Aeeshah

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Quarantine for 14 days

Once we arrived at Catamaran Marina we were in quarantine for 14 days. No, all the time previously spent on the boat on our own sailing from Belize, in Livingston and traveling up river did not count as quarantine. The health team that arrived to check us were in full hazmat suits, masks and shields. They checked our documents and took our temperatures – no Convid 19 test, they sprayed everything we had touched with disinfectant. These folks visited twice while we were quarantined on Aeeshah, but not at the end, which didn’t really make sense to me….but we got our clearance in our passport and that’s what counted.

What did we do? How did we pass the time?

We took ages having breakfast, looking at the news, facebook posts and such. We did what chores we could aboard with what we had aboard. John changed oil on the outboard, water maker and the main engine. We cleaned, scrubbed decks, cockpit and covers.

We chatted with friends who visited the dock, and caught up on the Catamaran news. Our friend Gillian took Chico out in the morning and evening so he was not stuck below 24/14. Basically we did what we could to pass the time comfortably. 

Foods galore

Since the whole convid 19 measures has reduced the chances for eating out to basically none, many restaurants, charitable organizations and enterprising individuals have started whole new lines of foods that can be ordered online and delivered to your boat. Even during quarantine we were able to access a few of these.

There is now a young Guatamalan lady who bakes sour dough breads of different varieties. These loaves are amazing and arrive warm fresh from the oven.

Then there is the weekly pie-a-ramdia, this is run by the local charity Casa Guatemala – https://casa-guatemala.org They offer, on Fridays, 3 types of amazing 9 inch meat pies, quiches and a large variety of fresh fruit pies. These pies are the best ever! 

Then there are the weekly baked goods from Diego and Cici – lemon cake, carrot cake, empanadas, foccia bread to name a few, and they are at Catamaran. 

And of course Catamaran’s kitchen was and is open, they even delivered a full meals on a tray to us when we were in quarantine. Oh just so many wonderful foods on offer, everyone is bound to gain weight.

Out and about again

Finally our day of freedom arrived, it was a bit of a dull day, over cast, but we were up at 6:00 and walking around the island. It was quite strange to be on land after just under a month aboard Aeeshah, but wonderful to stretch our legs at last. 

Walks/exercise/enjoying nature

I have taken to walking around the island of Catamaran and across the little bridge up to the tennis court around down past Kevin’s cassa and back around. 6 circuits takes about 45 minutes, at a fast pace. Trying to get my exercise in to get some fitness back after the months in Belize where we couldn’t walk far and now here where it’s limited due to restrictions.

The walks are simply lovely, almost like walking through a botanical garden. The grounds of Catamaran are quite amazing.

There are orchids blooming, hanging from the trees which shade the pathways, a large variety of trees, climbing vines, flowering shrubs, to name just a few delights.

The birds are singing and flying all around you, even humming birds taking nectar from the flowers. Jesus lizards scatter as you walk the outside trails, I love the way they run on their long, skinny, hind legs and a close up view shows how handsome they are, blue eyed with red nostrils.

Yes, the walks have been very enjoyable even if somewhat hot.

Where we venture ashore

Any movement off the boat requires wearing your mask and taking your hand sanitizer. We venture into Fronteras to the big new supermarket La Torre just once a week as we try to limit our contact with folks. The way there takes us down a canal passed what is best described as the commercial district where all sorts of wares are loaded onto local boats.

There could be tree trunks, sacks of cement, animals absolutely anything being loaded. We manouver past sometimes with difficulty and then tie up in the official La Torre dinghy parking lot.

Venturing into La Torre one must use the hand sanitize, have your temperature taken and only take the specially cleaned trollies for shopping. Of note is the fact that children are not allowed inside AND even spouses have to stay distanced. Normally one can buy anything you need there and so we no longer buy from the market or on the street. Hopefully one day we can again.

Aeeshah’s plans

Our overall plan is to have Aeeshah’s needed updates and structural changes done at Ram Marina during these months of continued lock down. Guatemala is not opening in the foreseeable future.

So the 1st step was to fine a place to live, as the major work will render the boat uninhabitable. Fortunately due to Convid 19 a number of places were available to rent as folks cannot travel to and visit the Rio. We looked at two and decided on the first one.

Our new home

The place we chose and moved into a week ago is simply lovely. Just 8 minutes away from Catamaran and 10 from Ram where the boat is now located – it’s convenient. Chico is secure as it is over the river and just attached to the shore and the housekeeper’s place by a bridge.

 

So Chico is unable to access the land. It is open and breezy, simple and modern, with all the conveniences we need to be comfortable.

As mentioned a housekeeper is part of the deal, but this is the norm here. I personally am finding this difficult to navigate, being used to doing everything myself. Katerine, the housekeeper, her little girl Katerine, and hubby Adel are quite lovely, and I’m sure in a few weeks I will become reliant on her help.

We had worked at Catamaran, for several weeks getting Aeeshah ready to be hauled. Everything and I mean everything, inside and out on deck had to be stripped and stored away. 

Off to Ram to haul Aeeshah

Finally we were off to Ram where Aeeshah was stripped of her mast and hauled. The whole removing the mast operation came first.

Wow, what an operation,

first a fellow went up the mast and attached the strap for the lift, next using the big crane after all the stays were undone the mast was carefully lifted,

laid on the dock and taken to the mast yard. 

We even had friends, Sabrina and Tom come along to watch the process

Hauling Aeeshah was a simple haul, no mast and she’s now so much lighter.

Aeeshah had her own awaiting a crew of men who will be recovering her worn decks and worn cockpit with new gelcoat. The rigger Tom is presently making the new rig. The Ram crew will paint the mast and boom, (once John removes all the working parts). The welder and fabricated are modifying the rudder as the present one’s stock is too short for safety. Those are the major works that are already underway or will soon be proceeding. We estimated maybe 3 months….

At our new place

Our new place is wonderful. The evening sunsets just lovely to watch. The sounds of the river, jungle and Katerine’s chickens are the sounds one hears. There are the fishermen to watch as they net with their children helping.

The afternoons do get a bit warm, but you have the option of a dip in the river. Having a full fridge, freezer, a washer dryer and such is a treat. John will be at Ram most days, I will be here getting on with sewing projects and my other interests. All is good!

“Life … is about not knowing, having to change, taking the moment and making the best of it, without knowing what’s going to happen next. Delicious ambiguity.” —  Gilda Radner

 

 

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Summer weather patterns begin

  The weather was definitely shifting into the summer pattern of squalls, thunder, lightening and stronger winds from any and every direction. We left our Blue Ground Range anchorage and crossed to Sapodilla Lagoon which is very sheltered in all weather. Unfortunately while crossing we lost our boat buddy Rodney the remora.

Rodney had been with us for close to a month, eating all that we threw over-board and watching us when we swam.

Sapodilla Lagoon

was where went to shelter from the weather that was approaching. This is a very sheltered lagoon that has an inner lagoon where the marina is found.

