Jonathan visits Guatemala / Prepare for the wild blue yonder!

Well, we weren't sure it would ever happen,  but Jon finally arrived on October 4th in Guatemala! David met him at the airport and they toured Guatemala City and then took the 6 am bus to Fronteras (a five hour ride . . . I awaited impatiently at Texan Bay for them; it seemed as though they would never get there.

Gracie and Ed, Sherrie, and Jack (fellow cruisers from Texan Bay) joined Jon and us on a trek to Finca Paraiso and Rio Agua Caliente. We left Texan Bay early, 7 am en route for Fronteras, from there we got a ride on a collectiva van. Don't do this if you are claustrophobic like me!  They just cram people into these vans, we ended up with 31! I wish they had tied me to the roof, then at least I could breath! Even so, it was a beautiful ride through the country.

We arrive at Finca Paraiso, but there seems to be a little confusion, language barrier again. They don't understand that we needed a ride to the bungalows. Ok, so now Sherrie is trying to convey to them that we are not walking the 2 miles to the hotel. It took a while, but we finally understood that they would give us a ride in their box truck as soon as they changed the flat tire. David, Jon and Jack were too eager and have decided to walk.

The bungalows are very nice, very clean and right on the beach; we were able to hear the surf at night, awesome! We decided to have a bite to eat before we go to the falls. The food was very good, most of us ordered the Robalo (snook).

We're off!   They transported us in a sort of boxcar by tractor, but at least on this ride we were able to actually see the finca and the mountains, just lovely. It was cloudy when we arrived, but  the sun came out and it is just glorious.  The driver stopped to let us view the (2) howler monkeys in the trees. So cool!

It's about 100 yards up a trail through the woods, along the stream. A lone piglet appears. David has "oinked" at him and now he is following us, too funny! As we were descending the stairs, I look across the stream and see the falls. WOW! Just beautiful. Jon got some really nice shots. Two guides helped us to get into the water as the rocks are very slippery. Everyone dives in. I forgot my floatation device at the bungalow, swimming is not my thing!  I enjoyed it just the same.

Later on, after returning from the falls, we sort of had a happy hour and enjoyed the snacks we brought.  Jon and I went for a walk for some sunset pics.  We came on a couple of cowboys trying to rangle a bull.  They eventually tied him to a lamp post for the night.  I guess he was a "bad bull"!

In the evening, we asked if we could have a bonfire on the beach. They were kind enough to gather firewood for us. However, it didn't turn out like we would have wanted as they had mercury lamps right on the beach and right above our fire. Oh well, what can you do? We enjoyed it even so.

The next day, Jon, David and Jack wanted to go back to the falls.  I was the last to get on the box truck. (Now I'm certain it was planned to happen that way!)  Apparently the bull we had met the prior evening, his last evening, had been butchered and his head was sitting right at the front of the truck, so that I couldn't miss it.  I was horrified!  He was distributed between several large pans, covered, thank heaven! Everyone was just waiting for the moment and I guess they got a good laugh from my expression.  Along the way, the driver dropped off the head and laid it on the side of the road, soon a family walked up to retrieve it, dinner, I guess!

The boys left for the falls, and then we learned that David had left his sunglasses and his wallet in our bungalow.  Again, communication was a challenge so Sherrie gave her cell phone to the lady at the breakfast stop.  We thought she was so nice to help us locate his belongings, but later learned that she had transferred Q100 from Sherrie's phone to hers!  The nerve!  The cowboys that brought David's belongings would not accept any money, however.  We had something to eat and then waited for a bus to take us back to Fronteras.  We caught up with the guys later on. Later we learned that Jack, David and Jon jumped from the top of the falls into the pool below, very scary!  All three made it, thank heaven!  Glad I wasn't there to witness it!

If you ever come to Guatemala, don't miss the falls. It is well worth the trip, and pretty economical too.  The bungalows rent for Q100; $12.50 American $.

We also spent a day in Livingston, which is the entry port into the Rio Dulce. It is much cleaner and has some nice restaurants and a beach, though I would never swim in the water. It's loaded with debris, though they had cleaned it up a bit since our last visit.  We had some lunch with Chris and Dani and just sat around talking.  Jon went shopping for a gift for Matt and got a very nice hammock.  Then back to Texan Bay.

