PHOTO ALBUM –>>.     https://photos.app.goo.gl/WsG3SduXwScnnVzS8

Possibly our last month in Rio Dulce?? We are not sure…..

Prepping to leave

We had/have just a few things to organise before we left Guatemala. As we have plans for travel further afield this year we needed our insurance updated. For this we planned to meet our surveyor near his home in Cayo Quemado.

We motored down river and went to Texas Mike’s place for dinner. John having his favourite, chicken fried steak, which is actually fried pork in a crust of breadcrumbs with gravy. He assures me it tastes great.

Well, our surveyor never came and we couldn’t get ahold of him, so back to Catamaran we went. He eventually arrived some days later….And yes, we have our survey. It’s actually brilliant.

Visit to Grutas El Encanto

With our Catamaran family of friends we went to Grutas El Encanto for the day. It is actually what it’s name implies grottos/caves that have an underwater stream where you can enter and explore.

The guide takes you deep underground where he tells you all about the stalactites, stalagmites and other cave phenomenon.

I didn’t do the underground exploration as I had a few open sores on my feet and that water is not the cleanest. However John went, was the camera man and reported it was interesting, there were a lot of bats flying about and some of the group covered themselves with mud for beauty purposes……

We, Steve and I, the ones who didn’t go, explored around the grounds and chatted.

Once everyone was back, cleaned up and dried we all had a delicious lunch. I loved the nachos! 

Birthday time

We always celebrate birthdays at the marina. But I dislike fuss, plus I prefer to do something, usually a trip or an adventure. This year, the weather was somewhat rainy and we really had spent so many days away I opted for a very low key birthday. We had a walk around Fronteras.

It is such a colourful little town, always lots of action, noises, music, folks buzzing about their daily business, selling every imaginable item, full of colour of every flavour…. Around the back lanes, under the bridge and then down the main streets where there is virtually no room to move due to all the people and traffic.

That day I looked for a new bag to carry my camera. I found a good one in one of the stores off the main street. One of the stores, where it seems absolutely everything can be found, as it crammed floor to ceiling with merchandise.

My second desire was to visit Mega Paca, this is the huge second hand merchandise chain in Guatemala. There I found some nearly new sleeveless shirts. After which we had a very nice lunch at a cafe.

Returning to the marina Muriel surprised me with a wonderful carrot cake. So, I had to share, and took slices to the pool bar for everyone to enjoy.

Mavi’s birthday was celebrated with a surprise party at the pool bar. She is the manager of the hotel and marina. We have known her for many years. It was a lovely celebration with the staff and cruisers enjoying the foods and drinks together for an hour. 

Walks on pipeline

With the slightly cooler temperatures we once again started our pipeline walks. The pipeline actually runs from Mexico all the way through, across the Rio and to Purto Barrios.

The roadway/track that runs along side it for a ways runs from a village near Fronteras all the way to Esmirelda, a village across the river from the marina.

There, many of the plantation workers live, plus there are many very luxurious homes of the extremely wealthy. For example the owner of Gallo beer and Tiago cellular companies…..folks with helicopters, mega motor yachts and such.

This little roadway can be very bumpy with huge potholes being created when we get heavy rains, plus deep mud in the hollows. So we were not really surprised to find that the roadway was being resurfaced, using brand new equipment. 

I enjoy this roadway as it is normally very quiet with just the rubber plantation or palm oil plantation folks about. This means you can often spot birds.

Another walk we enjoy is out of Fronteras towards the Castile/Castle. We enjoy this road on Sunday’s when there is less traffic.

The dreaded mining company uses the El Estor branch of this roadway for trucking their mining spoils. Huge trucks of ore lumber by at quite a dangerous rate.

The drivers are amused when blowing/blasting their horns on passing, stirring up dust and expelling fumes. On Sunday’s there is much less traffic.

We pass the cocoa plantation, a palm oil plantation and then do the circuit through the village by the Castile. Again there is lots to see….. 

On another day, we enjoyed a nearly traffic free walk. This one through Fronteras and over the bridge, under and back with virtually no traffic as there were demonstrations.

The folks here demonstrate by blocking the roads to all traffic. This really annoys many people, but gets the attention of the necessary departments. This Demonstration was concerning the mining companies. They are guilty of much of the environmental destruction in the area, poisoning part of the lake, and rivers, destroying the lands, taking ownership of the land that is rightfully the indigenous folks property. The trucks tear up the roads, drive dangerously and disregard the locals. They are owned, not by Guatemalans, but Russians, Ukrainians and believe it or not the Swiss. They do not care about Guatemala, just the mining rights. Lately, the story is that they have bribed a government official in order to “explore” an entire mountains side. Hopefully the locals get their way and those folks are stopped. 

Zaida’s baby

One day John, Derek and I went with Steve to see Zaida and her baby. Zaida is one of the Catamaran workers who we have known for years. Her babe is called Zaida too, she’s very little being just 5lbs when she was born.

We were welcomed and seated inside. Steve held the baby and we all were treated to mosh. Mosh is an oatmeal drink, made from oats. It is very nutritious and its milky flavour very nice. Zaida also showed us the pottery she paints and then sells.

Our plans keeps shifting due to the covid situation and the difficulty getting in and out of countries. However, we hope to leave near the end of December. Sailing through Belize, maybe stopping at isla Mujares, but landing in Marathon, Florida. Once there we intend to buy a few necessary odds and ends for Aeeshah. Leaving there we would hope to go to the Bahamas, before heading to Panama. But who knows what will be………