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Published: February 15th 2010
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After a fun weekend in Semac Champey, me and Marloes managed to grab a shuttle to Rio Dulce (if you can call sitting in the back of a pick-up for 5 and a half hours a shuttle!). Met some interesting folks along the way, and saw some incredible slightly scottish looking scenery! In Rio Dulce our bartering skills didn't seem to have much use on the fixed boat ticket to Livingston, but it was a fun 3 hour trip (when eventually having returned to the start 3 times and swapped boats in the middle of the lake in true Guatemalan style we properly set out!!) coasting along next to the jungle, seeing "bird island" and stopping at some sulphur hot pools, wished I was wearing a bikini since the water was really relaxing although gave off a slightly eggy smell (not as bad as rotorua however).
Livingston is really chilled out. As soon as you step off the boat you can feel the pace of live slow down. With chickens hanging out on the beach, and a town full of Rastas even the bikes are laid back here. Old school retro beach cruisers... thought about swapping my mountain bike for
one, they are just so cool! Hanging out at the Iguana was a great place to meet other travellers which was great since once Marloes left the next day I was back travelling on my own. Met some great people here, was also a fun party atmosphere at night and really good food which was amazing since I was still sick. The next day I hooked up with a few guys and we walked down the black sand beach for 7km or so to visit the seven altars. A slightly smaller version of semac champey, it was good to see, although I wasn't convinced by Travis's version of the historical significance of the place.
There is a lot of history to Livingston, and it feels totally different to the rest of Guatemala, the Spanish here is different to, Spanish with a Jamacian accent! But with a few more people speaking english than else where. When a mixture of native Indians and shipwreked African Slaves came together the Garifuna population was born. Living on the small island of St Vincent they managed to avoid being conquered for many years, when the British got involved and defeated them they were deported
to the island of Roatan off Hondurus. They spread out, but I think that after poor living conditions and much illness they eventually managed to relocate to Livingston in 1795. The food here is very different, as is the music and traditions (as much as I like it a break from eating frijoles, sometimes twice a day was very welcome too!!).
Another day was spent chilling out and recovering from all the travelling, and revising all my Spanish, having a few drinks in the evening, and planning the rest of my trip... with the best idea seeming to be to have a vague time plan but take each day as it comes depending on who I meet and who's travelling where, this didn't take long! I set off the next day on a boat to Puerto Barrios with the loads. When it starts raining and they cover you with a huge ground sheet you can't help but strike up a conversation with the slightly crazy rasta squashed next to you! A useful consequence when you have no idea where the bus leaves from when you eventually arrive! Thinking I was travelling on my own it was a good suprise
when the (very funny) Swiz guy abandoned his plans of going to Belize and decided to travel to Tikal instead. Bumping into another girl I'd met previously meant that 3 of us journeyed onto Flores together. Talking in Spanglish the whole time was also good practice. Having persuaded the others to bypass Flores and head straight to the jungle to spend the night would mean that we could be there to hear the jungle wake up.
Since accomodation in Tikal itself is REALLY expensive, we checked they had a tent we could hire, bartered with a taximan since the buses weren't running and eventually rolled up just as the sun was starting to set. With only a one man tent between 3 of us??? we reconsidered, hired hammocks and spent the night under the stars. The jungle is so noisy at night but it was really fun and was fun to wake up as the canopy came alive in the morning. Entering the park at 6am also gave us a chance to avoid any other tourists and wander throught the jungle stumbling across the huge ancient mayan ruins and temples alone. Climbing to the top of temple 5, seeing
the top of the canopy and the monkeys and toucans and other brightly coloured wildlife was amazing.
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