After a short stay in Guatemala City I arrived at the Rio Dulce river. A boat ride took me through the canyon to the seaside village of Livingston, a mix of hispanic and Garifuna culture (descendents of slaves from St Vincent, relocated to the coast due to consistent, and often successful, rebellion). During the boat ride I quickly realized that the best place to be in this area was not the tourist centers of the town of Rio Dulce or Livingston, but between the two on the river itself.
The locals along the river all use simple dug-out canoes to get around, and I decided this was the best way for me to explore as well. With a few days of haggling with the locals I was able to secure an overpriced and completely broken canoe. Another two days and I had an overpriced and poorly repaired canoe, complete with a watertight bucket and improvised storage compartment.The journey took me from Livingston back up to Rio Dulce in 5 days. I was a bit nervous to begin because I had brought all my camping equipment and camera, and the canoe was riding rather low in the water. I had drawn a little map for myself, but had a lot of difficulty getting straight information from the locals. The first day I rowed up to one of two hotels in between the two towns. The first one is called Finca Tatin and had all the amenities: rope swing, foosball table, and really cool grotto area I was able to park the canoe. Unfortunately they wouldnt let me cook my own food, in an effort to force me to buy an expensive dinner, so I had to canoe off and cook at other places along the river to save money. This turned out to be a real blessing as I met a few very friendly locals who let me hang out and cook at their places. The third night I went over to the Hotelito Perdido, located on another little tributary, Rio Lampara. This was a small bungalow style hotel with really laid back owners who had no problem with my penny pinching habits.
Outside of these two hotels there is nothing but small mayan settlements, so I would spend most of my time that I wasnt activelly travelling or sleeping rowing slowly down the rivers, surrounded by dense jungle and little mayan shacks. In this area everyone uses canoes, so the river banks are full of little tunnels and shortcuts you can paddle through. On these slow paddles I was able to see a lot of wildlife as well, such as toucans, otters, lineated woodpeckers, hummingbirds, and a myriad of other birds I couldnt identify. It also brought me to a waterfall, a hot springs, and a cave along the river.After three nights I decided to continue the journey. I still had about 15 miles to Rio Dulce, and this section included the 10 mile long El Golfete region, which is wider and gets some significant waves. I came to the conclusion that it would be better to not try and cross this section, just spending a night up in a small village in the Biotopo Chocon Machacas (a nature preserve) and then returning back to Livingston, but sometimes things dont work out quite according to the plan.
After paddling for about 4 hours I realized I had passed the river that led to the Biotopo by a couple of miles, and I could already see the waves picking up as a storm approached from the south. My canoe began to take on a bit of water with each wave, and I realized I was in the most remote section of the journey, with no houses for several miles in each direction. I weighed my options and decided it would be better to try and camp out on the riverbank, and start again in the calm morning waters, than to try and row back, risking a potentially dangerous capsize. The jungle around the river is very dense, and there is little actual land, mostly just intertwined root systems. After a bit of seaching a found a small plot between two trees and set up my hammock. There were thunderstorms all around me, but barely a rain drop fell on my hammock. I was feeling pretty good about the situation until about 1am when I heard water right underneath me. I realized the river level had been increasing, and if it raised another 2 inches my piece of land would be submerged. I prepared my things for an emegency evacuation, but decided to hold out and see if the river would recede. I marked the water level with my machete, and after about an hour I could see that it was starting to back off. I then slept for about 2 hours, woke up as soon as possible at 430am, and started rowing for Rio Dulce. 7 hours later I arrived with a sore butt and blistered hands, but also a big smile and a nice tan.
The canoe trip was an amazing experience and really the best way to experience the river. I learned a few things I would do differently, but I can easily see another paddle journey in my future.
Now I think it is finally time to get out of Guatemala. Today I hope to head down into Honduras and start moving south. I have to be in Cartagena, Colombia by August 11th to meet up with Viviana and then the actual South America adventure begins.