While there we visited with friends and had several very nice walks in the Reserve. The cloud formations and reflections caused by the weather were just amazing, but the horse flies that plagued us drove us away after 3 days. 

Back to Placencia

we went as we were due to re-up/extend our visas yet again. Placencia is a wonderful anchorage, but not at this time of the year. We were once again visited in the middle of the night by an unexpected massive squall. The wind blew like crazy, rain fell, and the thunder and lightening were ever present, worse of all were the large seas rolling in. 

Placencia Lagoon

That was it for me… enough, so we moved into the Placencia Lagoon. We had never been in this lagoon, so we slowly, carefully made our way in once the seas from the previous night had laid down. What we found was a wonderful sheltered anchorage in the outer lagoon area. Now the weather could carry on all around us and we would still get a good night’s sleep. 

This lagoon is quite a plain area of water, but when you have certain weather clouds and sunlight the scenery is magical. 

Re-up again or re-entry to the Rio Dulce?

So back at the end of May we had been very hopeful of entering the Rio Dulce on the first high tide of June. Everything seemed to be going well, all the authorities were coming together with a plan. We had submitted our info weeks before and really thought we would be one of the first boats to enter.

After all, we were coming from Belize, a disease free country, we were considered “older” folks, our boat draft of 5’ 10” required a higher tide and we had signed up in good time. However, Aeeshah was not chosen to enter the Rio Dulce on that high tide of the month. We were very disappointed, as most of the other boats in Belize were going.

Then, just like that, there was a complete change on the entry arrangements. The entry dates were open to “first come first served” bidding, but by this time we were too late for the good tides at the beginning of the June, so we selected and were granted permission for June 21st. 

We had already been, yet again, to Big Creek to do our very expensive “re-up” – extension to stay another month. Even the authorities there did not understand why we could not go with the other boats, why we too had not been selected. The Belizians have been wonderful to us, so welcoming and helpful, they made us feel welcome to stay for as long as necessary. 

Passing time in Placencia

By this time it was getting a wee bit monotonous, the heat was crazy and we didn’t see any point in going anywhere so we stayed put in the lagoon. Our friends on Rainbows End had also lost/missed their entry date and came into the lagoon anchoring near us.

Each day we would go into Placencia, get a few supplies, have a walk around, saying hello to all our local friends, enjoy an ice cream at Tutty Fruity, get take out dinner from Ma Ks or a Belizian Pizza from Cha Chee’s.

Some days we had lunch with friends Pam and Don and Rene and Michael at local restaurants. And we managed to fit in a grilled lobster lunch at Dawn’s Place as lobster season had opened! It was wonderful!

We were asked by friends in the Rio if we would deliver their batteries that they had bought earlier in the year in Belize City. They had been amongst the first group that wayyy back in the beginning of March had run for the Rio before the border shut, leaving their new batteries behind.

Arrangements were made for the batteries to be delivered to Placencia fuel dock, John with Don’s help retrieved them and loaded them onto Aeeshah. Their combined weight was 300lbs. 

Rene and Michael had been taking care of a local guest property – Sailfish. Rene had also been running the local net on the VHF to give news up dates to all the cruising boats, “stuck” in Belize. 

After a while there was just 6 of us cruising boats left, and by the time we were finally to leave we left 2 others there. Rene and Michael had a very nice leaving afternoon and dinner for us.

We said our farewells, checked out finally, made sure we had food to last till early July and headed out. 

Heading south

As we had no choice about our entry date (which again had been bumped now to June 19th), we had little choice about the weather we travelled in. The day before we set off more very bad weather moved into the Belize area. Again, squalls with heavy rain, thunder and lightening plus high winds. When in the anchorage it really didn’t matter, but while moving south it meant a quite uncomfortable, tense journey. (Belize had been in a 2 year drought, this weather broke the drought, caused floods, main roads to wash out and crops to be ruined.)

New Haven

Our over night stop was at New Haven, this too is a very large lagoon like bay. On our way there we were ahead of Pam and Don by several hours as they had left later trying to avoid the bad weather rolling in. We were an hour out of New Haven when they contacted us to say that they had lost steerage.

Their boat was simply going in circles, the wheel was not responsive, please help. We started back, this was of course into the wind and weather we had just left behind. After about an hour of ploughing back we heard from them – they had managed to get the emergency tiller set up and so were able to proceed, but would we stand by just incase help was needed. So we did an about face and headed towards New Haven.

We had another night of constant squalls, but this bay was so sheltered we were able to get a good nights rest. (Our rain gauge measures 5” and was full, so at least 5 inches of rain fell that night). In the morning John helped Don by providing a screw for the tiller and then we had a look around the bay.

Around New Haven

I do believe that in good weather, the bay must be stunning. The land is thickly forested, with 1 abandoned house/shack and a couple of strange storage containers. Hard Luck Harry once had cash crops growing here, pineapple, citrus, mango and such. The land is now just wild thick forest, with an over abundance of no-see-ums.

Near the shore we could hear what sounded like hundreds of birds nesting in the huge trees. At one beach I waded ashore to get a photo of some wild orchids, that’s when the no-see-ums started to bother us. 

Off to Livingstone

As it was another overcast, rainy day we set off for Livingstone with hopes of out running the weather. The skies were deep blue black with thunderheads rumbling behind us, ahead was clearer skies. Pam and Don on Rainbows End went ahead of us, just in case they had any problems, but all went well, they made it with no issues. We arrived at the Livingstone sea buoy where we dropped the anchor. The fishermen were just heading out for their night of fishing/shrimping, we were surprised by the huge number of boats. 

Anchoring off of the sea buoy was not an option we would have chosen as there is no shelter from the seas or weather, but this is where we were told we had to stay for the night. It was not a night to be repeated. It was rough and uncomfortable!

We were up and having tea by 5:30am just as the fishermen/shrimpers were returning from their night out. Watching their very rustic boats racing in with dozens of frigate birds, pelicans, boobies and laughing terns swooping, calling and competing for spoils from their catch was very entertaining.

Over the bar, into Livingstone

Meanwhile we lined up our approach to and over the dreaded bar.

So what is this bar: it is a long wide section across the mouth of the river which is shallow. Only during the high tides at the full and new moons does the bar have the depth for many sailboats with deeper keels to successfully cross into the Rio Dulce – Sweet River. Off we went just after 6:00am, down down down the depth sounder went, 00.05, 00.04, 00.03, 00.02, 00.01 and then 00.00 – No, we were stuck,

but just for a few seconds as a wave came and up we went, then on bottom again and so it went until finally we had hopped with the aid of the sea over the bar. Opposite the town dock we anchored near Rainbow’s End our buddy boat, awaiting the authorities. 

The arrangement had been that we make the anchorage between 6:00 and 7:00am and the authorities would be available to check us in. However that proved not to be the case for us few that arrived that day.

