Blogs from Río Dulce, Caribbean Coast, Guatemala, Central America Caribbean - page 4

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(Day 804 on the road)"Oh, the rubbish. See the landmass over there? That's Honduras. That's where all the rubbish here comes from". Yeah, right. The guy we had asked why kilometre upon kilometre of the beach we were walking along was absolutely littered in rubbish chose to ignore reality rather than to face the facts: Sure, some of the trash is probably from Honduras indeed, but most of the garbage (plastic bottles, flip-flops, shopping bags etc etc) lining the shore here in Livingston on the Rio Dulce in Guatemala is due to Guetemaltecan people simply throwing their rubbish into the rivers and oceans. Out of sight, out of mind. Or not. More on this appalling topic a little further down. We had arrived back in Guatemala after our short nine-day stint in Belize and found ourselves ... read more
This river is not just sad to see but an absolute disgrace
Homeless person in front of shop in El Estor
Grounding pillars the Guatemala way


LAGO IZABEL In El Estor, at the west end of this big lake in eastern Guatemala. Could go to Rio Dulce today, or Livingston, but this is a friendly town, and my room is on the lake. Headed to Belize tomorrow, but wanted to sum up this area. It seems like folks are gearing up for more tourists, but there are precious few here (I think I am the only one at the moment). I had to pay for a boat tour at dawn this morning because it is only me, but $35 was worth it. Went with Pedro over to the nearby Boca de Polochik wetlands at the west end of Lago Izabel. Many many birds, and many just awakening howler monkeys. Also got a glimpse of the nose of a manatee. They are fairly ... read more


Rio Dulce We got up very early the next morning to make our way to Fronteras, a town more commonly referred to as Rio Dulce as it sits on said river ('the sweet river'), which flows out of Guatemala's largest lake, Lago Izabal. 5 Buses and 10 hours later we arrived into this hot and steamy town. The journey was typically arduous, overfull mini-buses, being dropped at the side of the road in unfamiliar dingy looking places, crazy mini-bus drivers and stifling heat, so we were glad to finally arrive. Although the town itself is nothing special, it is the river, lake, and surrounding natural attractions that draw people here. We stayed at a place called Casa Perico, a nice place a short boat ride away, hidden away behind the shores of the lake, reached via ... read more
The boat to Livingston
Ben drinking Coco Loco
Discoteca


Bon, j'ai fait ce voyage il y a plus d'un mois, mais ce n'est jamais trop tard ;-) Avec un groupe de 6 personnes de l'ecole ont a ete visite le Rio Dulce, un fleuve qui se jete dans les caraibes. A l'embouchure il y a une ville, Livingstone, connu pour sa communaute noire. Apparemment ce sont les descendants d'esclaves que les espagnols (ou anglais??) avaient laisse sur place dans leur fuite. La premiere nuit on a loge dans la ville de Rio Dulce (superbe destination, plein de grands voiliers, certains faisaient un tour du monde) puis sur les bords du lac Izabal (ou une tarentule m'attendait devant la porte de ma chambre). On aussi visite un site maya.... read more
Imagen 406
Imagen 447
Imagen 348


Esa canción ya la había escuchado muchas veces, en cada despedida de un voluntario repetitivamente tiene que sonar, se ha convertido en un himno aceptado incondicionalmente por todos. Pero cuando se trata de tu propia despedida, la sientes de un modo diferente...más profundo. "Tabaco y Chanel" de los colombianos "Bacilos", sonó varias veces en la noche, pero todavía sus notas continúan en mi mente machaconamente...repitiéndose una y otra vez. Me hace recordar esas noches estrelladas, de hamaca en el porche de la casa, de conversaciones interminables, de más noches de tormentas y relámpagos, noches de guaro furtivo en los cuartos, de más noches estrelladas, de puestas de sol y amaneceres de colores. Me recuerdan a una garza en la balsa, a un río plateado por la mañana, a una pelota de colores perseguida por niños sonrientes, ... read more
Esperando a Santa Claus.
alla voy!!!
monstruitos de papel.


