Rio Dulce, Guatemala – May 19 – 21, 2011

On the 19^th we were up early for breakfast before our 7:15 departure.  We had a transfer by pickup truck to the nearest town and then switched to a van for the trip to Rio Dulce.  We were taking the back road, instead of the main highway which was much smoother but many miles longer, so we were on narrow, winding dirt/gravel/rock roads that were very bumpy.  We went through the highlands and there were some incredible views of rolling hills nearby and in the distance.  There were also some incredible drops down into the valley but I tried not to think about those.   The road was so narrow that at one point we had to wait while two large trucks tried to pass each other on the road.  It took a lot of finagling but they did make it.  After watching the two of them pass, our vehicle seemed tiny and it looked like we had lots of room!

 We crossed several rivers but there was not much water in any of them.  They did have large riverbeds though so I’m assuming that they do get lots of water at some point.  There were other rivers that had lots of water in them now.  Some of the areas were thick with vegetation and other areas were very dry and barren looking.  It was a very diverse section of the country we were driving through and again there were lots of burn areas and lots smoke throughout the journey.   

We went through a number of small villages.  There were lots of children around but they didn’t seem to be in school even though it was a week day.  Then in one town our driver stopped to deliver a package and there at the school were a group of adults in the school yard obviously doing an organized group exercise.  Obviously it was a professional development activity or PD Day for the teachers and a free day for the kids. 

Despite the various towns we went through, there were no bathroom breaks on this trip except in the great outdoors.  The guys certainly made use of that opportunity but fewer of the females did.  We were on the road for a good five hours, if not six from door of resort to door of resort, so banos were greatly appreciated upon arrival in Rio Dulce just after 1 p.m...   It also helped that we had paved roads for the last part of the journey, maybe the last hour, so we weren’t being jostled around too much. 

Our stop In Rio Dulce was the river itself and specifically the ferry terminal.  Some of the people immediately boarded a ferry for Livingston.  Others caught taxis to local hotels and still others caught water shuttles to local hotels that are only accessible by water.   Our shuttle was as the dock to meet us and we went off to the Hacienda Tijax, our home away from home for the next two nights.  The boat ride was only about ten minutes and it was very relaxing.    At the resort I decided to pay the extra charge to get an air conditioned room.  It was incredibly hot and humid and I didn’t think I’d survive without the A/C.  Even the locals were complaining about how hot it was.

The resort is in a jungle area so there are just paths to the individual bungalows.  The bungalows are raised on stilts because of all the rain that they receive at certain times and to help cool the units.  Each one is up 6-8 steps.  There are mosquito nets over the beds and well screened windows.  The resort also has a small marina so there were several sailboats enjoying the facilities as well.  To cool down we went to the pool.  The water was hardly even cool but at least it was wet so that helped.  We had lunch at poolside and did some internet (first time we’d had access in days!).  The mosquitoes came out around 4 p.m. and we lasted until 5 but then had to retreat indoors for more clothes and bug spray.  And that’s clothes against the bugs, not because it was cold.  We had dinner at the resort right on the riverfront.  There were no more bugs in sight and he temperature a bit more bearable.  I went to bed early since we had such an early start to the day but couldn’t get to sleep so it was definitely after 2 a.m. before I finally conked out.  I really hate nights like that!

On the 20^th I got to sleep in a bit and didn’t get up until after 7 a.m.  What a treat!  After breakfast at the resort we caught the ferry to Livingston.  The ferry was to come between 9 and 9:30 so not very precise.  It arrived closer to 9:30.  From the resort it went back to the main ferry terminal in the town of Rio Dulce so I guess the first ride was just the pickup service.  We bought our return tickets and got back on the same ferry for the trip to Livingston.  The morning trip is more of a tourist route and takes longer.  In fact we didn’t get to Livingston until 1 p.m.  The ferry back was at 2:30 p.m. so we didn’t have a lot of time to look around the town.  And the ride back was almost direct and we arrived at the hotel before 4 p.m.  I guess that means Livingston is an hour away by boat, not the 3-4 hours it took in the morning. 

