Livingston, Guatemala

Where the Rio Dulce meets the sea lies the town of Livingston - only accessible by boat, a 45 minute ride from where we ported. We hopped off here to take a walk through the town and see how the locals lived - with all credit to Tui, the whole day felt more G Adventures than cruise ship excursion which was a pleasant change.

The town, filled with tuk-tuks and colourfully decorated walls, retained much local authenticity rather than a tourist trap. Women washed their clothes at a communal stone wash-house, chickens roamed the gardens and local whizzed by in all manner of wheeled transport. The side streets weren't especially clean but the route through the main street and over to the bay was an interesting walk, ending at beach which used to be the main port for the region - ships would anchor off shore and supplies from neighbouring countries would be brought in by small craft.

At the harbour, we jumped back in our boat and sped along the coastline back to the ship, passing again the flocks of pelicans that hovered around the little fishing boats.Read more