The Rio Dulce spills out from Lake Izabal, which at 300 square kms is one of Guatemala’s biggest lakes and a source of hydro-electric power for the country. However the infrastructure was built with finance from Israel and electricity costs for ordinary Guatemalan’s are eye-wateringly high. Aquilino reveals that they only have one room with electricity in his house, which they limit the use of, and his monthly bills are still the same as we pay in the UK.
Where the lake ends and the river begins sits Castillo de San Felipe, which was one of the main forts of the colonial era, protecting inner Guatemala from pirates who would sail up the Rio Dulce from the Caribbean. But we’re heading in the opposite direction this morning, all aboard a boat to reach the unique town of Livingston on the coast. It’s a two hour journey, taking a circuitous route to protect the manatees in the river.
The scenery is simply stunning. We travel through jungle where the Quechi Maya people reside, making a living as fishermen, but there are also lots of very nice luxury boats, and beautiful riverfront houses. Many of these are owned by wealthy Americans who have winter holiday homes here and the Rio Dulce provides safe harbour for their boats, especially during hurricane season. Appropriately enough, the term we now know for a devastating tropical storm actually comes from the name of the Mayan’s sky god, Huracan.
Switching the boat’s engine off we glide through mangrove islands, full of water lilies, tropical vegetation, birds and other wildlife. Aquilino tells us that boa constrictors live in the lake, as well as the ubiquitous crocodiles. We see iguanas, egrets, northern jacanas, purple gallanos, cormorants, pelicans and various herons - white, green and even the black-crested nocturnal heron. Much of this tropical rainforest is where the Tarzan movies were shot and we can see why they chose it for the location, with lush forests all around and, when we enter the mirror lagoon, beautiful reflections on the water.
Towards the end of the river is a sweeping canyon, along whose fringes pirates used to write their names on the limestone walls. And beyond that is Livingston, not named after the 19th Century British explorer but an American politician. The town is famous for being home to Guatemala’s Garífuna community, who are a distinct ethnic group within the country centred in this town, and they refer to Livingston locally as Buga, meaning mouth of the river.
The Garifuna were originally African slaves who escaped to the Caribbean island of St Vincent in the 17th Century. They mixed with the Arawak community who were based there but when the British seized St Vincent from the French 100 years later they expelled anyone of dark-skinned heritage, and the Garifuna took refuge in Roaten.
Finally in 1802, when Guatemala was still part of Mexico, a politician named Marco Sánchez Días brought them to Livingston and offered them sanctuary there, and a place to practise their beliefs, which have become a sincretic mix of Catholicism and voodoo. There are now also Garifuna populations in southern Belize, Honduras and Nicaragua, numbering some 300,000 people in total but the community in Livingston are the most determined to keep their traditions alive.
Aquilino takes us from the boat for a walk up through the town, stopping at a stall to buy a bottle of their local rum-based herbal medicine, Guiffiti, for people to try. It’s claimed to help with blood pressure, sexual potency, muscle issues and, more recently, as a cure for Covid. He also recommends their traditional dish of Tapado for lunch, which is a mix of fish and coconut, for those who eat seafood.
Down at La Capitanía beach he introduces us to Marciel, who is a drummer and is keeping the specific musical traditions of the Garifuna alive. He and his family perform a little concert for us in front of their beach bar, with his sons playing percussive instruments and singing, and his daughter dancing. We are all encouraged to get up and join in so Coman and I give it loads, enjoying the very African-based rhythms and chants.
Afterwards we head off to explore by ourselves in the roasting sunshine, walking up little streets to the Catholic church and also checking out the rundown seafront area by Playa Barique, which has a rather strange figure of Jesus stranded on an island out to sea, looking like a warped Statue of Liberty. As we walk back up the street to the town a dude in a knitted reggae hat grins at us and asks, “Where you from, man?” When I reply “London”, he exclaims in wonderment, “What da hell are you doin’ here?!?!”
We all regroup for lunch at Happy Fish restaurant and then take the boat back up the Rio Dulce. The light on the way back is gorgeous, brightly painting the scenery with vivid colours, and we spend the rest of the afternoon and evening at Hacienda Tijax, enjoying the little pool and a group dinner in the big thatched tiki hut. Thankfully our cabin door has also been fixed, and sure enough, despite all our belongings having been left unlocked for most of the day, they’re all still there, as Marcus and Dave promised us they would be.
The next morning we leave tropical Rio Dulce on a long drive to the cooler western highlands of Guatemala. On the way we cross the roastingly hot Sierra de las Minas in the Zacapa area of central Guatemala which produces some of the most highly acclaimed rum in the world. We also pass the scene of the very first battle between the guerillas and the Guatemalan army which started the civil war back in the 1960s
That civil war, where Contra guerillas fought the Guatemalan government for decades, was funded and prolonged by the US for economic gain in a geopolitical powerplay which they labelled a war against communism. Millions of people died while Washington and the CIA sought to impose or topple dictators of their choice, mostly to protect the economic interests of giant corporations such as United Fruit who had a monopoly on Guatemalan exports. Sadly even though peace was finally declared almost thirty years ago, ordinary Guatemalans are still very poor.
Their country is being forced to repay huge debts to the USA, Israel and Germany who all prolonged the war and profited by selling munitions to keep both sides fighting and took control of various mines, utility companies and agricultural businesses. In fact Mexicans have a saying that Guatemalans are “Too close to America, too far from God”.
Across its 22 states, and particularly from the rich volcanic soils of the western highlands, Guatemala exports vast quantities of sugar, bananas, coffee, cacao, cardamom and fresh vegetables, most destined for the US. And as a result of the war debts, the Guatemalan government doesn’t have money to spend on its own infrastructure and is now mired in corruption, with both Russia and China also trying to make in roads into the country, with vested interests looking to mine for uranium and take control of the country’s oil.
A lot of the country’s wealth, and a huge amount of its poverty, is in the capital Guatemala City. On our way to Antigua we have to drive around the sprawling city. “It’s a mess and has a very bad reputation,” admits Aquilino. Once a grand city it now has some very dodgy and dangerous areas, riddled with crime and poverty, as well as some great museums and a lovely cathedral. We’re not stopping however as it’s also notorious for terrible traffic. “Let’s see how long it takes us to get through to the other side,” says Aquilino.
Fortunately we make it through without too much delay and by mid afternoon arrive into Antigua, where we stay tonight before continuing to Lake Atitlan tomorrow. However we will be returning to Antigua at the end of our tour to explore for a few days, so today we just check into our hotel, Posada Los Bucaros and go for a short walk through the main streets, past the famous yellow-coloured Iglesia de La Merced and the iconic clock tower arch
We end at Fuego IPA, a craft beer bar run by the Antigua Brewing Company, watching sunset over the volcanoes and spending the evening chatting with Brian and Beth. The food is good, the beer fine, the views excellent and the company fun.
Tomorrow will be a very different kind of night!