The authorities arrived at 2:30ish. The whole check in health check was very simple. I filled out a few documents, John answered a few questions, we had our temperatures taken and our agent Raul’s nephew told us he would be back in an hour with our paperwork. Which meant we received our documents around 4:00ish, too late to proceed to Catamaran Marina. 

We were not thrilled about spending the night in Livingstone off the town as firstly it has a reputation for having some very talented sneak thieves, secondly you have to deal with the wind, river flow and such. John slept in the cockpit most of the night keeping watch, but all was fine. 

Up the Rio Dulce 

Next morning 2 more boats crossed the bar just after 6:00am and we set off up the Rio Dulce for our home dock at Catamaran Island. Words could never truly describe the passage up River and through the gorge.

The scenery is amazing! A large variety of birds are everywhere, flying, roosting, swooping, you can hear their chatter and calls from the thick foliage lining the shores. And, wow! The insect shrills, screeches and whistles competing with the croaking frogs and toads tell of the abundance of wildlife.

It really is a most wonderful journey to take and on this day we had the most perfect weather. The skies were clear with a few clouds and a lovely breeze blew. Even Chico sat on the deck absorbing the view and chattering to the birds.

We passed the locals out with their nets and floats furiously casting and pulling, hoping for a good day’s catch.

 

The homes along the shoreline nestled in the forested shoreline, the occasional launcha speeding down river, the small villages where folks glanced out and waved to us, the Rio Dulce has a special flavor all of its own.

Across El Golfette

After the gorge we crossed the lake – el Golfette, this too was lovely as the clouds and mountains reflected on the lake formed wonderful reflections.

Of course my camera and I were very busy. We were then headed along the river again towards our marina passing the homes on either side.

Arriving at Catamaran

we were greeted by friends and staff who tied us up safely. We of course had to wear masks and were/are not allowed to have contact with the dock, but we were back and might relieved to have arrived safely.

The staff presented us with a wonderful goodie bag! Of which we have enjoyed every morsel of the cookies and banana bread, in fact it’s time for more – need to order from the kitchen……

“Everything we experience—no matter how unpleasant—comes into our lives to teach us something.”

—  Iyanla Vanzan

“A single event can awaken within us a stranger totally unknown to us. To live is to be slowly born.” – Antoine de Saint-Exupery

 

 

PHOTO ALBUM –>> https://photos.app.goo.gl/hKEHCo4eywgFXVab9

Placencia

May arrived and we were lingering in Placencia, basically waiting to hear of any changes to the state of emergency in Belize and Guatemala. Belize announced a further month of quarantine with a few up coming relaxation of certain measures, which included the opening of the Immigration, customs and Port Authority offices. This told us it was time, yet again to go and get our extensions. We were fine with immigration as they had previously given us 60 days.

Re-up aka rechecking in, again.

We still had to travel to Big Creek on the Hokey Pokey water taxi for the other 2 offices: customs and Port Authority. Our friends Pam and Don travelled with us, catching the 7:30am water taxi. Anywhere on land one must wear a mask, I understand the importance, but have no idea how the health workers survive all day for hours wearing them, they are so hot and stuffy. 

At Big Creek we separated from our friends and went to customs. Nobody had mentioned a change of hours and so we arrived for 8:00am opening and they arrived to open at nearly 9:30, apparently their hours were shortened. Ho-hum, it was a long time hanging around waiting, but we got our extensions and were on the 10:00am Hokey Pokey back to Placencia. 

Lovely Placencia – our home away from home

One of the benefits of having stayed in Placencia off and on for many weeks is that we are now known by the locals. The fishermen, the fruit and veg vendors, the few take out places we have frequented, the Chinese grocers and their families, the Digicel worker, the various security persons, Mr T at the main dock, other cruisers and surprisingly quite a few others.

We can walk around and meet and greet friendly, familiar faces each time we are ashore. It makes us feel quite at home. We enjoy a daily walk and surprisingly I can see something different during each walk. 

The story of Peanut

Now, we had a very “unusual occurrence” in the anchorage the other morning. A boat called Messy Monique had called for help on the VHF. We heard his appeal He was stuck on the reef/bottom, a boat called Chi-carne  went and towed him off and in — dropped anchor behind us. 

Meanwhile we heard from the VHF how he needed help! He had a dead engine, needed an alternator, fuel lines, and only 1 working sail. On top of which he had left the Rio the day before without checking out and had “crew” onboard. So, he gets on the VHF radio to everyone in the anchorage, appeals for help, (basically announces his stupidity), well understandably nobody responds, as he’s totally illegal, and a liability to us all. So, he and his “crew” drop the dinghy and go ashore.

Since we were the closest boat, later that morning John sees him floundering about drifting off in his dinghy, he felt he should “save” him. John goes and tows him back to his boat. The guy said he had panicked at being  all alone in the dinghy, with the engine now not working and having no oars. He calls himself Peanut, and he said his crew have now deserted him….. John says the boat is in some state, furniture on deck, just a mess, all this rust coming from chain plates. Apparently Peanut’s plan was to motor to the USA! Oh and he can’t sail as he doesn’t know how. Goodness knows what is gonna happen to him. 

Well, then 2 evenings later the authorities arrive, boarded and we saw they took Peanut away. The next day we went in to where the fishermen sell fish and the fishermen told us: The authorities told them that when they went to the boat Peanut was abusive and they ended up having a “fight” with him. They told him that they needed to take him to be tested and then he had to be quarantined for 21 days. Well, he pitched a fit as he had other plans. They took him, they tested him, took him back to his boat, took his dinghy away and there it sits on the beach by the fishermen — minus the engine which they took. So he is also facing  a charge of illegal entry and will go to court after his 21 days of quarantine. 

Blue Ground Range

(Yesterday, a person who has been doing the Placencia net contacted me and told me he had been approached by 3 French boats, they have been illegally in Belize since mid April – arrived from Cuba – and wanted advice as to what to do. He advised them to go to the authorities ASAP.) We returned to Blue Ground Range, a nice sheltered anchorage as I expected there will be quite a drama over the illegal French boats, we are glad we are out of Placencia for now.

It is very very quiet out in the cays, we see maybe 2 fishing boats a day, no sailboats, just nobody around. We were greeted by dolphins when we arrived, the animals and birds are free to roam. Blue Ground Range was once again good to us. We had windy nights, but were reasonably sheltered there. 

What do we do?….

The few days spent there were “working” days. John did various oil changes and upkeep work around the boat.

I spent more time working on my Christmas stocking project for the Grandkids.

I also started the task of editing our Go-Pro footage from the last year or more. I found that unfortunately a certain amount of the footage had been downloaded into the wrong format, so now I need to figure out how to use iMovie to edit the clips. (however this gives me more to keep myself occupied)

Chico – grass hunting

We visited an island we were anchored off – Little Water Cay. Chico’s grass had more or less died and he needs grass to chew. Off we went grass hunting…..we pulled up to what appeared to be a landing point and waded ashore through and across mud. The cay Little Water Cay proved to be quite different from how it appeared from off shore on the boat.

