Day 15 Tuesday 9th October: Livingston I presume?

Morning in our jungle hideaway was overcast, hot and humid so had a relaxing start by the river.

The Carlow fleet upgrades continued, this time to a Sea Ray 375 with twin 300bhp diesels and our most powerful vehicle yet!  Captain Frankie was supported by his able seaman Victor for our trip down the Rio Dulce to Livingston, a round trip close to 50 miles.

Rio Dulce flows through two lakes and a couple of narrow gorges with steep jungle either side towards the Atlantic Ocean and not The Caribbean Sea according to our locals! The shores were dotted with tiny local communities, various styles of vacation houses, many with traditional designs and palm fond roofs. Small fishing boats throwing nets and locals living their lives kept us company.

We approached Livingston which was ‘reeking’ with atmosphere – ie a rundown, ramshackle town!

It is closer to the style of Belize, very Caribbean and has no access by road. It has a black ethnic heritage with locals being called Garifuna, speaking English and the Garifuna patois. Sadly, it has deteriorated over the years and is quite dilapidated.

The traditional laundry looked to be very effective and would have been great value but unfortunately, we left ours back at the house.

Whilst walking along the main street we met our new friend Polo, a 67 year old rasta

who escorted us to ‘the best restaurant in town’, down a long side street, through an alley way into a tiny ‘rum shop’ style hostelry.

Lunch was a family affair with everybody helping from great granny downwards, including our very friendly hostess.

After a gentle walk back to the boat we powered our way back for a relax in the Jacuzzi and evening barbecue.

Tomorrow we head upriver to Lake Izabal for a relaxing day before our all day drive to El Salvador.

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