I should clarify what a ferry means in this case.  There were 14 passengers and there could have been 15 but no more, plus the driver.  The boat had some extra room at the front and at the back for baggage and we had a fair bit of that on our way to Livingston.  The boat has a canvas top which is nice as you get a bit of shade at least.  It was wooden and probably only six feet wide (3 people per wooden seat) and maybe twenty-five feet long.  It was a smooth trip most of the way.  When the waves got a bit bigger closer to the Caribbean or when other boats went by we did bounce around a bit and get some splash from the water, but basically it was a very comfortable and dry ride.  There were many other similar boats going in both directions so I assume this is the typical boat for transportation on the river and that not everyone uses the public ferry.

The river was quite large in places and narrower in others.  At one point the wide part was referred to as a lake but I don’t know if it had a different name.  Manatees live in the river but we didn’t see any of them on our journey.  We did see lots of water lilies in some of the bays and they were very beautiful and picturesque.  There were also areas with lots of reeds.  There were birds on the water and in the trees.  Some of the birds were thin white ones and thin black ones like egrets and herons but I don’t know what they really were.  The driver did not speak English so we didn’t get a lot of details on the journey.  The vegetation along the river was thick and in many vibrant shades of green.  This was often reflected in the calm water for an overall green look.  The vegetation was often hanging over the water and leaving lovely shaded pathways.  When there was vegetation, it was generally very thick.  But in places there were sheer rock walls with only hanging vines to provide the green.  There were also areas with trees with incredible root systems sticking out of the water so I assumed those were mangroves.   

At one point there was a church right at the edge of the river.  It was very simple in a green/blue colour and with a dock right at the front door.  There were literally six steps between the dock and the door so it was obvious most of the parishioners came to church by water.   The locals use dug-out canoes and there were many of them on the lake.  There were fishermen using both nets and lines.  There were also kids selling things from dugout canoes and the best seller was huge starfish.  They had lots of them and also shells and jewelry made form shells and wooden carved items.  At one point we had three canoes on one side of the ferry and two others on the other side.  They were doing a brisk business.

There were many resorts along the bank of the river, especially close to the towns of Rio Dulce and Livingston.  The homes along the river ran from little shacks that hardly looked livable to large beautiful homes that also didn’t look lived in.  Perhaps the owners of some of these only come down for a month or two for their holidays.  There were also many boats in the water – all big and expensive looking.  Some were anchored in bays and some were at resorts or public docks.  This would certainly be a great place for sailing or motoring and we saw several boats flying a Canadian flag.  The area is also an excellent harbour during hurricanes and very popular for that reason.

On both the way up and the way back we stopped at the hot springs, which just happens to have a snack bar and banos.  On the way to Livingston I didn’t even see the hot springs as I thought they were back up in the hills somewhere.  However, on the way back a couple of people wanted to go in for a quick soak in the hot springs and it turned out that the hot springs are right at the side of the river just beside the dock.  The temperature was really hot and you could smell a bit of sulfuric acid but not much.  In the ten to fifteen minutes we had I don’t think I could have even gotten into the water it was so hot.  Besides, I didn’t have my bathing suit with me so it wouldn’t have worked anyway.

Castillo de San Felipe is a small fort at the point where the lake ends and the river starts.  It was built as a defense against pirates to keep them out of the river.  There are cannons along the ground and on top of the walls.  The building itself has stone/brick walls and square towers.  It has recently been restored and looks great but compared to other huge forts or castles it almost looks like a toy because it is so small – of course I am saying that when I’ve only seen it from a boat and never actually set foot in it so heavy emphasis on “looks like”.  It is in a lovely setting with a park behind and lots of green grass, large shade trees and stately palms all around it so it does still look impressive.

Livingston is the town at the mouth of the Rio Grande where it empties into the Caribbean Sea.  It is distinctly different from other parts of Guatemala as it has a mainly Black Caribbean population and food, customs and music to match.   I believe it was referred to as Garifuna but I’m not sure what that means exactly.  As soon as you get off the boat it is a totally different feel.  You can only reach Livingston by water.  There is no road access.  Despite that the main dock is just a regular size dock with two small buildings on it.   When we got off the ferry, and when we got back on, there were eggs sitting on the dock.  There were about twenty stacks all taller than me of the flat three-dozen egg containers.  There were other groceries and dry goods as well just waiting to be moved off the dock.   And in the heat of the day no one was working very hard to get them off of the dock.