Much of it was cleared, there were a few casuarina trees and a few coconut palms — unfortunately the coconuts had been harvested. I managed to pull up some very course grass/sedge grass for Chico and then walked about. Surprisingly there was a small brackish pond where I assume the mosquitoes were breeding.

Along the seaward side the trash that had been washed ashore was horrible, plastics galore! And yes, we were being attacked by no-see-ums and mosquitos so we did not linger on Little Water Cay for very long. Chico was very appreciative of the grass, he was all over it chomping away.

Tobacco Range

Our next stop was Tobacco Range where our friends Don and Pam were hiding out — aka quarantine. 

John had arranged to help Don paint his boat. Don and Pam over the course of the previous month had sanded and painted their whole hull. There were just the gold stripes to go. For the 3 days we were there John helped Don and I continued with my go-pro and sewing projects. 

One, very pleasant afternoon we got together on Aeeshah for a game of Mexican Train Dominoes. It was fun and a welcomed break. 

Tobacco Cay

The next anchorage for us was Tobacco Cay. This island is on the outer reef, where we anchor is sheltered behind the reef as long as the wind is from the east.

Next to Tobacco Cay is a cut through from the ocean outside. The scenery and snorkeling here is absolutely amazing! 

For our first evening we were treated by the visit of a school of dolphins during sunset. They were a really lively school, jumping, swimming round and round Aeeshah, splashing and blowing water. We assumed they were after dinner which they were chasing around us. I tried and tried to get photos of them jumping in the sunset, but only managed to get surface shots.

The snorkeling through and around the cut is always stunning. There are dozens and dozens of huge tarpon that frequent this cut.

They glide through and around and around the deep waters. Some of them blowing bubbles, what for we have no idea. It is an amazing sight to watch these enormous fish, some of which glide by quite close to you. Again getting photos is really difficult, their size is not appreciated by the lens.

There were also numerous rays of different types that slowly swam by; there’s beautiful reef and reef fish.

I managed to get quite close and friendly with a porcupine fish plus I was visited by a shark. It too seemed very tame, or totally unconcerned by my presence. 

On our last day we took the dinghy across the cut/channel to the far side. There is no cay there just reef and what amazing reef it is…….

sheltered from the pounding outside seas but flushed by the clean waters the corals have thrived. We both found the area was spectacular for snorkeling.

Again there were leopard rays gliding by, wonderful reef fish of all types, shapes and size, plus the coral development was the best I had seen in ages. The stag horn coral was amazing!

Placencia 

We could see that the weather was forecast to change, it was time to head into Placencia to restock and seek shelter for the possible squalls that might be ahead. The journey back was arduous, no wind, stinking hot! Chico became stressed from the heat, panting and crying. I had to put cold water all over him to try to reduce his heat stress, which it did, poor kitty.

The days had been incredibly hot, just sweltering and the sky had become increasingly overcast so we did know that the weather was building up and a break would come, but nothing was forecast for the night that all hell broke loose.

I was awaken at just before 1:00am to the wind and rain pelting us. It was action stations, get off the front shade cover while being blasted, engine on with John idling into the wind to release pressure off the anchor, keep watch for dragging boats, secure everything that was being thrown about from the seas which were throwing us about…. What had occurred was a system to our south, (Bay of Honduras), developed and passed northward over the area. This meant that the anchorage which is sheltered from the north, east and west by land was now being “attacked/assaulted” from the south. There is no southerly protection so the seas quickly built up causing quite large waves to roll and crash in. The boats that were at the front of the anchorage were now at the back and backing onto the land, not at all a safe predicament for anyone, but even more so for them. We peered through the dark and pouring rain and were able to make out one of the boats that had dragged back onto a dock. We could see their struggle to get the anchor in and then head out to re-anchor. Meanwhile others were very worried about the land just to the stern of their sailboats.  The thunder and lightening were never right over head, but all around us, the wind reached a reported 48knots. It blew like hell till 3:30am and then eased enough for us to lay down, me below and John on watch in the cockpit. In the morning the boat was all a mess from the seas rolling us about and they were still rolling into the anchorage. 

We hastily set about getting the boat back in order, getting our laundry ashore and buying supplies. I just wanted to restock and clear out for better shelter. John insisted we were fine.

That night again the weather came down on us. This time though from the north-east so we had protection, but still another interrupted night’s sleep. 

Friends Michael and Rene had invited us, along with Pam and Don to lunch at the place they are care-taking. It was a very pleasant few hours catching up. We finished getting supplies, picked up our laundry and left for Blue Ground Range again. 

Blue Ground Range

Blue Ground Range lovely as always, peaceful with just 1 other boat. By our second day there several more boats arrived along with our friends Don and Pam.

We had a very nice dinghy ride around the mangrove cays and fishing camps, also another fun game of Mexican Train Dominoes aboard Aeeshah.

South Water Cut

With clear weather ahead we were off to South Water Cut for some snorkeling. Our first outing was to Carrie-bow Cay where we explored some of the shallower reefs.

My great find was a stone fish, at least that’s what it appeared to be, plus an enormous puffer fish that was camera shy. 

Rodney

Rodney was the name we gave a remora that attached himself to us for several weeks. He was very tame and loved the scraps that were thrown overboard. He was a super large remora, over 3 foot.

We have learned that the Guatemalan Vice President has agreed to the planning and organizing for sailboats to return to the Rio. Apparently the hotels, marinas and business owners from Fronteras formed a group to plead for the return of the boats, without which the area would economically “die”. We have no idea when this will happen or how.

The two countries Belize and Guatemala are still under lock down, so these arrangements would be “special”. Belize has not had any cases in over a month. Guatemala still has the virus, mainly in the barrios around the city. They too are aggressively testing and tracking the virus. We received documents to fill out concerning returning. The navy are involved along with the guarda.

All of these arrangements are out of our control, we await word from our agent Raul. Meanwhile we will just continue to enjoy our quiet peaceful days in Belize. 

“Arriving at one goal is the starting point of another” – John Dewey

 

PHOTO LINK–>>https://photos.app.goo.gl/wqjG2VnYTN6nWQaJ6

 April brings quarantine….

Our days were numbered, we had to re-up on the 5th, but on reaching Placencia the Dock Master advised us to do our extension as soon as possible. The reason being, Belize now had 3 cases of convid-19 and the Prime Minister was putting the entire country into a month long lock down. Apparently, the public in Belize City was not observing social distancing as requested, so everyone was to stay at home for a month. – We had 2 days to re-up and stock up and head out to quarantine in the cays.

It was a hectic time for us, however we managed to get fuel for the dinghy and Aeeshah, stock up on our dry goods, meats, produce, get a soda stream refill, get our months data, plus a wonderful fish take out from Ma G’s. 

Doing a re-check

Going to Big Creek for our re-up was a half day event. We got the Hokey Pokey Ferry which was full, not a soul was observing anything like social distancing so we just had to all hope nobody was infected.

