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July 4th at Catamaran
There was a small July 4th celebration at Catamaran. It was held poolside, everyone brought snacks to share and the marina supplied pizza. Several persons from other marinas came along to join the fun. JoAnne and Bill off of Ultra organized some games. The 1st game consisted of 4 folks sitting in front facing the rest of the crowd. Words were attached to their foreheads and the crowd had to give them hints as to what the word was. The fun was enjoyed by all.
Siete Altares/Seven Alters and Playa Blanca/White Beach
John and I went aboard a launcha with a group on a trip that Ana had organized to Siete Altares/Seven Alters and Playa Blanca/White Beach.
We headed across the El Golfere, which is a large lake just down river. The day was a wonderful sunny Rio day with blue skies and just a few clouds, the water was still as there is never much breeze in the morning so the reflections were lovely.
Then, we proceeded at full speed down the gorge towards Livingstone. The gorge is always magnificent with its steep tree lined walls, birds abounding while the fishermen in canoes cast their nets.
After arriving in Livingstone we headed out across the bar turning to port and along the shoreline. Now this was an area that we had never seen as when we enter we head straight towards our given way-points and concentrate on just crossing the shallow bar. The shoreline is quite lovely, typically lush tropical with the coconut palms along the shoreside. There was a statue of a man off of the Livingstone shore, I am not sure what he represents but just guessing he is welcome folks to Livingstone.
The persons living here are a mix of Garifuna, Afro-Caribbean, Maya and Latino people. There are no roads leading to Livingstone, however there are roads/lanes in and around Livingstone and enough traffic to occasionally cause traffic hold-ups.
Siete Altares/Seven Alters
We pulled up to a small wooden dock where we clambered ashore and followed the pathway to the entrance of Siete Altares/Seven Alters.
Now the name Siete Altares/Seven Alters refers to the 7 waterfalls that start up river and are found as the river winds downward towards the sea. It is an area reputed to be very beautiful and is protected. The persons that run the site are of Garifuna heritage and from a nearby village. They run the site that is on their land to raise money for the community.
We followed the pathway for a short distance where it crossed the first water fall. Here we crossed over by walking across the top of the waterfall to the other side. Then we proceeded up another pathway till we reached a stairway leading down to the river where we walked along the riverside. The scenery was lovely, lush, greens of the trees and reflections in the water.
It was wonderfully cool and peaceful walking along the river’s edge, paddling in the water. At one stage the pathway crossed the river to the other side, continuing upriver and passing to the other side we navigated the river, waterfalls and water pools.
Once we reached the end of the riverside pathway we were at the main and largest waterfall – number seven. The scenery was beautiful! We were all looking forward to a dip so we discreetly changed into bathing suits and jumped into the cool refreshing water.
After an hour we again followed the pathway back to the entrance where our boat was awaiting us to take us onto Playa Blanca.
Playa Blanca
Playa Blanca was even further along the coast towards Belize. In fact it was only 3 miles from the border. We pulled up to a long wooden dock, disembarked and walked a few hundred yards where we found a lovely shaded beach and restaurant.
We were all hungry so we started by ordering our lunch. I had been suffering from a case of upset lower stomach with the usual problems and so was quite wary of what I should eat. I decided on the nachos with beans which was delicious. We had also ordered the lemonada which was excellent. John had a wonderful fish dinner!
After lunch John and I walked as far as we could along the shoreline until we met another river emptying into the sea. It was very scenic area and just wonderful to be back along the coast, walking beaches and looking out across the sea to a distant horizon.
Back at Playa Blanca we found a couple of hammocks in a quiet shady area under the coconut palms and relaxed for the remaining hour.
The ride back in the launcha was very lumpy.
The wind and seas were up and we were having to travel directly into them. So we went quite slowly, just chugging along the coastline until we reached the entrance to the Rio Dulce then we were able to make some speed, however by that time it was 4:30pm.
Up the river gorge we sped, stopping to view the caves along the way. Our final stop was to see the water lilies near a little settlement just before the lake.
It was a lovely day out enjoyed by the entire group.
Our wonderful early morning walks have continued, our friends Pam and Don joined us then they brought another friend along, the group has grown.
We see the rubber men walking the plantation, collecting the rubber, maintaining the trees and cutting the foliage below, life goes on in a steady rhythm here.
Plus we have started morning yoga thus making our exercise schedule complete. We have continued with the Mexican Train dominoes weekly meets and I was thrilled to place second one week then first the next. Overall we have been really quite busy, happily busy doing our boat chores and having fun.
