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Livingston...

A place unlike any other

History

Lívingston is a town like no other in Guatemala. Hemmed in by dense jungle on one side, the warm waters of the Caribbean Sea on the other, it has long been a favourite with travellers who are attracted by its beautiful setting and the unique cultural traditions of its largely Garifuna population.

The Garifuna are descendants of Carib indigenous people and African slaves shipwrecked on the eastern Caribbean island of St. Vincent in 1635. They were deported to Honduras in the late 18th century by the British, who were worried that the autonomous society the Garifuna had created on St. Vincent might foster rebellion among slaves elsewhere in the Caribbean. Following their arrival on Honduras north coast, the Garifuna spread out across Central America.

The first boatload of Garífuna settlers landed at the mouth of the Río Dulce in 1802, founding a settlement they called Gulfu Iyumoun (Garífuna for "Mouth of the Gulf"). The community enjoyed steady growth, and in 1831 was declared capital of a district that encompassed all of Guatemala's Caribbean coastline. Also at this time, the government decided to rename the town Lívingston in honor of an American legislator who had been instrumental in codifying the country's laws. However, these bureaucratic changes had little effect on the day-to-day lives of the Garífuna population, who continued to live primarily from fishing and subsistence agriculture.

Two centuries later, very little has changed. You can still see Garifuna fishermen going to sea in their small boats, or women selling coconut bread they had made using recipes handed down from mother to daughter. With its friendly people and relaxed atmosphere, Livingston is the kind of place that makes you want to linger.

Visitor activites

If you do decide to stay a while, there is plenty to keep you busy. Swimming, sun-bathing, bird-watching, jungle hikes, river excursions are only some of the activities on offer. You might also want to take Garifuna language lessons, learn traditional drumming techniques or simply kick back with a good book. If you still have any energy left at the end of the day, there is always lots of nightlife, ranging from drumming and dance performances to discos playing the latest in reggae, salsa and dance.