Guatemala
A Garifuna culture born of shipwrecked Africans, then a multi-day trek to the tallest Maya pyramid ever built
Guatemala
A journey between two opposite Guatemalas: Livingston and the Río Dulce, the country's only access to the Caribbean, where Garifuna culture, born from the meeting of shipwrecked African sailors and Indigenous peoples of the Lesser Antilles in the 17th century, lives on through music and food, then El Mirador, the region's oldest Maya city, whose La Danta pyramid, the most voluminous ever built by the Maya, can only be reached after a multi-day trek deep into the Petén jungle.
When
Jan to April
Price
From 3 900€ excl. flights
(based on 2 people sharing)
How long
8 nights
Ideal length
Days 1-2
The first chapter unfolds in Livingston, reachable only by boat, the only town in Guatemala directly facing the Caribbean. The Garifuna community, descended from West African sailors shipwrecked in the 17th century who mixed with Indigenous Caribbean peoples, keeps alive a language, a percussive music called punta, and a cuisine based on coconut and seafood, listed as UNESCO intangible cultural heritage. The journey up the Río Dulce, a tropical gorge lined with vegetation-covered cliffs, leads to Lake Izabal, the country's largest.
Day 1
Livingston and Garifuna culture
Arrival in Livingston by boat, a discovery of Garifuna culture through a punta drumming workshop and a lunch of tapado, a coconut-milk seafood stew typical of the region.
Day 2
A journey up the Río Dulce
A boat journey up the Río Dulce, through a tropical gorge lined with vegetation-covered cliffs, with a stop at natural hot springs that flow directly into the river.
Days 1-2
Departure for the multi-day trek to El Mirador, one of the oldest and largest Maya cities, founded as early as the 6th century BCE, whose La Danta pyramid, with an estimated volume greater than most Egyptian pyramids, remains reachable only on foot or by mule through the dense jungle of the Petén. The total absence of roads has spared the site from excessive restoration, offering an exploration experience close to archaeological discovery.
Day 1
Walking through the Petén jungle
A departure on foot through the dense Petén jungle, accompanied by mules carrying the equipment, in search of howler monkeys and toucans, an overnight stay at a camp deep in the forest.
Day 2
La Danta Pyramid
Arrival at El Mirador and a climb up La Danta Pyramid, the most voluminous ever built by the Maya, for a three-hundred-sixty-degree view over the unbroken canopy of the Petén all the way to neighbouring Mexico.
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