Livingston, Guatemala
| Livingston | |
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Livingston main street | |
  Livingston Location in Guatemala | |
| Coordinates: 15°49′48″N 88°45′00″W / 15.83000°N 88.75000°W | |
| Country |
 Guatemala |
| Department | Izabal Department |
| Climate | Af |
Livingston is the name of a town in Izabal Department, eastern Guatemala, at the mouth of the Río Dulce at the Gulf of Honduras. The town serves as the municipal seat of the municipality of the same name. It was Guatemala's main port on the Caribbean Sea before the construction of nearby Puerto Barrios.
Livingston is noted for its unusual mix of Garífuna, Afro-Caribbean, Maya and Ladino people and culture. In recent decades Livingston has developed a large tourist industry.
Livingston is named after American jurist and politician Edward Livingston who wrote the Livingston Codes which were used as the basis for the laws of the liberal government of the United Provinces of Central America in the early 19th century.
Transport
Boats run several times a day from Puerto Barrios, and twice a week on Tuesdays and Fridays from Punta Gorda, Belize. Boats also run every morning from Livingston to Punta Gorda. However, due to collusion between boat owners, the fares are much higher than passage from Puerto Barrios. There is another boat that transports tourists from Livingston in through Río Dulce. It runs every day. All access is via watercraft since there is no road link to the rest of Guatemala.
As of early 2014, passengers arriving in Livingston still present their passports at the customs office, which is two blocks up the hill from the dock, on the left side of the street. One is entirely free to walk right past the customs office and forego this formality; however, doing so well may subject one to significant delays and possible fines when one leaves Guatemala at any land crossing, port, or airport.
Languages
A number of languages are spoken in Livingston including Spanish, Garifuna language, Mayan Q'eqchi', and English is also widely spoken.
Notable people
- Guillermo Ramírez, Rojos Municipal
- Marvin Avila, Shaanxi Neo-China Chanba F.C.
- Ricardo Trigueño Foster, Deportivo Petapa
Coordinates: 15°49′48″N 88°45′00″W / 15.83000°N 88.75000°W
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