As soon as we docked there were people right at the dock trying to get us to their restaurant or hotel or store of whatever kind.  Once they realized we were only there for a couple hours they soon left us alone and started working on the others.  There is a park right across from the dock and it was being used by a number of men who were relaxing, or should I say sleeping, in the shade.  About a 15 minute walk gets you from the dock up to the main part of town and back down to the beach on the Caribbean Sea.  It was not a great beach as it looked and smelled polluted but at least I can say I saw it.   Just off the shore there is a statue on a tiny island.  It looked Roman like a man with a sheet wrapped around him with his right hand raised and his left hand holding a straight stick.  I couldn’t tell exactly what it was but probably either something to do with the sea or with the fact that the people here came from slavery.  The area is much more British in nature and people seem to speak a British English as much as Spanish. 

We had lunch in a small place on the main street and I had fried rice which was great.  Livingston is a small town with fewer than 20,000 people but there are lots of restaurants and discos and hotels and it’s obvious that tourism is really important to the economy but I really don’t know what other industry there is.  Reggae and steel drums are common here.  There were lots of Rastafarian hairdos and 90% of the people had very black skin.  It is definitely different than the rest of Guatemala and at times in the rest of Guatemala you hear the area and the people referred to quite negatively.  It’s almost as if the area should have been part of Belize in that boundary settlement as the people here are more Belizean than Guatemalan.  The town of Rio Dulce, just up the river, should still be Guatemalan.  I’m not sure how close the border is but I may just have to check that sometime.

So what else can I say about Rio Dulce and this area?  Well, there is a beautiful bridge that is long and arched over the river at the town of Rio Dulce where Lake Izabal, the largest lake in the country, ends and the river Dulce begins its trip to the Caribbean Sea.  Rio Dulce was once called Frontier town as it was seen as the last frontier before entering the last frontier or wild west of northern Guatemala.  The bridge and highway that crosses it now joins Guatemala City with Flores and all of the Petén state and the most northerly parts of Guatemala and the whole northern frontier are open to everyone.  That of course changed the entire northern part of the country. 

We went under the bridge several times in our travels and it was interesting to see that the area along the shore was always busy.  This was obviously a favourite spot for the locals for laundry, bathing, swimming and just plain relaxing.   With the laundry all spread out to dry it was also a very colourful area.

The people do not wear traditional costumes in Rio Dulce or Livingston.  Of course I’ve already noted that Livingston just doesn’t seem to fit into the picture at all but I would have thought you would see some traditional dress in Rio Dulce.  Instead it seems to be more western in dress and I mean that as in country and western.  It is definitely cattle country and we often saw fields of cattle and truckloads of cattle. 

Okay, I just remembered we did something on our last day in Rio Dulce.  On the 21^st we had breakfast and then went for a hike through the supposed rainforest.  I say that because it’s just really hard to picture parts of this place as a rain forest when they are so dry that the leaves just crunch under your feet.  They definitely need rain.  Our guide was a very nice guy who was more interested in telling us about how to save the planet than anything.  He was interesting but kept repeating himself, which got really annoying since we were in a bit of a hurry because we had to get back to check out.  Anyway we wandered out the back of the resort and up some hills sometimes through open areas and sometimes with more trees.  I don’t remember seeing any birds or animals.  Well, that’s not correct.  I do remember lots of mosquitoes and had to use an extra shot or two of repellent in places. 

The guide did point out some interesting things with regards to the plants in the area (orchids, strangler trees, parasites, ferns, etc.) and talked a lot about the medicinal value of some of the plants.  There was a really small museum at one point and right now all I remember of it was different kinds of wood including petrified wood from the area.  At the end of the walk was a three storey tower at the top of a hill.  The views from the top were quite impressive.  Of course it was still a bit hazy or smoky so the distant views were a bit obscured.  Some of the walk at the beginning was on small swinging bridges very close to the ground so we could get across some of the swampy areas.  Near the end there was a high hanging bridge about 15 metres above the ground and it provided a neat look down at the plants, especially at the palm tree which has the longest leaves in the world some of which are 15 metres long.  My pictures just don’t do it justice.

Okay, eventually we made it back to the resort, had time for a shower and change because I was really sweaty, and headed off on our journey to Poptun.  We took the hotel shuttle to the dock closest to the bus station, walked to the bus station to get our tickets, and then went to a nearby restaurant to wait for two hours to get the nice, non-stop, air-conditioned bus to Poptun.  The restaurant was right on the water and the breeze was absolutely wonderful.  It was probably only thirty or forty steps from the street but the temperature difference was amazing.  We stayed at the restaurant as long as possible and then caught our bus leaving Rio Dulce behind.