Greetings to all. I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season. I am back on the boat now after spending 4 weeks in the U.S. during the holidays. I visited family and spent a few weeks working at the same clinics that I worked with during the summer. We left Cartagena, Colombia in November and sailed about 860 miles to Roatan, Honduras. With good weather we could have made it in 6 days but we had contrary winds the 2nd half of the trip so it took us 8 days. Roatan in the Bay Islands is a scuba diving haven and normally has a thriving tourist business. Their tourism was down a bit while we were there due to the global economy plus the added burden of the political situation in Honduras. The tour operators told ... read more
Santo Domingo Convent & Monastery
Antigua
Alpaca


Gracias, es la palabra que mas utilizamos todos desde las Navidades pasadas hasta estos dias. Gracias a todos por haber hecho realidad los sueños de colores y por la participación en los regalos de Navidad. Gracias a la compañia Iberia por la generosidad de este envio , a todos los colaboradores , a Miryam de TFN, Loles de BinterVende, Mari Carmen de TCP´S, Mandy, Juan Andrés y Mimi de Iberia , Operaciones Binter, Censi , Anita (corresponsal de los sueños de colores ...hechos realidad, que gran labor!!) y su familia... a mi familia y a todos ustedes por vuestra colaboración y contribución a hacer un mundo algo mas justo para estos niños. Gracias a los que han intentado colaborar y no han podido en esta ocasión por multiples motivos...mucho se enteraron tarde de la campaña y ... read more
Muchas Gracias
gracias, gracias, gracias...
gracias, gracias, gracias...


La supervisora de aduanas me permitió pasar al interior de la gran sala de mercancias. Estaba repleta de cientos de paquetes y cajas pendientes de retirar ,me vino a la mente la idea de que se trataba de un enorme orfanato de paquetes esperando que llegase alguien a adoptarles. La supervisora me acercó un chaleco reflectante para poder circular con seguridad dentro de la sala, anduvimos sorteando diversos carritos con paqueteria. Fue entonces cuando las vi por primera vez. Antes de que la funcionaria me lo indicase yo ya sabía en que plataforma se encontraban ubicados "los sueños de colores". Eran las unicas cajas de colores de toda la sala y se podia distinguir desde la distancia una caja azul, una roja, una amarilla, otra verde y una anaranjada. Cinco cajas de colores que brillaban entre ... read more
Descubriendo los sueños.
Descubriendo los sueños
Cajitas antiguas


Thursday, January 14, 2010 - Santo Tomas, Guatemala Today I visited what is without a doubt the most beautiful and untouched place I have ever been: The Rio Dulce River in Guatemala We left the port in a ponga type boat for a 30 minute trip to the coastal town of Livingston. Livingston is only accessible by boat. En route we saw some lovely, albeit simple, homes situated right on the Atlantic coast. At Livingston we headed up the Rio Dulce River for about 45 minutes. The area is populated by Mayan Q’eqchi people who live in small villages along this crystal clear river. With no electricity or running water life here is simple: traveling by and fishing from hand carved wooden boats, washing clothes in the river and boating to a fresh water spring to ... read more
Fishing on the Rio Dulce
Livingston
Folk Dancers


River Trip A boat tour of the river was the Rio Dulce must do. Arranging this was surprisingly difficult. In the states we would have signs and information kiosks at such a the resort. After all, it is in everyone's interest to make it easy for tourists. We, I mean Maureen, had to sift through a dozen conversations of conflicting information. I hope we have Maureen’s photos of the trip, though she did not leave them here at Easter. It rained the whole time. Now that we were experienced travelers, I knew in my bones that, yes, we were freezing in the rain. This boat ride was my one “beam me up Scotty” moment of the whole trip. Livingston Wandering around the town, we met a guy in a rainbow beret on the street who handed ... read more
Large birds
Parrot and Turtle
Bay of Lillies




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