Livingston
Seeing my SISTER again after a year, tropical vibes in Livingston, and celebrating New Year’s.
December 28, 19:23
6 hours it took me to get from El Paredón to Guatemala City. I was the first one to get picked up with the shuttle bus and the last one to get dropped off, but we’re here! I’m happy I took the time to enjoy a morning walk on the beach before leaving, cause that really puts you in a different mindset and slows you down a bit, which is nice. After arriving here, I arranged a taxi for tonight to pick up Karo from the airport, a taxi for tomorrow morning to bring us to the bus station, and I got us bus tickets to Rio Dulce. If everything goes well, we’ll be able to catch the last ferry to Livingston, where we will stay until after New Year’s! Two full travel days in a row, but after doing literally nothing for the past three weeks, I think I’ll manage. Plus, the travel day tomorrow is together with ZUSSIE. SO EXCITED!
December 29, 20:51
In bed at our first location: Livingston. And ZUSSIE is here! When she arrived yesterday, we couldn’t get the huge smiles off our faces. We did multiple happy dances and kept saying OMG you’re/ I’m here! We were just so happy!
Except for the moment she found a cockroach in her bag at the hostel. First night, and already a huge bug! In her stuff! So, as any person would do, we freaked out and tossed the bag in the hallway. Luckily, we saw the cockroach run away, but we were kind of scared to walk around barefoot afterwards.
Today we spent the whole day on the bus trying to catch up with everything that happened over the past 10 months. So much has happened, I think we’ll still think of other stuff to tell even four weeks later. Good thing the bus took almost 3 hours longer than expected. The bad thing was that the public boats from Rio Dulce to Livingston didn’t go anymore. But we found someone who just finished working, had a boat, and needed to go back to Livingston anyway. So we were able to join him on the boat! Which was really great cause we didn’t expect to make it here anymore!
December 30, 14:36
It hasn’t stopped raining since we arrived here in Livingston. We were expecting a tropical Caribbean vibe. The sunny kind. Turns out that rain is part of that vibe too. So we’re spending the day playing cards, eating food, and arranging stuff to do for the next few days. We found a reggae boat trip, which we’re hoping to do tomorrow, and a local cooking workshop at someone’s home, which we hope to do on Monday. And after two full travel days, it’s also kinda nice to not be doing too much.
White birds in trees, Rio Dulce, Guatemala
December 31, 17:13
On this last day of the year, we went on a reggae boat tour on the Rio Dulce, which was much more exciting than what you expect when you hear the word reggae. One of the stops was at a cave with a waterfall inside! First, the captain lowered a ladder attached to a rope into this waterfall. He tied the rope to one of the rocks, and when he found it secure enough, he told us to jump! It was suuuuper dark inside the cave, so it was a little scary, but I went first anyway. And the jump was fun! I waited on one of the rocks until everyone was down there, and then it was time to climb back up. And fucking hell. It was HARD. First, you had to find the ladder somewhere in the waterfall, and then you had to somehow keep breathing while the water was aggressively splashing in your face. You couldn’t see anything, and the captain had to pull you back up since the ladder wasn’t even long enough. Pff definitely not reggae vibes but nevertheless really cool!!
Last photo 2023 and first photo 2024
Januari 1, 12:14
On the beach! Fuck yeah! What a way to start the new year. We went to Playa Blanca with a private boat so we could leave whenever we wanted. We need to make sure we’re back in time for our cooking class in the afternoon. But right now we’re at the whitest beach of all of Guatemala! The sun is pretending to be shy today, but occasionally she shows herself, so I’m super happy! I’m lying on a weird, hard sun bed, right in front of the ocean with palm trees left and right of me. What more can you ask for on this 1st day of January!
Playa Blanca in Livingston, Guatemala
20:05
And we’re back at the hostel. This cooking class was so much fun! It was just the two of us, so we got to see and experience the whole process of making Tapado. Part of it was also learning how to make coconut milk from scratch. Super cool, cause now I can do this myself at home! Not that we have fresh coconuts in the Netherlands, but I still have the skill.
Januari 2, 17:39
Today was travel day to Flores. First, a one-hour boat ride from Livingston to Rio Dulce, and then a five-hour bus ride to Flores. The bus left about two hours later than expected, but we didn’t plan to do anything upon arrival anyway, so we didn’t mind. Our hostel is located right on the waterside, so we have great views of the lake! Tomorrow is gonna be a planning day to fix everything from a visit to Tikal, to transport to Lanquin, and accommodation somewhere around Lanquin. Easy day!
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