Rio Dulce and Livingston

Lago de Izabal
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From Flores we took another chicken bus down to Rio Dulce (3 hrs). When we thought we had had experienced everything on our chicken bus journeys, we had a lady sitting behind us who was vomitting constantly. You would think that when you know you get car sick, you would carry a plastic bag with you when travelling, but not her. She simply vomitted out of the window or in the aisle (and unfortunately on the guy sitting next to Tal). Luckily this happened 30 minutes before we got off at Rio Dulce so we did not have to put up with the smell of vomit for long...

Local girls in traditional dug-out
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Rio Dulce is sitting on the shores of Lake Izabal. It has long been a famous stop for boaters from around the globe, on their way to or from Livingston and the Caribbean coast. It is famous for its setting and there are some beautiful places to stay around the lake. We decided to get a boat across the lake to Livingston as we planned to cross into Belize in a couple of days and Livingston is one of the gateways to Belize.

We took a lancha colectiva (tiny boat) which took us to Castillo San Felipe, a fort built by the Spanish in 1643 to defend the coast against attacks from pirates. From there we continued north. A beautiful journey passing local families living on the lake in wooden huts, using dug outs as a means of transportation. We saw white herons, turtles and iguanas. About 11k  before Livingston we stumbled across Finca Tatin, a hostel built on the lake, hidden in the lush green forest. We decided to treat ourselves and stay here for 2 nights in a wooden hut. The food was great (beet root and fresh vegetables as well as fresh fish and mashed potatoes!) and the location perfect: no internet, cars, noisy hotel guests - just the sound of toucans and other wildlife. We spotted an otter and toucan and had many swims in the river.

Male Iguana
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On day two we took a kayak (we tried the dug out, but you need special skills to use these..) and kayaked all the way to Livingston (11 km upstream). It was pretty amazing to be able to paddle our way into the Caribbean sea!

The journey was hard and hot, but beautiful as you pass some of the finest gorges in the world. Livingston is 23km upstream from Rio Dulce and located in the Bay of Amatique and Caribbean sea. It is populated by mostly Garifuna blacks. The town is the center of fishing and shrimping and the bulk of the town is up a steep slope leading straight from the harbour. We had some delicious shrimps and hung out in town before being picked up by boat which took took us back to the finca. Sunburned and exhausted after 2.5 hrs of paddling we relaxed and enjoyed another delicioius meal.