Rio Dulce and Livingston

So this past weekend I went to the Caribbean. It was an amazing time. There were just 4 of us who went, so it was nice and calm.

On Saturday we left at 7:00 in the morning and drove there till about 2 or so. We were able to go explore in some ruins, that reminded me of Tikal. Unfortunately, I only have one picture of the ruins because my camera chip is missing in action. I’m not quite sure where it went to, but it’s ok, because I had my other pictures on my computer. Hopefully it’ll turn up. Luckily I had another chip so I could take more pictures.And then we drove by a banana farm or finca is what we call it. We drove by where the chiquita banana finca is so that was cool. It was really warm, we weren’t even walking anywhere and we were sweating. Pretty nasty.

Then we drove for about 30 more minutes and arrived in Rio Dulce. Then we got into a boat and received a small boat tour of some of the Rio Dulce, which translates to “Sweet River.” Then we went to explore a castle named Castillo de San Felipe. We only had 30 minutes to explore, so I’m pretty sure we didn’t get to see the whole area, but it was still fun to see the castle and some areas as to where the pirates slept and what kind of conditions they lived in. And then we went to our hotel, which was like little cabins out on the river. The hotel had a pool and we ate dinner there because the hotel was on an island, so there was no where else to go to eat.

Then on Sunday, we had the grand boat tour. We left at 9 in the morning and got back at 5 in the evening, so it was a long day, but it was also a lot of fun. First we drove around and just saw some homes where people actually live on the river. Of course we didn’t go in them, but we saw them from the outside. Some were larger, some were smaller. As well as nicer and more poorer. We saw a lot of people who live on the river in their canoes that they make out of trees. Then we went to a bird sanctuary, which is just an area, a small island, where whole bunches of birds live.

Then we continued on a went to hot springs. The rocks of sulfur heat the water, so it was like a hot tub with out the bubbles. Then we went and looked through some caves in the same area. One cave hadn’t been explored yet, so we weren’t able to go into it and plus it was basically a vertical drop. However, our tour guide for the trip decided he wanted to go look a little more so he climbed down into it. When he came back up he was sweating real bad because the rocks were made of sulfur in the cave as well, so it heated the area up. After that we went to a school where the Indians of the area attend. They weren’t having school at the time because it’s semana santa or holy week, so they had a break. But in the school, which is fairly new, they are learning Spanish because their original language is quiche, which is somewhat like Spanish, only there’s a difference because it’s their native, Indian language. Then our guide talked to some people and led us through a corn field and down some slippery rocky path that was somewhat downhill. And if any of you know me, I can be an accident waiting to happen just walking, so I was pretty nervous about walking down this area. However, I managed to walk through it without falling or breaking anything. However there were several times where I was really close to falling. We eventually came to a stream or river where there was a small waterfall. However, when we got there, there was another group of people in front of us, but we didn’t follow them on this path. It turns out that there was a different, much easier path that they took. We came to the conclusion that the way we went was usually not part of the normal tour... So we left there and got back in the boat. We traveled down the river for a ways further. I feel like I’m forgetting something, but I’m not sure.So eventually we arrived in Livingston. Or the Carribean. This town is full of African Americans because they were brought over from Africa to be slaves and once they gained their freedom, they just stayed in this place and never moved. So it was really interesting to hear these people talking Spanish because it was more like the Jamaicans talk, only in Spanish. We had about 3 hours to walk around the town and eat lunch. So of course we went to see the Carribean and then we walked around and ate and then left for our hotel. On the way back to our hotel I was pretty sure we were going to die once or twice because the waves were really choppy and weren’t easy for the driver to drive on. However, we made it back safe and no one was injured. From Livingston to R o Dulce it took us about 1 hour or a little more. So it was quite a journey. Then Sunday night we just hung out, talked, played cards, and went to bed because we were really tired.

Then Monday, we checked out at 11:30 and then there was some confusion. We thought the tour guide from the previous 2 days was supposed to take us back to mainland, but he never showed up at the right time. So someone from the hotel ended taking us back to mainland. Little did we know, this was how it was supposed to happen. We didn’t quite get this because the tour guide told us this in Spanish because he didn’t know English. So we were confused for awhile, but eventually we figured this out.

The drive back to Antigua took a lot longer than the ride there. Almost an hour and a half longer because of all the traffic that we encountered in Guatemala City. But we all made it back in one piece and no one was sea sick or anything like that. So overall, it was a really fun trip and I would like to go back one day, but we’ll see about that. So now, I have the rest of this week to do what ever I want because it’s Spring Break. Today was spent doing a lot of homework so I don’t have to worry about it later in the week. There’s a lot of processions and velaciones here this week, which I’ll be able to talk about later once I see what this all means.

Hope you’re all doing well!! I would love to here from you, whether that’s in an e-mail or through snail mail or through a package ;)

Love you and miss you all!!!