As usual we had to get a taxi to 1st immigration, we shared ours with a German couple. At immigration we washed hands and waited outside for the lady to take our passports and paperwork, all went well and we were given 60 more days.

From there we taxied to Customs where we found the door locked, then had a 45 minute wait, outside – after washing our hands. The fellow returned and promptly gave us -30days extension, they couldn’t do more.

Next door we visited the Port Captains where again we were given 30 days, had paperwork filled out and paid to stay. By then it was nearly 12:00 when our water taxi was leaving so speedily our taxi driver got us back to the Hokey Pokey. Later I found out we were more or less the last folks they re-checked as they too are going to be on minimum staffing for the month long lock down.

And then we were off….so we thought

Back in Placencia we managed to pick up the last few items we needed and so fully prepared we decided to head out before being “stuck” in Placencia Harbour. Off we headed deciding on Laughing Bird Cay where we read they had moorings. We figured we could use one for the night then move on in the morning.

We knew Laughing Bird is a sanctuary with no anchoring, but information did say they have moorings. Well, after an hour and a half of motoring we spied Laughing Bird, as we approached I noticed the moorings were but 1 and very close to the beach. Then we saw what we assumed was the caretaker come out of a hut and aggressively wave his arms telling us to get lost, go!! 

Soooo, plan B was to try South Cocoa Long Cay, but the light to see the reefs was disappearing due to a large cloud and there were reefs along the way. We did make a valiant attempt at finding a path through the shallows, but after too much stressing we gave up and headed back to Placencia where we knew where to anchor safely for the night. We arrived back just before 7:00pm, and resolved to be up at dawn to “escape” to the cays again.

South Long Cocoa Cay

Up at 5:15 and out of the bay by 5:30 it was a lovely morning, off we set for South Long Cocoa Cay. We took the long route getting there which took us through the parks territory, which was probably not such a good idea. Arriving at the cay it took us a while to anchor up as the bottom was far from ideal. Finally anchored we spent an enjoyable afternoon snorkeling the nearby reef. The cay looked wonderful for exploring which we looked forward to doing the next day.

However the next morning during breakfast a parks boat arrived with 2 rangers aboard. They informed us that all cruising boats had to head back to Placencia and if we didn’t like it we could go, just leave……. They took photos of us and Aeeshah, not asking permission, just snapping them as if they were cops. Yes, they were quite belligerent, we tried to explain that we had been given permission to “shelter in place” that is go to a close anchorage and stay. However they were insistent we return to Placencia within the hour! 

Return to Placencia

So, once again we returned to Placencia. There we found that another official looking boat was doing the rounds checking boats/cruisers documents. This boat had a customs, an immigration, and Port authority officer aboard to recheck papers. So, once again we were checked, and, yes, more photos taken. When asking about going back out, or getting any information we were told to listen to VHF16 for updates. This sounded suspect to us as we knew they normally did not have any VHFs. Off they went, they did find two boats in the harbour that had not checked in so they were yellow flagged. 

Now this was the 3rd, April a Friday. Nobody was at the Port Authority booth on the dock all weekend, so really life in the anchorage continued as normal. Not really knowing if we were coming or going we decided to hang out in Placencia for a while.

Placencia is not a harbour that you would imagine as such. There’s just one small dock with a few colourful huts, – Port Authority being one, a lovely long beach and a few small, seaside resorts and restaurants. The “Harbour” is not for ships as it is shallow and so just us and other sailboats are anchored.

The fishermen have part of the beach where they clean their catch. At that time the seabirds – Pelicans, Frigate Birds and Laughing Gulls swoop and dive competing for the scraps the fishermen throw. In fact there is such a relationship between these wild birds and the fishermen that the men can throw the scraps and the birds catch them in mid swoop. 

Ashore there is the village with small shops, veg and fruit stands, tiendas such as hardware stores. Of course now all but the grocery stores and fruit/veg stands are closed. 

We were allowed to go ashore for necessities, groceries and laundry. When we do go we find the streets deserted, literally no cars, just no traffic, few people not even dogs walking about.

At the grocery stores we have to wash our hands outside before we enter. We have started to wear surgical gloves and masks, plus we have sanitizing gel. Only a few folks are allowed in the shop at a time, plus we have to avoid being anywhere closer than 6 feet near from each other. – much the same as everywhere else nowadays.

So in Placencia we stayed.We cleaned the boat, did odd jobs,  John got on with a few engine room fixes. I tried to do yoga, but found it difficult on a moving boat, plus it was very hot. Time passed and still no word from the authorities. We visited with friends Rene and Michael who are caring for a friends empty resort, life just ticked along.

John befriended the fellow in the Port Authority booth, when he finally turned up, and managed to get permission for us to go out to Ranguana Cay for a few days. But, we are not to tell the other cruisers on the boats around us….hummm not sure how that works, as most folks spend a good part of each day watching each other. Anyway a few days break would be nice, even if not fair to all the others.

So Easter passed, nobody was about, the village was empty, all was deserted. We did get news on the VHF and Internet of other cruisers in the outlying cays. They were laying low, surviving out there. It sort of struck me that we had more liberty than they did, as we could get supplies, have laundry done and walk on land.

After 10 days we decided to head out to Ranguana for a few days of snorkeling. 

The Port Authority officer had not been on duty for 4 days and Mr T at the public dock didn’t think he was going to be fussed to return. So with that information, plus our handy permission to leave text we hauled the anchor and headed to Ranguana.

We were delighted to again be accompanied by dolphins along the way. They were playfully racing Aeeshah and dancing in the bow spray.

We also caught fish! First time this season, 2 Spanish Mackerel and a large Cobia. The Cobia we let go and the others we kept for Chico. Once there we picked up one of the mooring balls.

We could see 3 men in kayaks a few women sitting in the shallows and a few kids. This seemed strange as every resort and tourist place plus beaches were supposed to be shut…. One of the men approached, his name was Sylvester, he wanted the fee for the mooring ball plus asked if we had any thing to smoke, which was a negative. We checked that we could go ashore – fee covers mooring ball and landing on island plus wifi usage, he said yes.

The rest of the day we spent snorkeling the outside reef. It was lovely after so long not being near any reef to snorkel. The seas were quite rough and there was quite a strong current running, but we covered the entire outside reef. I saw some very nice stag horn corals, a large tarpon, and many other reef fish. 

After our rinse off we headed for shore, where we were greeted by Sylvester, who informed us that one of the men did not want us to leave the area of where our dinghy was resting. I just went and sat on a swing by the water and did my wifi catch up. We figured afterwards that they had women and kids illegally there, as I had seen them creeping along under the palm trees, sort of sheepishly trying to disappear from view. Anyway, we were annoyed as we had paid and quite frankly they were rude. Back at the boat we decided to not go ashore again.

