Coastin' on a Dream

It has now been exactly one month since we left the states!

We are currently staying in a bungalow on the Caribbean coast in a town called Livingston. I'll tell you more on how we got here later...

Anyways, we ended up staying longer than we thought on the river in Lanquin. The entire reason we went there was to see pools of Semuc Champey, and we got caught up making our own fun in the backyard of our hostel.  The workers noticed us having such a good time that they decided to make a diving board for us to jump off into the river. After we got bored with that we tied a rope on the other side of the river to hang onto. We would jump off the diving board, swim down river, and then hang onto the rope as long as possible. It turned into a good workout for us.

When we decided to go to Semuc Champey, we were told that the 45 minute drive could only be made by off-road vehicles... We didn't realize that we would be standing in the back of the truck hanging onto the sides the entire time!

When we finally got there we were greeted by 15-20 kids trying to sell us cold beer! Usually we are quick to grab a drink while traveling, but at this place none was needed; We were running on a natural body high!

Our first hour was spent exploring the underground caves and waterfall!
We were given nothing more than a lit candle to navigate ourselves. During some points of the excursion, we had to bite onto the candle and swim our way through the caves just to make it through. We burnt the limestone caves with our candle flame and used the black substance it created to paint our faces! I felt like a true survivor man!

After the caves it was a half hour hike to the Mirador, the lookout at the top of Semuc Champey! This hike wasn't nearly as difficult as the one to the top of the volcano, but it's view seemed to be just as equal. Looking out and seeing nothing but jungle and natural crystal clear pools made us feel like we were in a Disney movie!

When we finally made it to our destination we were blown away with its pure beauty. We had just jumped into a blissful paradise! We swam, dove, and laid out in a place that is referred to as Heaven on Earth! We could have spent many days there but we decided to continue on with our journey.

We had finally become familiar with the rocky dirt roads we were traveling on, but none of us expected to take one 5 hours to the Caribbean coast. Yes, that's right, one dirt road from Lanquin to Rio Dulce, 5 hours, packed like sardines in a minivan.

When we arrived in Rio Dulce, we spoke with a few locals and found a place to stay on the river for reasonable price. We boated over to our hostel only to realize that we were staying far away from anything. Our boat driver navigated his way threw the marsh land and right to El Perico, our hostel for the night. I felt like we were living on the bayou! It was our first time sleeping with mosquito nets and I decided against mine because the heat was too much to bare. It was a risk I was willing to take! I'm absolutely covered in bites, so two or three more wouldn't make much of a difference!

After a miserable nights sleep, we were off traveling again. Our next stop took us to the Caribbean coast of Livingston, where I write to you now. Since there is no roads to get here, boating was our only option. It took us two hours to get here down the river, but we did check out some spectacular views along the way! We rode through huge lily pads, checked out the natural hot springs, as well as cruised below the 200ft cliffs of jungle!

As soon as we arrived in Livingston, we were greeted by the Garifuna people. These people trace their roots back to the Caribbean island of St Vincent, where shipwrecked African slaves mixed with the indigenous Carib in the 17th Century.     As we got off the boat, we heard the voice of an older man singing Redemption Song by Bob Marley. That was an image that will last with me for some time.

We've spent a few days in Livingston doing absolutely nothing. For a month we have been on an adventure, but here I feel like I'm on vacation.

Yesterday we laid out all day on our own private beach named Playa Blanca! We drank bottomless Coco Loco's, which are coconuts that are opened, and mixed with Caribbean rum! We spent hours chilling in the white sand beach just as we would at home. With no ball to throw around, our coconut drinks soon turned into a football for us to toss. When our day finally came to a end, we noticed that the sea had become violent from the wind. We took our rinky dink boat head on to the swell!

Today, we sit and wait patiently for our UCLA Bruins to play Utah on ESPN! We have merely watched highlights of the previous games provided by AJ, but tonight's it is on! We will be partaking in our own tailgate here at our hostel and I can guarantee I will be leading a few rowdy 8 Claps!

Go Bruins!