Part 1 - Getting There is 1/2 the Fun
(pics posted later - I still have to offload them from the camera)
I left Caye Caulker on the 1:30 p.m. water taxi to Belize City (18 bzd 1 way, 30 bzd RT)
Taxi from marine terminal to James Bus Line – not at the regular bus station, but outside the Pound Yard, or the Impound Yard 3 bzd per person
The James Line Express Bus to Punta Gorda (old Bluebird School Bus) leaves at 3:30 p.m., but get there early and claim a seat… and sit in it… or you could be standing 5 hours (22 bzd one way) We arrived in PG at 8:30 p.m.
Spent the night in Punta Gorda at the Charleton Inn (50 bzd for a double) Hot and cold water, ceiling and floor fan, very clean and basic. I would stay there again. We had reservations at TCs By the Sea, but when we got there, no one was around or answering the door, even though we called ahead. TCs was supposed to meet us at the bus station and drive us to their place right out of town, but never showed up. We tried calling a cab, but no one was answering, so the police drove us around until we found a hotel.
Sightseeing in PG
My friend hired a driver for the day to take us around town and then way up into the hills near San Pedro Columbia to the Fallen Stones Butterfly Ranch, $100 U.S. with many photo stops, stopping for beer
to pick recado seeds, the spice that is ground to make stewed chicken.
to look at the horse
to jump in the river
to see my friend’s aunties, uncles, cousins. I thought the $100 U.S. for the day was a bit pricy, since it was a friend-of-a-friend who was supposed to give-us-a-good-deal. Gas is over $7 bzd a gallon, so that explains some of the expense.
Fallen Stones is up in the hills about an hour’s drive west from PG, and several miles of the trip are on a single dirt and stone track. I was glad we were in a 4WD Jeep. When we arrived, the view was breathtaking. At the top of the hill we saw what looked like classrooms, a dining hall, conference and teaching facilities, but no caretaker. Our guide/driver took us down down down down down stone steps. About half way there, I wondered…. are we there yet? If not, that’s a LONG way back up there. With all that wondering I wasn’t paying attention and slipped and fell in a pineapple patch and picked pricklers out of my arms the rest of the afternoon. That will teach me. I killed that pineapple plant, splat... being very antisocial about things. There is a small charge for taking the tour, and you get to go right into the butterfly rooms the rooms where they are storing the larva and catepillars, then into the rooms where they have hundreds of butterflies. Its an amazing sound and site, all those butterflies fluttering around. If you stand very still….
Wear lightweight cotton pants, solid footing (not flip flops like me), bring bug spray, although the bugs weren’t too bad, and water.
Later that afternoon we checked out of immigration in Belize, which is located near the municipal pier in Punta Gorda. The captain had a manifest with our names, country and age. Left Punta Gorda at 4 p.m. on the “Eirey” for Livingston Guatemala. Little did we know that it was the maiden voyage of this new water taxi service to Livingston. A 1 hour trip on a boat (skiff) over-packed with 18 people and luggage, rough water, boat loaded wrong, taking on water, had to adjust the load, I was completely soaked and had to sit between the 2 little engines, hands over my face as the waves crashed me right and left. I didn’t mind getting wet, I was worried about flipping off the back of the boat in the rough seas. If I had been traveling by myself I wouldn’t have gotten on the boat and waited for another one. Knowing that is was the first trip for this new water taxi service to Livingston made me more forgiving on how fumbly the captain and crew were. The trip back to Belize from Livingston on the “Eirey” was much better, they had worked out the kinks. Even with the crappy boat ride, the captain and crew were very nice. Immigration in Livingston is a breeze, we were thru it in about 5 minutes, got stamped into Guatemala, and went off to find our hotel. (On the return trip, you give your passport to the captain, and he stands in line and gets you stamped out of Guatemala) We arrived a day earlier than our reservations, and our hotel was booked. We went to 7 hotels. There were 3 adults and 1 child in our group, so finding rooms were a task. Our cab driver wasn’t much help. Livingston is a very popular place for vacationing Guatemalans and Belizeans. I met a girl on the bus who was going to be staying at National Flags, and recommended it, so we went by there, and voila they had 1 room left! National Flags is a Belizean/American owned hotel. 3 stories, new construction. Simple clean rooms with tile floors, decent beds, private bathrooms, and fans on floor stands. Unfortunately, it was so hot that night that the 1 floor fan couldn’t cool the 3 beds. The courtyard is gated and stays locked, and the owners/managers live on-site. Lots of Belizeans staying there. If we didn’t already have reservations at Casa Rosado, I would have been content to stay there. It was a little bit further out of town than Casa Rosado, and up the hill.
That night we went walking around town. Its an interesting mix of Garifuna, Maya and Spanish and European traveler’s. The people seemed relaxed, not so much stress as when I was in Guatemala in Sept/October 2003 near election time.
National Flag Hotel email: nationalflagshotel@yahoo.com tel: 011-502-947-0247
Hotel Casa Rosada info@hotelcasarosado.com tel: 011-502-947-0303 fax: 502-947-0304