The next day we had a couple of wonderful snorkels at the inside reef. The seas were calm and ever so clear. The corals were beautiful, just so many fish too and the rays were almost tame. I also saw Flamingo Tongues, a Guinea Chick lobster, a Porcupine fish just to mention a few of the special sights.

This was about when we noticed a haze developing from the land and sure enough by the morning there was quite a thick haze. Yes, it was the beginning of the burning season. The time of year when the indigenous folks burn the grounds for planting, such a destructive farming method. And here we are now at the end of the month and the fires still burn. The haze makes each sunset and sunrise a hazy red glow. 

Blue ground Range

We headed off to a second anchorage, catching 2 large Spanish Macheral. However, one had teeth marks in it and the other was missing it’s lower tail area. Otherwise perfect eating fish for the 3 of us. 

Our new anchorage was Blue Ground Range, a sheltered anchorage amount some mangrove cays. Here we could get a very nice breeze, but be sheltered from the seas and also be able to explore the surrounding cays. 

We stayed in Blue Ground Range for 6 nights. During the day we would do boat work, chores or pursue hobbies/crafts. For John this was polishing the stainless, maintenance, and such. Myself, after cleaning, baking cooking and the regular mundane I started a Christmas Stocking making project.

My daughter in law had asked me if I would make stockings for Lily and Evie as I had made for my son Gavin, many moons ago. I had quickly picked up some bits and pieces when traveling back to Guatemala months earlier, now was the time to proceed. Basically I started by designing, then creating stencils, cutting materials and sewing of the new Christmas stockings. Sounds odd, but the task is strangely therapeutic during these terrible, smoky, pandemic days.

We rode the dinghy each day around the mangrove cays exploring the surrounding territory.

The water crystal clear turquoise we saw fishing camps where the reclusive fishermen live, an osprey and its nest and then some unusual abandoned structures. It was a very quiet time, hardly a soul about, just the birds.

 The osprey and its nest was the highlight of the bird watching, but we also saw all types of sea birds, herons and egrets too.

Back to Placencia we sailed to restock on some essentials. The smoke from the fires continued, the haze was thick, the dirty residue left on everything unimaginable. However this too will end soon.

“Life … is about not knowing, having to change, taking the moment and making the best of it, without knowing what’s going to happen next. Delicious ambiguity.” —  Gilda Radner

“Finding a problem’s solution is what gives life its gusto.” – Martha Beck

 

Christmas in Bermuda

 PHOTO LINK below—>>

https://photos.app.goo.gl/ZsYxJcr9TvVGKn486

For the first time in 7 years, since the time we first started cruising, John and I went home to Bermuda for Christmas. 

We stopped in Guatemala City for one day to do some gift shopping. Visiting the central market we found it in full seasonal swing!

There was even a skating/ice ring set up! Decorations galore and festivities abounding, we enjoyed our day just strolling around.

The next stop was Miami for some Airbnb purchases for Langata Lower and a few Christmas gifts. This was more of a chore than fun, but a necessary stop. 

Finally we arrived in Bermuda on December 9th a few weeks before Christmas. We were staying in our Airbnb – aka our home. 

The first week was mighty busy.

There was family to visit, Gavin, Katie and the girls, in their new home. Plus Kate and May to catch up with and Fabio to meet. Jessie and Jossie the horse and pony to feed for Kate, a few days and odd hours of babysitting to do, house maintenance, plus the garden to try and check. 

There were repairs to start. This time around they mainly consisted of plumbing problems. A pipe had broken, so there was water damage in the storage room, one of the water heaters had died and the pressure pump needed replacing. 

I also spent time cooking for everyone and cleaning the upper house where our daughter Chrissie lives with her son Quest, plus our grandson Ethan. 

On the Sunday before Christmas we had a grand baking day, mince pies by the dozens and sausage rolls by the scores were produced by Kate, Chrissie and myself with Fabio helping in the background. They were delicious!!

There were trips into Hamilton, both business and shopping, a visit to my family’s grave site after which we were able to have a quick drive around Somerset and along the Southshore Road. 

Before we knew it, it was Christmas Day. 

The morning was spent first opening a few presents with Chrissie and Quest, then off we rushed to 1st visit Kate, May and Fabio followed by a stop at Gavin’s and Katie’s. 

At Kate’s we opened gifts and had minosas, May loved the bike we got her, she also had a new miniature pink car which she proudly drove around the garden.

Quest really wanted the car for himself and had a hard time parting from it. Kate gifted us with a lovely sailing print for our place. It really looks wonderful in Langata Lower.

At Gavin’s the girls Lily and Evie were thrilled with the new fishing gear. Living right on the shoreline plus having a boat they will have lots of opportunity to fish. Gavin and Katie liked the Guatemalan painting we had brought them. It will be a splash of colour in their new house.

Back at the house it was full ahead to get ready for the Christmas dinner which we hosted for the entire family, excluding May for a few hours. We had a full menu, a kale salad to start, followed by the turkey, ham, cassava pie and all the trimmings plus 3 vegetable dishes and 4 dessert choices to follow. 

Quest’s Daddy – Ivan visited, he had brought Quest a motor bike, just a toy one but still it runs. Quest of course loved it.

At the table it was a squeeze to fit us all in, John and I, Gavin and Katie, Kate and Fabio, Chrissie plus the 6 grands. And it took John and I a good 5 – 10 minutes to serve up and get the food to the table. The meal was – I think – a resounding success! Afterwards the younger grands played with the new toys, the older grands and the rest of us chatted. 

The next day – Boxing Day is traditionally one for visiting, Gavin and Katie were having a house warming party celebrating their new house.

We all gathered at their house in early afternoon and were able to catch up with old friends. There was a fun castle and many children who all had a blast playing.

With just a week to go before we were to leave with Chrissie and Quest John and I had to rush to try to finish off everything we had hoped to do. The time in Bermuda as usual just flew by……

 “In every conceivable manner, the family is link to our past, bridge to our future.”
– Alex Haley

“A man travels the world over in search of what he needs, and returns home to find it.” – George Moore

 

PHOTO LINK –>> https://photos.app.goo.gl/N2AnPiUpRXWN6sTn9

Volunteering and helping: La Escuela de Amatillo

We became quite busy, John more so than I, with repairs to another local school. A fellow cruiser couple were approached and agreed to fund and manage the necessary workforce a small village school. 

The proposal for help was for a school in a nearby village called Amatillo. The village is situated on the property of a fruit farm. Some of the villagers work on the fruit farm and the farm supplies water for the villagers. However the is no electricity so in every way it is a typical village in Guatemala.

The villagers really wanted to fix up their school La Escuela de Amatillo (Amatillo School). The school is a three room building, government built years ago for the village children. 

But why would they need help? 

 An average wage for a Guatemalan is 25 Quetzales a day (~$4 / day). Therefore most families just get by day to day with just the basics, there is no extra money. Also in Guatemala, the school year starts in January, and continues to October. To attend school a child has to be a legally registered Guatemalan citizen, there is no official hospital or any kind of record keeping in these small villages, the majority of children are born at home and without any official documentation.  Then cost for a family to register a child as a citizen is approximately 150 Quetzales (~US$20), an absolute fortune for a Guatemalan family.

