Banana Palms Livingston

... occupies the small piece of Caribeean coast that belongs to Guatemala. <br><br>My experience of the énchanting´Belize City left me thinking that the Caribeean culture is not for me, too macho and aggresive and so i was wondering what it would be like here. So far everyone is really friendly and i love the place ' it has a really good vibe about it.<br><br>We have just spent 2 nights at a really cool hostel called La Perico. It is ...

... of us although 1 slip and it was curtains. <br> Having arrived back at the lodge in the afternoon after the tubing and bridge jumping on the river we proceeded to get through 5 bottles of Ron between us which again wasn't ideal prep for the 6 hour off road journey to Rio Dulce. I'd like to say I'll learn but at least I wasn't driving..<br> After a fairly bumpy ride to Rio Dulce which saw Dave &amp; Jerrad ride in the back of the yute and get covered in dust we jumped on a ...

... pick up some young German lad on our travels who spoke to pretty good Spanish so kidnapped him as a well needed translator, everything has been pretty much countryside and rural people so it deemed my SPanglish pretty much useless.<br><br>So it began with a trip up the Rio dulce to a little place called Finca Tatin. A kind of Jungle retreat on the banks of a little tribuatary to the river. Steep sided canyons with dense primiary rain forest drop away into an ...

... About no more than five minutes of sitting in the restaurant a small hairy spider bit Rachel&#8217;s back. She was not amused in the least. <br><br>We spent the rest of the day lounging in the pool and napping in the room which thankfully had mosquito netting. Afterwards, we became hungry and went back to the restaurant to eat dinner. When we came back to the room we encountered some very unexpected and unwelcome guests. The first was a ...

... away under a tarpaulin the whole way (Anwen chose to have her head out to help with the seasickness and was soaked when we got there.) It must've taken a good hour and a bit and it was like being on some horrible rollercoaster bouncy up and down and this way and that. When we finally made it to dry land I couldn&#8217;t believe that our first plan would be to get on a boat again to go half the way back (to Livingston)&#8230;. In future maybe ...

... next. Oh my god, I was going to **** my pants on a bus in Guatemala. I looked around for a baby - maybe people would assume the smell came from it. Damn - no baby. I downed 2 more Immodium and started rocking gently to soothe myself. Maybe music would help? Kings of Leon intensified the cramps. Phantom of the Opera soundtrack? No. Finally settled on Jason Mraz and hummed along to the same song for the next hour, making up my own mantra/prayer. I was trying to ...

... At 9:30 on the dot, the bus arrived and we boarded it and headed off. About 15 minutes later on the bus, the conductor comes up to us and asks us to pay 10Q each. I tell him ´no es necessario porque su amigo me dije que yo no pago en esto bus´(by the way, this is the kind of broken spanish I have been speaking all trip long that has somehow got us around). The conductor basically told us that we can argue with his boss tomorrow and that we have to pay and that he is doing ...

... has happened since my arrival in the wonderful land of tortillas, mountains and toilets without seats. <br><br>Day 1: Arrival in Guatemala<br><br>Not having slept the night before my journey commenced, I decided that it would be prudent to rest my eyes for a few moments on my flight from Houston to Guatemala City. Apparently (and I was previously unaware of this) it is perfectly possible to close your eyes while taxiing at Houston International Airport and not to open ...

... about 'jungle stuff' from the guide who came with us from the Hostel. <br> <br><br>We went across to Rio Dulce for lunch and had a typical meal of fish, chips and salad (the fish is served whole with head on). The we had a scoot around town - the town is not particularly attractive, but it is very interesting - it is functional and untouristy and just full of locals doing their stuff!! <br><br>We went back to Tijax for the evening ...

... good, I might start to feel good. So, I hopped on a boat and headed down to Livingston.<br><br>Livingston is a little port town on the Caribbean coast that is accessible only by boat. This isolation lends a feeling of lawlessness-- like the Wild West of Guatemala-- that is enjoyed by backpackers and locals. The local culture-- Garifuna-- is unique to the Caribbean coast of Central America and comprised of Africans who ancestors came as slaves. <br><br>Getting into town, I ...