Jon and I rode the dinghy over to visit Pat & Penny and to see the palapa they built.  So at least he got to see some lilly pads, a few birds, and where some of the locals live.

I'm sure Jon and David would have enjoyed a kayak trip down the Rio, but it never quite materialized. I had wanted to go to Ak Tenamit, the school which trains restaurant service and etiquette, but we never got there either.

Jon was content to relax at Texan Bay and got to know some of our friends. He thoroughly enjoyed the trip, as I knew he would. We wished that Matt had been able to join us. It would have been a great family visit. We're hoping Matt is working toward getting his passport and will be able to join us somewhere along the way on our next voyage, possibly Roatan as there is an airport there.

Once Jon departed, we got down to business and started on our maintenance to prepare for the next leg of our voyage.  You know, change the oil, check the fluids, change the filters, check the rigging, sails, etc.   Then finally we moved off the dock at Texan Bay and headed up the Rio to provision and to make sure all systems are "go".

We shall miss our friends at Texan Bay, Sherrie, Mike, Ed, Gracie, Chris, Mavis, Maurits, Carlos, Kelly and Chris, Jack, James, Dave (Coriolis) Kenny, Jennifer, Kimberly and Scott, Tanya and Oron, Dave and Carla, Grisel, Walter, Axl, Marcella, Theresa, Curtis, Annie and Tom, little Mykol, Tomas and Lorena, Martine and Alvin, Sandy and Hodwell, Clyde and Mia, (the regulars and staff at Texan Bay) and last but not least, Pat and Penny, but it is time for us to move on.  We have enjoyed their company, but we're very excited to get going just the same.  We look forward to seeing them again.

Utila or Roatan will be our first stop, of course, depending on weather.  We want to see French Harbor this time, maybe David will go for a dive this time, or at least snorkel.  Then it's off to Guanaja, the most western island in Honduras since our last trip was cut short by Hurricane Alex.  From there we plan to go to the Viva rios islands and the island chain known as the Hobbies, in Columbia, then Providencia and hopefully the San Blas Islands, off the coast of Panama.  This will by far, be a much longer trip than we have done so far (about 780 nautical miles), with several 3-4 days at sea, several times.  So it will be a challenge for us.  Of course, we are always dependent on weather, so if we don't make it to Panama, there's next year, hopefully.  At the end of the season, we'll probably be back in the Rio, but who knows.

We have seen a lot of changes since we first arrived to the Rio in March.  The locals are starting more and more businesses and more of them are learning new trades and working for gringos as well.  Some want a better quality of life and they aren't afraid to go and get it.  I think it's great, but also will change the flavor of the Rio.

Pollution will be one of their greatest challenges, and it's not from the gringo's.They don't seem to care much about litter, on the street or in the water.

Something I personally don't understand, especially since the river is their life. More and more Guatemalans have luxury boats, and travel the river for pleasure, not purpose.  So we feel fortunate to be here, before it all changes.  I'm sure it's much different from when our friends Gene and Deb sailed here in 1998.  (We hope they will make it here by next spring).

We dearly miss our family and friends, but this is something we have to do.  We hope you all understand.  Basically, we are retired, we live on a boat and  we travel, do maintenance and try to enjoy  "the golden years" of our lives. Not much different than most retirees.  We are not as unusual as you might think. We have met many cruisers here on the Rio, from all different walks of life, some rich, some not, some with children, some not, some younger, some older, some wiser, some not. It's sad in a way, we love the US, we are Americans, but we can't afford to live there, unless we're working so we're trying to avoid that at the moment!  We figure we can always work at McDonalds, or be a greeter at Walmart, but at 70 we may not be able to cruise on a sailboat.

It's not nearly as fun, or romantic as you might think, it's hard work to live this way, but it is our choice for now.  We are very grateful that we can blog and stay in touch via email and Facebook with all of you.  It would be much harder if we weren't able to communicate with all of you.  We miss our boys most of all, but maybe it's better for them that we are not hovering over, as they find they way in life.  

So thanks for following along and staying in touch with us.  It means more than you will ever know.  We hope you will continue to do so.  Adios for now, well at least I've learned a little Spanish while in Guatemala, goodness knows, we've both got a long way to go.  We hope to leave for Roatan by Saturday, November 20th, depending on the weather.
Stay  tuned!