Another common problem is that in order to start school in January, the child must have a School Supply Starter Pack. The cost of the School Supply Starter Pack is 75 Quetzales (~US $10) per child. Again too much money for the family to afford and the government funded supplies do not arrive until April. This is disheartening as the children have already missed too much school and so most don’t bother attending.

Other needs that the villagers had was that the school needed fixing up, it was old, unsafe, ill equip and tired. Long story short: they needed help to get the school up and running for all the village children.

A Go Fund Me account was set up to raise the money needed to equip the school, ready for a January opening for all the village children. See here:- Escuela el Amatillo in Guatemala

 We were part of the volunteer group that visited to 1st start painting the building, inside and out. What a day that was, we started out early leaving Catamaran Marina at 7:00am with all that we needed. From the public dock we traveled to the village, down a rough road, past dozens of vultures and driving through a river as the bridge was partway collapsed finally arriving at the school. We were all set to paint the entire building inside and out. 

I painted with a hand brush cutting in. The building being made crudely of cement blocks meant that each block needed cutting in around with the paint. I painted so much that my right wrist ached for days after.

John used a roller and rolled all day. The villages were so keen that if you put your paint brush or pan of paint down or aside they would soon be claimed. There were mothers and children of all ages trying to help in anyway possible. Everyone was laughing and having fun.

Others were working on the toilets trying to fix them with new parts, while others were collecting more supplies, the villagers were either helping with the painting or with the fence being erected around the school. Busy, busy, busy, all morning and into the afternoon we painted and worked. 

When we stopped for the day we went to Rita’s house for a meal and a small Birthday celebration. 

John was back at the school for 2 more work days where he helped with desks, chairs, playground equipment, painting and other work. 

He also was a daily part of the team working at the marina to build the equipment.  In fact the first thing a few of the guys did was build a work area or rather extend the work area where the marina crew did their work. Thus giving everyone a work area.

 I helped with the painting of the play ground equipment and such. So that has kept us busy.

Birthdays and Thanksgiving

There were again several Birthday celebrations, one was for marina staff Mavi and Rosa. Much fun was had by all.

Thanksgiving was another celebration. At Catamaran the cruisers buy, cook, prepare, serve and clean up Thanksgiving dinner which is for the staff. The day of Thanksgiving everything was organized and everyone had their tasks.

The afternoon started at 2:00ish with “games” played between the marina staff and the cruisers, well some of them, as the rest were working on the food. 

The meal was served by us and then we sat all together for a large delicious Thanksgiving meal at 4:00pm. The desserts were next followed by clean up by us and the staff back to work. It all went very well.

Friends and boat work

We had several goodbyes with friends who have sailed for many different destinations. You sort of get used to good byes in our way of life. 

We did get a few boat chores sorted. The new name was put on Aeeshah and she’s been cleaned inside out in anticipation of Chrissie and Quest’s visit. 

Rocky: The Traveling Rock

Then our friends Derek and Carol presented us with “The Traveling Rock”. They had been given the “Rocky” when in Florida by a lady called Micheline. Derek and Carol are selling their boat and their journey is coming to an end and although they had not heard back from her they were reluctant to just leave Rocky behind. So, they asked us to continue the journey for Rocky. I agreed to include him in our travels and on our blog. Here for the first time is Rocky!

Chico

Chico has continued to enjoy his stay at Catamaran. Just the other day he came trotting down the dock with a snake in his jaws. Yes, a snake!! Thank goodness it was not a poisonous one, just a green snake. Gillian is watching him while we are away.

Guatemala City

It was soon time for us to leave the Rio and travel to Guatemala City then off to Miami and Bermuda. We decided to spend a day in the capitol and visit the central plaza and the market. 

In the Plaza de la Constitucion  we found they were all ready for Christmas, Feliz Naviadad, with an ice ring set up! We strolled around looking at the wonderful architecture of the Plaza de la Constitucion flanked by the National Palace to the north, the Cathedral of Guatemala City to the east, El Portal de Comercio to the south, and Parque Centenario and the National Library to the west. We wandered around the square and visited the Cathedral where a Communion service was taking place for a group of children. While in the plaza a memorial was being set up for all the young ladies lost in the Mayan struggles.

Off at the market we found again Christmas preparations were in full swing. Now this market is just massive, the prices amazingly low and the selection wonderful. We easily found everything we wanted and so were all set to travel home to Bermuda.

“Just as man cannot live without dreams, he cannot live without hope. If dreams reflect the past, hope summons the future.”

— Elie Wiesel

 

PHOTO ALBUMS: –>>

A Wonderful Trip to Tikal: https://photos.app.goo.gl/rBdqMrgxeauiEjU28
A Few Days around Flores:  https://photos.app.goo.gl/C23eoZMZ211pzE8W6

John and I had previously visited Tikal, but we had 2 days where is just poured and so we had planned to return. Asking me what I wanted for my birthday, I responded to John, “to revisit Tikal”. And so the plan was formed to revisit along with our friends Pam and Don.

Traveling to Tikal can be arduous from Fronteras as the only bus usually arrives full, in fact over flowing and so there’s a 4hour journey of standing in in crowed bus – that was experienced last time. For this visit we were fortunate to be able to tag a ride on a private tour that was already headed there. So on November 11th at 7:00am  we boarded a tourist bus at Mar Marina and headed off towards Tikal. 

The journey was a pleasant one past lovely countryside and on relatively smooth roads. We stopped for a lunch break and then at the fork in the roads that lead to Tikal our driver let us off. Our driver had arranged with a taxi driver friend to meet us there to carry us onward to Tikal. Sure enough our driver was there, a big fellow called Sergio. 

Once we reached the park gates we had to purchase our park tickets for the days we were to spend there. While doing that we met a tour guide who convinced us to let him do our sunrise tour, so we also purchased a ticket for the sunrise tour and secured his services. Now from the park gates it is 17 kilometers to the park and the few small hotels, this is a very large park.  

Tikal National Park

Tikal National Park is said to be 575 square kilometers of jungle with thousands of ruined structures.The central part of the ancient city alone contains 3,000 buildings and covers about 16 square kilometers. There are many other temples and structures in the Tikal National Park area, it is estimated that only 30% of them are unearthed.

Tikal is also part of the one-million-hectare Maya Biosphere Reserve created in 1990 to protect the dense forests of the Peten, which started to disappear at an alarming rate due to population pressures, illegal logging and slash-and-burn agricultural practices.

Our hotel was the lovely Tikal Inn. It had for us absolutely everything we needed, nice room, good food, quiet atmosphere and location being in Tikal. We dropped off our bags and set off to see some of Tikal for a few hours.

