La Casa Rosada Livingston

Rio Dulce—nothing much to do. We probably should have gone to the Finca El Paraiso. Glad I didn't make a special trip to the Castillo, because we saw it when we took the boat to Livingston. The castle is small and unimpressive. I already understood the general history and it didn’t really seem worth its own visit. Stayed at Backpacker’s. It is as basic as you can get, but fine ! and a restaurant where I had my first ...

... there was fresh washing on the line, wet pots in the sink and although everything of any use was locked up was confident that someone eventually would turn up and hopefully before dark....<br><br>The place is again a big wooden structure with open sides, that are sided by fruit and veg gardens on one side and a little field or padock on the other. Next to the padock is again an emerald green river running with cascading waterfalls and a small homemade ...

... boat ride was spectacular &#8211; huge towering cliffs of the gorge at the start opening out to a wide river by the end, all of which was covered with the most lush green vegetation (even the almost vertical walls of the gorge!!) We stopped off on the way at a little Mayan Collective (where they were selling many crafts), a small water fall, and some very smelly (sulphur) hot springs! There was also a beautiful carpet of lilies at one point, when we also ...

... or two looking at me through the gap, I was cured. A medical miracle.<br><br>I reboarded the bus to find Mom talking to some locals selling ice cream and cold drinks on the bus. Mom had a half-eaten ice cream dripping down her hands and arms. She asked one of the guys if he'd mind throwing away the last half of her ice cream (in English). The guy gave her a quizzical look, said 'thank you,' took the offered ice cream, and ate it in one bite. Uh, little ...

... m excited).<br><br>By the end of these 4 weeks we&#8217;re going to have a LOT of pictures of us 6 if today is anything to go by. Watch out for the posed candids which Emma and Meagan are the masters of!!!<br><br>When we got back Rachel, ANwen and I stayed up a bit and finally finished a really hard jigsaw which has been the main activity since we got here (we&#8217;re pretty impressed with ourselves&#8230; but now have no idea what to do!!!)

... t even go look at it because it´s so big and dangerous...but I swear it´s there. Don´t worry, the police are already up there taking care of it and should have it all cleared shortly. Would you care for a Fanta while you wait?¨ Sneaky Guatemalans.<br><br>Cobán ultimately proved to be a great little town--although I did initially get a little lost as I exited the bus and began confidently walking in the wrong direction, so as to not appear confused or in need of a ...