The main Livingston dock.
November 5, 2009. Livingston, Guatemala.
There's weather a-comin'! Ida, a Level 1 hurricane, made landfall in Nicaragua this morning and is tracking north in this general direction. So there's a reason for this cool, inclement weather. The air today has been thick with mist, interspersed with buckets of drizzle. Apparently, Ida will cross Honduras, then curve away from here once it hits the Caribbean again on Saturday. This Vancouver-like weather is welcome relief for me, an excuse to spend the day pecking away at my blog.
I'm liking Livingston. I have a cliffside hotel, another modest gem. This morning, it was cafe con leche on a covered deck, watching pelicans skim the ocean. They have the ability to spread their wings and glide, for hundreds of meters without moving a muscle, inches above the surface of the water.
Note the trailer's flat tire rolling precariously at the edge of the dock. Note also the posture of the pullers. Somehow the booth didn't flip into the water.
Now, I'm dockside, whiling away at a patio table, testing the bemused patience of my Indio server, as the gentle daytime pace turns cautiously festive. A junket of bank employees have taken up a hall next door and the noise is rising. Not exactly seedy or threatening here on the waterfront. Livingston is pretty and tidy - an unusual, isolated outpost, unreachable by road. More pictures to come.
I got here by boat, down to the sea from the highway town of Rio Dulce. Most of this trip is across a wide lake flanked by low distant hills. We slowed down for one island, crazy with thousands of large, busy birds, but the angle of the sun made good shots near-impossible. It was one time I was wishing for a long telephoto lens. I'll see what I can salvage for the gallery.
The famous and much-recommended gorge that finishes the trip was underwhelming, frankly. Not terribly steep or narrow or high. It's nice, yes, but don't expect a mysterious jungle safari. Plenty of better canyons elsewhere in this wide world. And the operators were lackadaisical, impatient and slightly unpleasant. I was told luggage would be tightly sealed against rain and splashing; the reality was they threw our stuff haphazardly on to one half of a tarp in the bow of the boat, then flipped the other half over without bothering to make it fast. Of course, it blew off at the first tremble and it was left to me in the front bench to make the shifting load secure as the rains came on and the other passengers sat timidly without protest. (Caveat: I'm not a hero. I was just protecting my computer.)
I won't dis-recommend the ride - there are only so many ways to get to Livingston, all by water. Just don't be surprised if you're one of 28 people jammed in a launch built for 15. Above is an old Spanish fort from swashbuckling days, Castillo San Felipe.