The Gauge of Unsafe in Guatemala

Tiff, Piper (other roommate) and I were shopping around Xela today, talking about a future trip that we might be taking to Nicaragua in a few weeks.

Americans who enter Guatemala are given a 3 month travelling visa, so all of us are coming up on the date when we need to cross a border to renew our visa for a few more months of footloose and fancy free living, Central American style.

Tiff informed me that Mexico and Belize are the only countries that honor the exchange for visa renewals, which is a bit of a bummer. I am scheduled to be getting my PADI scuba certification on a Caribbean island off the coast of Honduras in a little over a month, and was hoping that would count as a legitimate border crossing. No dice.

We talked about the possibility of me making it to the island through Belize by way of Livingston, a quaint Jamaican community on the Guatemalan coast.

Laura: ¨Isn´t Livingston kind of unsafe?¨

Tiff: ¨I mean, it´s a little shady.¨

Laura: ¨Like, I am going to get my wallet stolen shady? Or like I am going to get kidnapped and sold into white slavery shady?¨

Piper:¨Mmm, no...more like you just got dropped into Bob Marley´s living room and you need to watch your wallet. That´s all.¨