{"id":2706,"date":"2017-02-01T19:55:14","date_gmt":"2017-02-01T19:55:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/worldoftravelling.com\/blog\/?p=2706"},"modified":"2017-02-05T21:36:29","modified_gmt":"2017-02-05T21:36:29","slug":"rio-to-livingston-for-belize-by-river-boat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worldoftravelling.com\/blog\/rio-to-livingston-for-belize-by-river-boat\/","title":{"rendered":"Rio to Livingston (for Belize) by river boat."},"content":{"rendered":"

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\nLago de Izabal is Guatemala’s largest lake. Most visitors stay at R\u00edo Dulce village, north of the bridge where Hwy CA-13, the road leading north to Flores and Tikal, crosses the lake. East of this bridge is the beautiful R\u00edo Dulce, which opens into El Golfete lake before flowing down into the Caribbean at L\u00edvingston; the river trip was one of the highlights of my visit to eastern Guatemala. Other lake highlights include El Castillo de San Felipe (an old Spanish fortress) and the Bocas del Polochic river delta.<\/p>\n

L\u00edvingston is quite unlike anywhere else I have been to in Guatemala. Unconnected by road from the rest of the country (the town is called \u2018Buga\u2019 – mouth – in Gar\u00edfuna, for its position at the river mouth), boat transportation is quite good here, and you can get to Belize with a minimum of fuss (in theory). Unfortunately, on the day that I arrived there was no direct boat to Punta Gorda (PG) in Belize. Thanks goes to a Garafuna, Pablo, who rang a Puerto Barrios boat to come and pick me up. Livingston is not the place you want to spend a night unless you are really desperate.<\/p>\n

The Gar\u00edfuna (Garinagu, or Black Carib) people of L\u00edvingston and southern Belize are the descendants of Africans brought to the New World as slaves. They trace their roots to the Honduran island of Roat\u00e1n, where they were forcibly settled by the British after the Gar\u00edfuna revolt on the Caribbean island of St Vincent in 1795. From Roat\u00e1n, the Gar\u00edfuna people spread out along the Caribbean Coast, from Belize to Nicaragua. Intermarrying with the Carib people, as well as with Maya and shipwrecked sailors of other races, they\u2019ve developed a distinct culture and language incorporating African, ind\u00edgena and European elements. <\/i>Lonely Planet<\/a> guide to Central America.<\/p>\n

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The Spanish fortress of El Castillo de San Felipe.<\/p><\/div>
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\nNext stage: Belize.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Lago de Izabal is Guatemala’s largest lake. Most visitors stay at R\u00edo Dulce village, north of the bridge where Hwy CA-13, the road leading north to Flores and Tikal, crosses the lake. East of this bridge is the beautiful R\u00edo … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[70],"tags":[126,125],"class_list":["post-2706","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-guatemala","tag-livingston","tag-rio-dulce"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t