On to Livingston....

After buying some last minute souvenirs we left San Pedro, Guatemala on the 8AM shuttle boat.  I would say ferry but it's not really big enough to be a ferry.  Once in Pana, we searched for a purse that Nicole had thought about buying but, no luck.  That particular shop was closed that day.  So we had a quick bite an hopped the bus(3 buses) back to Guatemala City.  The first bus up the narrow winding road was not as bad as going down as there was construction and lots of traffic.  That made the bus trip much slower, thankfully.  Also, you don't have to worry about a bus careening out of control and flying off the road when going UPhill.  The second bus ride was my favorite of the trip.  Even though it was crowded, there was no smog and we were rolling through the countryside.  It just smelled good and seemed like we weren't in a hurry.  The last bus ride was the longest but Nicole's favorite as we sat right up front and she didn't get sick.  However, the driver must've thought we were in a race because I've never been in a bus going that fast around corners!  Seriously.  I actually wondered what it would take for a bus to roll and if we were going fast enough to find out!
     We made it to Guatemala City safe and sound and decided to stay in a little bit nicer hotel in Zone 10 close to the mall.  We took a cab from the bus station to where the hostel was supposed to be but after being dropped off found out that the hostel had gone out of business.  It took a few minutes of ringing the doorbell for someone to finally answer.  In fact, we had walked away then turned around and passed the place again when someone came out and let us know that it had been closed for awhile now.  Thanks lonely planet.....  The guy that came out told us of another hotel nearby that charged about the same rate.  We checked in there then headed straight for the mall to hit the movies and see The Hobbit!  We ended up choosing the VIP showing which offers food service throughout the movie and your seats are kind of a Lay-Z-boy love seat.  Pretty cool.  The next day we tried to mail some stuff home via FedEx.  We were going to mail 10 Kilos(or 20 lbs) but the charge was FOUR HUNDRED DOLLARS!  Really, FedEx?!  Really!?  No thanks.  I can almost buy a ticket home for that.  We chose to save four hundred bucks and lug our stuff around Central America.  After that we went back to the mall so Nicole could buy a much needed camera.  Relaxed at the hotel for the rest of the evening then headed out early the next morning.
     The next morning we took a bus to Rio Dulce on the Eastern side of the country.  It was a long and uneventful trip but it was on a nice bus so the journey wasn't all that bad.  We made it to Rio Dulce and immediately found a guy(or he found us) that got us a boat ride to the hotel we wanted to stay at.  Turns out there are no roads to this hotel.  One of the owners makes a daily boat run to the main town then takes customers back to the hotel across the lake.  And it's not just across the lake.  It's hidden down/through a couple fingers that reach way back into a kind of swamp/jungle of the lake.  The place is pretty cool!  There are raised walkways between the buildings and everything is on stilts.  I'll see if I can't find some pictures.  We only stayed there one night but it was one of our favorite places so far.
     Early the next morning, we paid our bill and hopped a river boat/ferry/shuttle/tour to Livingston.  Wasn't at the top of my list but the book made it sound like it was worth a visit.  On the boat ride there we saw a lot of river activity.  Including the locals doing their day to day thing.  We went on a couple side trips so that the local youngsters could paddle out in their canoes and try and sell us some of their stuff.  I remember feeling kind of embarrassed.  I was sitting up front so it wasn't until I looked back that all fifteen of us in the boat were taking pics of the kids.  I felt like such a tourist.  I mean I AM a tourist but.....  I just felt like on of the herd.  Also, I remember the kids were selling dead starfish.  That kind of threw me for a loop.  Since when is it okay to kill starfish?  I saw hundreds of them.  Later, in Livingston, I saw turtle shells as well.  It broke my heart to see that.  And, most western countries won't let you in with stuff like that.  They confiscate it at customs.  Just sad to see such a waste.

      Once we landed in Livingston, we made our way to the hotel we had picked to stay at and checked in.  It wasn't the best place but it was cheap and dry.  We checked out the little town for an hour or so and had something to eat.  We then went down and took a long walk along the beach.  We were on the Caribbean side at that point.  The beach was minimal and the water flat.  We were hoping to get some sunny beach time in Livingston but clouds were forming off shore and headed our way.  Sure enough, by morning, it was raining pretty good.  We were planning on hiking to some waterfalls that morning but it was too cold and rainy to swim in them so we opted not to.  In fact, we decided we had had enough rain in general and split.  We packed our stuff and headed to the ferry dock and started making our way to our next stop, Utila, Honduras.  Just getting to Utila was an adventure in itself.  I'll save that for my next post!