Thanks for sharing your trip. It sounds interesting, and you are a brave one.

silk,
sounds like an adventure. if i didn't know better i would think that you were traveling with us.
is livingston on an island or on the mainland?

ps. it is so cool that you can see the thread while you reply!!! go marty!!!

pss. does anyone else think that marty looks like carlos santana in the wedding pix???
maybe cuter

I was just reviewing the photos of the trip, and getting them ready to post. I'm making a promise to the world.... I will never ever ever ever complain about the Caye Caulker Water Taxi Association (which is run by the BTIA) They are so professional and safety conscious, in comparison to other water taxi services. I'm hurrying up and writing the rest of the report now! The additional features on the board are neat!

Silkie, good trip for you and good reporting, keep stuff coming our way......pixs for sure.

Indiana "Silk" Jones.....wow, what an adventure. Guess you do get outta that cave now and then. Did the butterfly place have alot of blue morphos?
Cannot wait to hear about all the trip, and seeing the pix! Thanks for sharing an out of the ordinary experience.

Silk,

Great story! I've been to PG many times and to Fallen Stones perhaps half a dozen times. The road up the hill is a killer on tires -- those sharp stones can rip a tire to pieces. Even the Fallen Stones folks get flats all the time going up and down.

Livingston and Puerto Barrios are interesting ... once or twice. I can't quite see the attraction.

--Lan Sluder

Wow girl, that is another wild trip

You have your share of fun
More More More...

NYGal - I think I have MORE than my share of fun. I shouldnt even be reading this board, I should be typing typing typing my report.
Lan, how long has it been since you were in Livingston/Rio Dulce/Fronteras area? Maybe they spiffed up the town for Easter. It was great being a tourist again.
I found a decent online resource for information about the area. http://www.larutamayaonline.com/guatehotels/izabal-puerto.livingston.html

You get to live the good life for sure, Silk, and are fortunate to have these adventures waiting within a short distance, relatively speaking.....

WERE THERE LOTS OF BLUE MORPHOS AT FALLEN STONES?

Thanks for the gentle reminder to ANSWER ALL THE QUESTIONS. I'm visually impared, I have selective reading apathy. DB.... YES THERE WERE TONS AND TONS OF BLUE MORPHOS there were so many they kept flying in my face (I must be too sweet), and we werent supposed to slap at them. (they should have had a sign saying "NO CRUSHING THE BUTTERFLIES) There were dead ones on the floor and I wanted to pick them up and press them between the pages of my book, and take them home, but alas I had left my book way way way way up those thousand fallen stone steps, I'm out of breath just thinking about it. Which was really special, but even more special seeing them in the wild on the Rio Dulce River trip, and on the tributary Finca Tatin. Awesome seeing them wild and free. I drank from a magic mountain spring on the Rio Dulce, but I'm getting ahead of myself and spoiling the bedtime story.

tell us a bedtime story, Lee. Please! Please! JUST ONE? I promise I will go to sleep after!

AND THANKS FOR ANSWERING!

