Rió Dulce

Rió Dulce is a river as well as a town once named Fronteras. Before the construction of the bridge linking the shores of the Rió Dulce, the town really looked like a typical border town. I think that nowadays, nothing has changed. The town is chaotic, and the trucks, cars, and bus traffic is intense.

Moreover, Rió Dulce is the starting point for a very popular boat excursion to Livingston. There are a lot of tourists arriving in large groups. I did a part of that tour and it was not great, we were packed in a boat that was going way too fast between some interesting locations.

In my case, I didn't go directly to Livingston, on the ocean front. I stopped at a finca on the Tatin River, an affluent of Rió Dulce. In the next post, you will see the second part of my trip on the river, a stage that I really liked.

The enormous bridge over the Rió Dulce, and the boats used for tours.

Not really.

Boat Excursion

The tour offers some nice views at certain locations along the river. The negative side is that everything is rushed and it's difficult to enjoy the trip.

Agua Caliente; a hot spring gushes in the river next to this pier.

Castillo San Felipe

View from the boat.

After I came back from Livingston, I visited the fort overland.

The fort was built in 1651 to prevent the pirates from looting the village and the caravans sailing on Lake Izabal. Ironically, the pirates managed to capture and burn it in 1686. By the end of the 1700s, pirates had vanished from the Caribbean, and the fort was converted into a prison. The fort as seen nowadays was rebuilt in 1956.

The fort's ground has become a park.