Izabal Department, Guatemala · North America
Puerto Barrios is worth a stop: 25 minutes from Lívingston, 29km from Río Dulce Gorge.
Puerto Barrios is in Izabal Department, Guatemala, with about 100,000 people. The nearest town is Lívingston, about 20 km away.
Puerto Barrios (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈpweɾ.to ˈβa.rjos]) is a city in Guatemala, located within the Gulf of Honduras. The city is located on Bahia de Amatique. Puerto Barrios is the departmental seat of Izabal department and is the administrative seat of Puerto Barrios municipality.
It is Guatemala's main CaribbeanRead more
Sea port, together with its more modern twin port town just to the southwest, Santo Tomás de Castilla. As of the 2018 census, the population of Puerto Barrios was 100,593. Puerto Barrios is located 297 kilometers (185 mi) northeast of Guatemala City. It is the terminus of Highway CA9 which begins at the Pacific port city of Puerto San José and traverses the country through Guatemala City.
The city's population is a mix of mostly Garifuna, Maya, Afro-Caribbean (such as Afro-Jamaicans), and other West Indian groups. Its heyday was in the latter 19th and early 20th centuries, following the construction of a railroad connecting large banana and coffee plantations with the shipping docks, all controlled by the International Railways of Central America and The Great White Fleet, both owned by the United Fruit Company.
Puerto Barrios is divided into many neighborhoods or Barrios such as El Rastro, Las Champas, Los Tanques, La Veinte, La Veintedos, La Catorce, La Trece, and El Estrecho. Although the town is small, due to its harbor nature, many of its visitors are ship workers who frequent the night entertainment centers throughout the town.
Puerto Barrios is starting to get more visitors in the new century as the nearby town of Santo Tomás de Castilla has started receiving cruise ships. Puerto Barrios Airport was refurbished and receives scheduled flights.
Among the many nearby tourist attractions are the Mayan ruins of Quirigua. In 1910, the United Fruit Company bought Quiriguá and all the land around the site for banana production; they set aside 75 acres or 30 hectares around the ceremonial center as an archaeological park, leaving an island of jungle among the plantations. Nearby the Quirigua ruins is the Quirigua Hospital, established by United Fruit Company in 1910, and considered the finest tropical hospital in the America's at the time of its operation. On the grounds of the hospital is the Quirigua Hospital Cemetery, where some of the UFC and hospital workers that died in Guatemala are interred. The Castillo de San Felipe de Lara, an old Spanish fort in Río Dulce, guards the entrance to Lake Izabal. Another popular attraction is the lively town of Livingston where Garifuna culture can be experienced, with its Punta and Yankunu dances.
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Within an hour or so of Puerto Barrios: Río Dulce Gorge (29 km), Castle of San Felipe de Lara (43 km).
Puerto Barrios is in Izabal Department, Guatemala, about 20 km from Lívingston.
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2 notable places within an hour's drive.
natural wonder
A jungle river running out of Lake Izabal to the Caribbean through a gorge of 100 m limestone walls hung with bromeliads, with hot springs at the water's edge. The highway bridge at Fronteras gives the classic overview.
29 km · about 35 min drive
castle
A compact 17th-century Spanish fort of turrets and drawbridges at the narrowest point where Lake Izabal meets the Río Dulce, built to stop Caribbean pirates: a chain was once strung across the water to the far bank.
43 km · about 50 min drive
Year-round
Tropical latitude: plan around the wet season rather than temperature.
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