Livingston

Imagine what you would find when a group of African descendants- whose grandparents were stolen from Africa and forced to work on fledgling plantations in the new world, whose blood, language, and culture had been mixed with the English and the Spanish for several generations- managed to escape from captivity and found their own city. That is the essence of Livingston, Guatemala. With no roads in or out of this town, the Garífuna who founded this town managed to seclude themselves enough that they were left alone to colonize this place independently. Over time some of the Guatemaltecos found their way here, and the city of 10,000 now has a mixed hispanic-african society, but at the heart of it all it's all Garífuna. Coconut Bread is made from scratch here every day, and fishing is the lifeblood of this town. The city lies on a peninsula, surrounded on three sides by water. To the south and southwest the Rio Dulce empties out from lake Itzabal. To the east and northeast the Caribbean sea surrounds this place. Surprisingly, it's not spanish culture, but New York culture which prevails here. Basketball is the big sport, Hip Hop, Reggae, and R&B the main music.

I met two Belgians on the ferry here from Puerto Barrios yesterday. By coincidence, they were the second guests to have stayed with Anthony the Rasta in Omoa. We had a good laugh over that and decided to find accomodations together. We found a decent room in a cheap hotel where I paid about $2 to spend the night. Not bad considering we had a private bath. It's not the Ritz Carlton but it will definitely do.

This afternoon in a couple of hours I will hire a boat to take me up the Rio Dulce to the next major town, sometimes called Rio Dulce, sometimes called Fronteras. From there the major North-South highway runs along eastern Guatemala and I can take it all the way to Flores. I will find a place to crash in Flores and spend tomorrow and Saturday touring the national park of Tikal- one of the most famous indigenous sites in all of Latin America.

I haven't taken any photos yet but I'll post some when I do. In a couple of days I should have some from Livingston and Tikal. In Tikal I´m planning on meeting up with two Canadian friends from Utila who I was diving with. That should be nice because they've already arranged for a good hotel and a guide and I should be able to piggyback with them for 24 hours. After that I'm going to take a bus to Coban and a quick bus to Semuc Champey/Lanquin where the famous caves and limestone cascades await me in the middle of nowhere. I should be in Xela for Spanish school on Monday. One day late, but having seen the best of North and East Guatemala.

Adios!