To the coast

After another hectic travel vignette involving a familiar microbus and a relatively luxurious four-hour Pullman we found ourselves in dirty, bustling Puerto Barrios. After bearing a barrage of taxi drivers and getting some cash we hauled our stuff to the local dock to wait for a lancha. After enough people had arrived to fill one, we took off across the bay to Livingston.

While we waited in Livingston for a lancha down a river, we met a girl and her mother who was visiting her. It turned out the girl, Melissa, was working on her thesis conducting a study on the effects of fair trade on a nearby co-op that produces women's handicrafts. Her mother was quite well-traveled and had sent both Melissa and her sister on foreign exchange in high school. She was very involved with the Rotary Club and regaled us with interesting information about the organization; a thing I will be certain to check into when I get home.

After a rather shy group dinner, sleep was a welcome repose from buses and boats.