How to Survive 24hrs in Livingston, Guatemala

Step 1: Survive the boat ride

Memo's Boat (Memo is in the red shirt)

To get to Livingston you have to take a boat from either PG or Puerto Barrios. We bought our tickets from Memo. Memo owns a small boat that has about 5 benches that hold 3 to 4 people. Out boat there was packed full. It is definitely an interesting ride over, and if you can survive it, it’s worth it! Depending on where you sit, you can get pretty wet, but it added to the fun. There were definitely people who were scared, which was obvious by their constant screaming. The ride takes about 45 minutes to 1 hour. Once you arrive, you have to walk up the hill to get your passport stamped, then the fun begins. 

Step 2: Find or Avoid Phillip

Phillip and myself, mid tour

Actually, Phillip found Sarah and myself. We started off shopping and he stopped Sarah and I to ask where we were from, etc. He sounded pretty cool. Guatemala is his home, and he went to University of Illinois on a scholarship from Jerry Garcia. He sounded pretty interesting so when he told us that he wanted to "show us the real Livingston" Sarah and I were ready with little hesitation. We walked down the main tourist road until we reached the beach. From there he took us all around the hills to show us the Garifuna culture. It seemed awesome at first unitl he talked about donations. At that point, Sarah and I realized we didn’t want to continue the tour. Phillip wasn't too happy about it but we made the right choice. 

Step 3: Find a drink

Food at Buga Mama was delicious!

This step can take place at any time, but Sarah and I decided it was needed after our tour from Phillip. We stopped at a place called Buga Mama, close to the dock we arrived at. Pretty delicious food! I would recommend chatting with other travelrs. We found two girls who were on the boat from PG with us, Shonnee and Jess. They were awesome! Both are from Utah and met in Alaska waiting tables on a train. They came to Guatemala to teach English, but left early to backpack around Central America. Their adventures sounded AMAZING! They are two countries shy from traveling through them all. We swapped some adventures stories but theirs were hard to top. Sarah and I are pretty convinced though that we could backpack. (We should get started on next summers plans, eh Sarah?)

Step 4: Find a place to sleep

There are many options to choose from. We decided on Casa Rosada, a quite place to relax. The hut on the dock had several hammocks and we spent the evening laying in them. Sarah and I shared life stories in her very creative way! The rooms themselves were cute little Bunglows. Sarah also opted to sleep with the bed net down, just to be on the safe side. Breakfast at Casa Rosa is wonderful. I recommend the banana pancakes. The room and food cost us less than $20US. 

Step 5: Find a translator

I was lucky enough not to need this step since Sarah was my personal translator. She speaks Spanish (very well I should add) and I mostly stood there and she would talk to everyone. But Jess and Shonnee found us again to get Sarahs help. They were headed off on another adventure and needed to know the cheapest way to get there. It turned out to be a complicated number of stops but I am sure they will find it easily. They told me that they can speak some Spanish and clearly know enough that they have done well so far!

Step 6: Barter with the locals

Sarah trying on hats

Sarah and I had a lot of fun shopping, although I wasn’t as good at bargaining as I remember myself to be. I bought some awesome things (a bracelet and home decor) and we both got Henna Tattoos all for under $15US. 

My Henna Tattoo

Step 7: Relax again

The deck at Buga Mama's

After hours of awesome shopping, we were ready to relax and do nothing until our boat ride. We went back to Buga Mama (100% of the profits go to children of Guatemala) and found Jess and Shonnee again so we enjoyed a coke and tea with them while they ate. They were awesome and bought our drinks since Sarah helped them translate earlier. We also made Jess give us the explanation behind her numerous awesome tattoos. 

Step 8: Survive the boat ride home

 Getting our passport stamped to leave turned out to be a bit of hassle. Apparently there is a $80Q fee before you can leave and we were out of money. We had to stop by the ATM one last time but we made it. (We highly considered leaving without paying the fee, but thought being jailed or deported would be an issue.) We waited at the dock for Memo. If you are lucky like us, locals will ask to have their picture taken with you. I felt like quite the celebrity. When Memo arrived we jumped aboard to head home. He warned us the water would be choppy. It was a crazy ride home! The waves were HUGE, some were at least 5 feet. I was scared numerous times and we were soaked to the bone by the time we got home. But it was an adventure and I loved every minute!!

Home sweet PG!