caribbean and African languages including french." - Lonely Planet

Livingston is a very laid back place made up of 3 main streets, I say main, what I really mean is 3 streets with a few shops and small restaurants. There are lots of street sellers and I managed to buy some lovely pieces of jewellery. The rest of the day was spent relaxing and exploring the rest of Livingston, we went down the the beach which isn't great but still good to see.
In the evening we decided to eat in Hotel Casa Rosada and try the traditional local dish - Tapado - a rich stew made from fish, shrimp, shellfish and coconut, spiced with coriander. It was absolutely lovely and very filling. This was accompanied by coconut bread and I even managed to find room for homemade cake afterwards!! Whilst we were eating there was an alighty rainstorm but luckily there were attachable windows so we were protected from the elements.
The next morning we were greeted by a beautiful bright morning. Perfect for the boat back to Rio Dulce. On the way back we stopped off at the hot springs and had a little swim. It was great to swim in them although it did stink of sulphur so I did smell a bit afterwards!!
After a quick sandwich in Rio Dulce it was on the bus for the journey back to Antigua. It took a while but it was totally worth it as Rio Dulce is a beautiful place.

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