Were there any Falling Stones @ Blue Morpho !!!

I just may need to call you, one ringie dingie
Hello, is this the party to ___________

Part 2: Flying spirits swaying in the streets. Moral of the story: mind your pop music.
That night we went walking around town. Its an interesting mix of Garifuna, Maya and Spanish and European traveler’s. The people seemed relaxed, not so much stress as when I was in Guatemala in Sept/October 2003 near election time.
After a mediocre dinner at La Bahia Del Sol, which looked cool and funky on the outside, (don’t always judge a book by its cover), we were walking back to Hotel National Flags and passed the catholic church and could hear singing and drumming, so we walked up to the entrance and stood in awe. The church was packed with Garifuna, Maya and Spanish people holding hands, swaying and singing a song, and the tune sounded familiar, the only instruments used were deep sounding drums at the front of the sanctuary. After listening for a few minutes I realized that it was a Simon and Garfunkle song, The Sounds of Silence, being sung in Spanish. The breeze was rustling the women’s long skirts, I swear I could see spirits floating in the air above us.

The Sound of Silence (P. Simon, 1964)

Hello darkness, my old friend,
I've come to talk with you again,
Because a vision softly creeping,
Left its seeds while I was sleeping,
And the vision that was planted in my brain
Still remains
Within the sound of silence.

In restless dreams I walked alone
Narrow streets of cobblestone,
'Neath the halo of a street lamp,
I turned my collar to the cold and damp
When my eyes were stabbed by the flash of a neon light
That split the night
And touched the sound of silence.

And in the naked light I saw
Ten thousand people, maybe more.
People talking without speaking,
People hearing without listening,
People writing songs that voices never share
And no one dare
Disturb the sound of silence.

"Fools" said I, "You do not know
Silence like a cancer grows.
Hear my words that I might teach you,
Take my arms that I might reach you."
But my words like silent raindrops fell,
And echoed
In the wells of silence

And the people bowed and prayed
To the neon god they made.
And the sign flashed out its warning,
In the words that it was forming.
And the sign said, "The words of the prophets are written on the subway walls
And tenement halls."
And whisper'd in the sounds of silence.

The next morning was Good Friday, we packed up and went walking around town. Man it was HOT by 8 a.m. Found a local restaurant that was open and ordered toast, coffee and o.j. I cant remember the name of the place, but it was fairly clean, lots of vacationing Guatemalans eating there. As we were rounding the corner to the restaurant people were working on these giant sawdust murals in the street, setting up The Stations of the Cross for a big day-long procession thru town. Not being raised Catholic, I know very little about their traditions, but they fascinated me. After breakfast we passed by the same catholic church form the night before, and they had just started their Good Friday procession. Lots of garifuna ladies in dresses, hats, high heels and parasols. Its always an interesting feeling to travel and live in a place where you are the minority, where you don’t belong here, you are obviously a visitor. And then I open my mouth and try to speak Spanish… too funny.. then they really know I’m not from these here parts. I have the language comprehension of a 3 year old Spanish baby. Until I lived in Belize and traveled Central America, I was always the majority. I try to not feel conspicuous, but I always do when I look around and I’m the only white face on a bus, or in a restaurant. I didn’t see many American travelers, the white people were mostly from Europe. I know it seems like I’m going on and on and on about being white, I was never made to feel uncomfortable about it, but I could see it in people eyes, when they looked at me, I was different from them, they were as curious about me as I was.

Observations: prices were not as cheap as people tell you. Although they are cheaper than in America, food prices are about the same as on Caye Caulker. A tourist class hotel will cost about $10 U.S. a night per person. Breakfast will cost $3-5, lunch 5-7 and dinner without drinks $7 to 10.

