The day dawned with the skies unchanged from yesterday.  The sky out over the Caribbean stayed dark, and wave after wave of heavy rains came ashore.  Only those who had to leave ventured off in a water taxi.  I was hoping for a trip down the Rio Dulce but didn’t want to go so bad that I’d venture out from under the thatched roof in a downpour.  Everyone else around was of a similar mind so the wifi slowed to a crawl while everyone did the same thing.  I passed the time drinking coffee, reading, and shooting a few pics of Casa Rosada.  I’m hoping for a different result tomorrow with my eye on a boat trip to Playa Blanca and the Seven Alters area.  Meanwhile today I’ll get out for a walkabout around Livingston if the weather gives me that at least.

Here’s the kitchen of the hotel and below is the little hallway where my room is situated.  Mine is down on the corner to the right.  B6 if you’re sending me a postcard.

The weather is what it is.  Right now the word is it will clear on Thursday, the day I’m leaving.  The silver lining there is I might get on the plane relatively dry.  The next time I come I’ll bring a big garbage bag to cut holes in.  I’m surprised someone isn’t making a killing selling them one at a time.  I did see some plastic raincoats in town today.  Maybe I’ll pick one of those up.  In a fetching yellow or orange.  Speaking of which, I did make my escape for a walkabout in the afternoon.

The three most prominent buildings in Livingston are the hospital, pictured here to the right, and the municipal building and the school, seen below.  The hospital had a big Covid-19 warning and instruction sign on the side.  Or is that Covid-9?  You know that carrona  thing you’ve probably heard about.  I’ve already been warned that if Guatemala experiences an outbreak, I might get stuck here awhile.  I don’t want to sound cavalier but there could be worse things.  Than getting stuck here I mean.

There didn’t seem to be much happening at the school at 2:30 in the afternoon. ?  Or the hospital or city offices for that matter.                     Renato, among others,  had recommended I try a dish called Topada Garifuna, so a stop at a place called Buga Mama’s became the highlight of my walkabout.  Topada is a seafood soup.  The broth is made with coconut cream but it doesn’t have an overwhelming coconut taste.  The soup is full of veggies, shrimp in the shell, crab in the shell, plantains, and one whole fish.  If you don’t like to have a fish looking at you while you eat it, you have to be careful to keep the eyes “below the water line” so to speak.  Now I’m not an experienced  in the shell seafood eater.  But I went into attack mode and when I was finished I had a massive pile of bones, shells, and pinchers.  And I was giving thanks for the recommendation.  Oh man it was good.  Incidentally,  Buga Mama’s is a school teaching cooking and hospitality.  All of the kids working there are students.

 

While I was eating I was overlooking one of the local gas stations.  Boats, Tuk tuks, scooters, and cars all coming and going.

I’ve written about public pilas before.  Here is the local public do it yourself laundry in Livingston.

And lastly, a dose of reality; someone’s house and bathroom not far down the road from La Casa Rosada.

I am well and hope you all are too.  As always, thanks for being out there.