Livingston, Guatemala

Livingston is a world away from the rest of Guatemala. There are no roads that lead to the city, you can only arrive by boat. The most obvious difference, though, is culture. Livingston is home of the Garifuna culture, an African/creole people similar to the culture in Belize. Apparently at some point the Latinos decided they didn't like the Garifuna, so they rounded them up and stuck them in Livingston. It's a pretty cool place, right on what little of the Caribbean coast Guatemala has.

We took a rough 4x4 truck ride for 6 hours through the mountains from Lanquin to get there. On the way, we stopped at a little place called Finca Paraiso that has a hot waterfall. If not the cleanest, it was certainly the hottest shower I've had in a long time.

Checked into a hostel called African Place that looked like a Moorish castle. For dinner, we got the local fare: seafood. Grilled shrimp, which were massive and delicious. The local specialty is a seafood soup called Tapado. It comes in a huge bowl, is frighteningly opaque and bright yellow, and has an abundance of assorted seafood lurking under the surface. I wish I had gotten a picture of all the shells we pulled out of this thing. There were crabs, snails, muscles, clams, a whole fish, shrimp, and some other unidentifiable things all swimming in a coconut and something broth. Delicious, and oh so rich. After chowing down on all that seafood (and it was a lot), it briefly crossed my stomach's mind that maybe that wasn't such a good idea...but it turned out okay.

The next day we hiked up the beach to Los Siete Altares. There are supposed to be a bunch of freshwater pools with little waterfalls going into them. Since it's dry season, there were pools, but no waterfalls. Just lots of really slippery rocks. It was a nice little hike, though.
Left the next morning by boat (called lanchas) to Puerto Barrios, where we picked up a bus to Guatemala City. Parted ways with my Michigander friends Ashley and Max there. I took a taxi over to the station where the chicken buses leave from. I successfully had a 15 minutes conversation about current events with my taxi driver in spanish. I was proud of myself.

Now, in Antigua. Went for an exploratory run this morning. My favorite kind...early, before the city has woken up, no speed or time goal, just meandering up one block and down the next, turning when I see something interesting. This morning I explore the city, this afternoon I climb a volcano. At least that's the plan for now...