ShareHim Guatemala Update:
Students Journey Down the Rio Dulce to Livingston

Having completed their 15-day ShareHim evangelistic series, the students boarded a bus early Sunday morning for the journey to Livingston, Guatemala.  Accessible only by boat, Livingston was founded by a pirate, and is home to four ethnic groups that live peacefully together: Haitians, Brazilians, Guatemalans and Indians (from India).  


After a four-hour bus ride we boarded a long speedboat for the 45-minute trip down the Rio Dulce to Livingston.   In addition to the breathtaking jungle scenery and flocks of water fowl we saw as we zoomed down river, the students enjoyed our stop at the "water market."  There girls in canoes came to our boat hawking their wares.  

Once in Livingston we checked into the Posada el Delfin, a delightful hotel located right on the waterfront, and owned by an Adventist. After we deposited our luggage in our rooms we re-boarded our boat for a 30-minute ride, now in the rather choppy Caribbean Sea, to a private beach called Playa Blanca.  Off in the distance we could see the coast of Belize.  Lunch consisted of fish cooked over a wood fire, rice, tortillas and tomatoes.

The sea was very rough on the way back to our hotel.  Climbing the waves and crashing down the other side was like going on a 40-minute roller coaster ride!

The view from our hotel in Livingston

After enjoying some marimba music performed by Aldolfo Xol, president of the Northern Guatemala Mission, we ate a hearty breakfast of beans, cheese, coconut bread and fruit.

After our final worship together as a group, we spent the rest of the day travelling to 
Guatemala City.  After a 45-minute boat ride back to where our bus was parked, we drove for another six hours first to the offices of the Guatemala Union of Seventh-day Adventists and then to our hotel.

In keeping with a CUC tradition, Julio Davila and Dr. Haynal pose with a copy of the Canadian Campus along with
Enrique Baltazar, (left) secretary-treasurer of the Northern Guatemala Mission, and Gustavo Menendez, the ShareHim
coordinator for Guatemala.