So we checked out of Hotel National Flags, the front desk called a cab for us, and we checked into Casa Rosada. It was about a 15 minute drive because all the streets were blocked off for the procession. It was still pretty early and our room wasn’t ready, so Edwin, Cindy and Zulima left their bags with me and went to the big beach party. What a cool spot I found, the breeze rippling off the bay, and me… lounging on a chaise lounge on the ceramic tile verandah like… o.k. here’s where I insert the name of a princess or a queen, but I cant think of which one I was that day.
Casa Rosada is a self contained resort, seafront, with a main two-story building and about 10 little, extremely basic cabanas, but who cares, you’re only in your room to sleep and change your clothes anyway. Even though there are 10 cabanas sharing 3 baths and showers, it never seemed busy. The restaurant on site and store are on the honor system. When you order food, get a beer, water or soda, you write it in your book on your room page. They had the best coffee and espressos in Livingston. The room was very reasonable at $20 for the cabana, with 2 twin beds (foam pad mattress) mosquito net (didn’t need it) and a ceiling fan. Nice mature trees and a lush garden. The owners Sandra Goossens (Belgian) and Javier Putul (Guatemalan) took over ownership about 2 years ago. Little did I know that a couple of months ago I met them right here on Caye Caulker, when they were on vacation. I have to admit I’m easy to please. I’m looking for good value, low stress and low impact vacationing. Just give me a clean bed and a beer in the shade and I’m fine. Zulima, who is 4 now felt very comfortable playing in the garden, always within eyes and ears of us.
O.K. back to the beach party that Cindy, Edwin and Zee went to. Now here’s why Livingston gets a bad rap. There is no real beach, it’s a black mucky tidal flat, with no bathroom and rusty dusty water.
Dinners at Casa Rosada are by reservation only and well worth it. I had the snook dinner which came with a big salad and their own homemade vinaigrette, homemade bread, fresh steamed veggies and nice piece of garlic butter grilled snook (which is some kind of whitefish) Dessert was included and was orange pound cake. The cost for the meal was about $10 The service at the restaurant any time of the day was excellent. For breakfast or lunch you would order it at the main desk and someone would bring it to you, wherever you were. I’ll let the pictures tell the rest of the story.

Part 3
Rio Dulce River Trip and last night in Livingston… to come. Objective: to try every beer brewed in Guatemala.

Good story Silk, keep them coming.

Pictures from the trip... I hope this works.
http://www.geocities.com/caribbeancolors1/livingston.html

Silk -

Nice pics.....

Man, that skiff IS packed!!

I noticed Hotel National Flags is secured by barbed wire. Is it unsafe? I got the feeling from your commentary that it was not (out walking at night).

Thanks Silkie, love your pictures.

Thanks very much, Silk. I cannot wait to hear part 3.

I think I saw a familiar face

What a lovely presentation of women in their garb for the holiday. Bless them all.

Great pics, Silk.....more more more

I have some links not working on the pics, please bear with me while I sort this out.

thx for the offer Silk - but it ain't warm enuff up here yet to get nekkid

G R O W L, G R U N T, S N O R T....and no clothes. My kinda ting.
We be bearin

Wow... great pictures!! I enjoyed them all! And geez, by the way silk, you are a real cutie... If I knew you were that cute I would have forgotten AC and concentrated on CC...

Umm Denny, hate to break it to ya, unless you're talking about the picture of my toes.. I was the photographer in all the photos, so you're seeing pics of my friends. lolololol (tricky)

Oh well, cute toes anyway. laugh I thought you were the cute redhead? with sunglasses ?

No inquiry as to who the cute guy was in the photo Denny?

I know, I know, I know ! ! !
Titled Man, Mr.______.

He resembles that pumped up body builder, winner of the title Mr. Belize? Great person to have for an escort, Silk! Like who would tangle with this guy?

Please continue the adventure!

Don't forget the gold medal at the Central American games.
I'm still writing and writing, patience!

laugh.... nope, no comment on the guy. laugh

Wake up, Silk! I wanna read the rest of your adventures!

Ya Denny, you no wanna mess with a gold medal winning, pumped up, Mr. Belize.....at least I don't!

Silk,
I just loved your account of your trip to Livingston. Sounded like an adventure all the way. I am hoping next time I get to CC that I could meet you!

Sorry guys, I havent written part 3 yet, its about 1/2 way down my to-do list right now, but working its way up.
--Lee