Guatemala Guide
East to the Caribbean
Lívingston
Enjoying a superb setting overlooking the Bahía de Amatique, LÍVINGSTON offers a unique fusion of Guatemalan and Caribbean culture where marimba mixes with Marley. The town acts as a hub for both the displaced Garífuna (or Black Caribs) who are strung out along the Caribbean coast between southern Belize and northern Nicaragua, and also for the Q'eqchi' Maya of the Río Dulce region.
Lívingston is undoubtedly one of the most fascinating places in Guatemala, but travellers' opinions about it tend to be sharply divided: many enjoy the languid rhythm of life and Lívingston's slightly ramshackle appeal while others just find the town shabby. Whatever your take, Lívingston certainly offers a welcome break from mainstream Latino culture: Carib food is generally excellent and varied, and Garífuna punta rock and reggae make a pleasant change from the regular merengue beat.
Traffic is very light (there are no roads to the outside world), so the horn-honking and clouds of black exhaust smoke that characterize life in urban Guatemala are mercifully (almost) absent. The local palm-fringed beaches are slim and, though not of the Caribbean-dream variety, do offer decent swimming once you're away from the centre; you'll find that the sand slopes into the sea very gradually here.
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