Livingstone

Day 1 -The Caribbean?

The boat for Livingstone was due to pick us up from our hostel at 9.30 which meant we had time to enjoy a nice breakfast (incidentally larger than my dinner the night before) in the restaurant right next to the river.

After breakfast we then waited for our boat to arrive, for once our transport was on time so we loaded our bags on board and clambered on.  When I had booked the tickets I was informed this would be a bit of a boat tour as well as a mode of transport to Livingstone.

The boat darted around the river picking up other passengers from different hostels and it was interesting when we went down side creeks seeing some nice properties with very large yacht’s moored up next to them, there’s money here!!

 

Once we had picked up all the passengers and Shell and I had picked out which river pad to buy, the boat started its tour.  First we headed to a nearby fort that used to protect something or other, the guide only spoke Spanish so no idea about anything on this fort, but it made for a nice picture.

 

 

We then turned around and headed back the way we came passing our hostel along the way.  A quick stop for petrol and we motored along for about 20 minutes (looking in the hope that we saw Manatee) until we got to a couple of Islands, the skipper slowed the boat down and circled these so we could see the large number of birds roosting in the tree branches.

 

 

Continuing along, we then came to a small settlement at the side of the river where there was hundreds of water lilies so we putted around here for another photo opportunity.

 

 

Surprisingly after about an hour of motoring along we pulled up to a riverside restaurant/hostel where we were told we were going to stop for 20 minutes for a refreshment/comfort break.  We got off the boat and noted that they did have natural hot springs at the side of the river, but with only 20 minutes we were not going to indulge.

When the pointless 20 minute break was over we then all clambered back into the  small boat and headed off again.  Although this boat ride was very scenic and pretty the best was saved until last and we entered a gorge called, La Cueva de la Vaca.

The gorge was quite spectacular its walls hung with great tangles of jungle foliage and the humid air noisy with the cries of tropical birds.  It looked like a film set for Jurassic park and once again plenty of photos were taken.

 

 

Finally, we started to exit the gorge and we were entering the estuary where the river met the see and after a short journey,  the port of Livingstone was coming into view.  The first thing we noticed as we got close to the quay was that several boats had been commandeered by the local pelican’s, they are going to take some cleaning!!

We disembarked on the jetty and were immediately met with loads of local hawkers trying to get you on other boats or get you to their hostels.  Quickly moving past, and trying to get our bearings we thought we would go to a nearby restaurant/bar to get a drink.

Entering the restaurant, we found a seat next to the balcony which overlooked the little port and ordered ourselves a couple of welcome beers.  Just as they turned up a traditional Garifuna band struck up, they consisted of three large drums, a turtle shell (which is banged with a stick), some maraca’s and a big conch shell.  It made for quite a nice welcome and as described in our guide, Livingstone had a completely different feel to the rest of Guatemala, very Caribbean!!

 

After our drinks, we had the job of finding our hostel which when checking the phone sat-nav was up a nearby hill.  We carried/dragged our bags up the incline and after looking round for a bit, we found the hostel and  were met by the very friendly owner who showed us to our rooms.  The hostel, although hard to get to, had a beautiful view over the whole of the port and estuary.

Once unpacked we quickly went out to explore as we really only had an afternoon here. We headed to Livingstone’s main street.  Livingstone is pretty much a dusty two street affair but it does have a lovely vibe about it.  Before we headed for a beach the hotel owner recommended we stopped at a little café/bar for a quick light refreshment.

 

 

We then headed down the road in the direction which we were told the beach was in, having failed to find an empty tuk-tuk to take us there.  It was very hot and after a while Shell checked with a local shop owner that we were heading in the right direction, we were but the lady indicated that it was a very long way and we should get a tuk-tuk.

Waiting on the corner for some time we eventually managed to catch the eye of a tuk-tuk driver, he already had two school children in the back, but he managed to squeeze us all in.  It was just as well as the journey must have been two or three miles.

Driving through Livingstone it was very pretty and as we neared the end of the journey we headed down a very bumpy little track and at the end we were deposited next to a foot bridge, checking with the driver who said we needed to go across this.  Shell and I followed his instructions and whilst crossing the bridge we could see that this was a very pretty little spot.

 

 

Over the bridge, we then followed a small path that led to the beachfront which was fringed by palm trees and backed by jungle vegetation, very pretty indeed.

 

At the end of this path it then opened out into a small beach area with a restaurant/bar and only a handful of tourists/locals.  It was a lovely little place dotted with coconut trees and had a little jetty with a tower at the end that contained hammocks.

 

 

First things first, we found a table in the shade and had a couple of drinks whilst we took in our beautiful surroundings.  We then managed to secure a couple of sun loungers that we could relax and read on for the rest of the afternoon.

As it was hot we then decided to go and have a dip and when we put our toes in the water , it was pretty warm and remained quite shallow as we waded out.  However, we did not stay in for that long as although it looked very nice and had crystal blue water, there was a lot of rotting tree/plant material in the water which didn’t make it feel as pleasant as it looked.

We returned to our sun lounger and waited to dry off, being amused by some German tourists trying to get coconuts down from one of the tree’s, nearly hitting/knocking out one of their friends in the process.  An hour more of relaxing and it was getting later in the afternoon and we were a bit worried about the transport to get back to town.

Following the path back to the bridge we then crossed it and I spied a tuk-tuk loitering at the bottom so I signalled to it that we wanted a ride.  When we got to it he had one passenger already inside but we all manged to fit in and we rode back to town, Shell loves a tuk-tuk.

 

 

Back in town we then headed back to our hostel where we took the opportunity to sit on the balcony and catch up on a bit of blogging whilst admiring the fabulous view across the water below.  We sat there until the sun went down and then decided that we would go back into town for dinner.

 

Once again, we followed the hostel owners recommendation and went to a little café/restaurant on the main road.  We both opted for a traditional Livingstone dish which is call Tapado, a fish stew made from fish, shrimp, shellfish, coconut milk, and plantain, spiced with coriander.

When our food came up it was very large and quite intimidating as when we investigated properly we found it to contain a whole crab, a whole fish (head included) sea snails and a lot of other bits and pieces.  We both gave it a good go, but neither of us could really fathom what to do with the crab.  I wouldn’t say it was our favourite meal, but it was different and very good value for money.

After eating we didn’t really feel like going for more drinks so we headed back to the hostel to have a fairly early night, reading for a bit before turning out the lights.