A Quick Look around the grand Plaza

We headed straight down the main walkway towards the Grand Plaza. We were all just so impressed by the beauty of the trees  towering above the sides of the lane. When wandering around Tikal you are surrounded by enormous trees which are home to toucans, parrots, wild turkeys, howler monkeys, raccoon-like coatimundis and countless other wild animals. 

After about a 20 minute walk we were in the Grand Plaza where some of most impressive temples are found, The Grand Jaguar and Temple II plus the Acropolis Central and Acropolis Norte.

There in one of the trees were some really interesting birds, Crested guans. These were eating the ripe berries and not at all concerned by the humans nearby. Scurrying along the remains of Acropolis Central were a troop of spider monkeys. We wandered around enjoying it all and then headed back to the Tikal Inn to relax poolside and have a lovely dinner.  

The first day in Tikal

The next morning we set out to cover as much of the Southside of the park as possible. Taking the left side pathway we walked for about 25 minutes till we reached Templo VI. 

Estimated to have 1st been populated by the Maya in about 900 BC. Tikal grew into an important ceremonial, cultural, and commercial centre over the centuries. Most of the city’s huge temples were constructed during the eighth century AD when Tikal became the greatest city in the Maya world with a population of perhaps 100,000.

Tikal started to decline at the end of the ninth century and was virtually abandoned. The causes of the Maya empire’s collapse remain a mystery, but wars, famine, overpopulation and resource depletion have all been blamed. Our guide, Almando, (that we had for the sunrise) believes that it was over population which depleted the water supply, deforested and killed off the wildlife thus the whole city system failed. And we tended to agree with him, just looking at the world today…..

Templo VI is know as Temple of the inscriptions due to its hieroglyphics that cover the whole back of the shrine. 

We then followed the Calzada Mendez pathway. Some scholars believe this is the original entrance roadway to the city. It led us to Palacio de las Acanaladuras – Grooved Palace otherwise known as G group. 

The palace has proved walls representing grandeur and luxury at the time. There were many different chambers which again are unique. The entrance is through a tunnel which represented a mouth of the “witz monster”.

Next was the Plaza de los Siete Templos/Plaza of the Seven Temples. This is renowned for its triple ball court built by Yikin Chan Kawil.

From there we followed the path to Temple V which is very impressive at a height of 184ft. It is the earliest of the temples it had been decorated with the rain and sun gods, but most of these hieroglyphs  have eroded with the ages.

 

Our stop for lunch was near Mundo Perdido, aka Lost World and Plaza de la Gran Piramide, the great Pyramid plaza as it is known.

As we ate lunch we had Coatimundis all around, some even tried to sneak up behind us to get some tip bits. 

We followed lunch by climbing the wooden stairs to the top of the Grand Pyramid. It is the oldest pyramid in Tikal and the Mundo Perdido, Lost World dates back to 400BC. 

The next stop for us was Templo Talud- Tadlero followed by Palacio De Los Murcielagos – Bat Palace or Palace of the Windows where we could see wonderful stone carvings that still survive. 

 

Our next stop was, Templo III the Great Priest Temple or Temple of the Jaguar Priest it remains unexcavated except for its “tower” which looms over the jungle at 180 feet. 

Meanwhile the monkeys both spider and howler monkeys were active above us. Pam spotted a pregnant spider monkey swigging through the tree tops.

We then climbed the stairway to the top of Temple II. This massive temple looks out over the Grand Plaza giving a superb view across to Temple I the Grand Jaguar Temple and out over the jungle. 

Our last exploration of the day was to the South Acropolis, it is gigantic. There is a central temple, platforms, terraces, and palaces all set up high looking down on the Central Plaza.

Here the highlight for me was getting a close up look at a Keel-Billed Toucan. I was exploring the rear of the complex and there it was searched beautifully in front of me.

Back at Tikal Inn we relaxed poolside, congratulated ourselves for walking just over 20,000 steps and enjoyed a lovely evening.

Day two around Tikal

In the early hours of the morning at the ungodly hour of 3:30 we had to arise to meet our guide Almado at 4:10am. He lead us through the jungle towards Temple IV for the sunrise. The problem was it was raining, which was quite disappointing, but nothing could be done about it….. While walking we chatted to our guide while he gave us more info about Tikal and the wildlife. 

At the temple we climbed the stairs to the top, using the light from our flashlights we found seating at the very top, turned them off and awaited the dawn.

Dawn came slowly, the rain eased somewhat and we could hear the jungle awaken. The noisiest were the Howler Monkeys, they were roaring as only howlers can do.

Around 7:00am we made our way down and followed our guide. He knew we were interested in the wildlife and found for us Keel-Billed Toucans and Montezuma Oropendolas to watch as they dried off from the rain in the trees above us. 

We all opted to return to Tikal Inn for breakfast and a nap.

After which we set off again this time to follow the pathways we had yet to explore.

Taking the right hand branch of the pathways we headed to Complex Q and R, known as the Twin Pyramid groups.

These again comprise of palaces, stelas, ball courts, altars and pyramids, but all distances from each other. 

The pathway we were following was called Calzada Maler/Mendez, the original city roadway. It led us next to Zona Norte, Complex O, and P plus Group H. Many of these are still to be excavated, but comprise of platforms, buildings, a temple shrines and more. These were apparently finished around 751AD. 

From there we had a 25 minute walk to reach Temple IV again. As it was now sunny I wanted to reclaim and see the view across the jungle in sunshine.

At the top it was a wonderful view across the jungle to all the other temples. Such a magical view!

Back down we had but one area to visit, Acropolis Norte, which dates back to 250BC.

It too is made up of many platforms, temples, rooms and altars. It faces the Central Plaza and is still under excavation and restoration. 

By that time we were all truly tired, that day we walked over 21,000 steps. Back at the Tikal Inn we relaxed poolside, ate a delicious dinner and crashed out.

Flores

The following morning we had arranged for a taxi to collect us and take us to Flores. Our taxi driver stopped along the way for us to get views of the lake, Lake Peten Itza, the 3rd large lake in Guatemala.

It is a beautiful lake and looks just like the ocean with its colors.

In Flores we had booked the Los Amigos Hostel and Secret Garden for 2 nights. This is a wonderful place to stay as long as you do not mind hostels.

We each had a private room and bathroom, John and I were in the annexed building nearby. The decor is to my eye wonderfully colourful and the food is International and we found it excellent. 

After a delicious lunch we set off to walk around Flores. Flores is an island which is joined by a causeway to the mainland.

It is jam packed with colourful buildings, tiny alleyways and loads of character so we were not disappointed. 

Our final day we chose to visit the market on the mainland, – San Benito. The market is quite large and caters to the locals with no other tourists around you know it is authentic.

There is absolutely everything there you could think of needing, I managed to buy an unpicker for sewing, Pam the local apron she had been wanting, Don and John local shirts.

I just love wandering around markets and seeing everything on offer.

Our last day was traveling back to Rio Dulce on the tourist shuttle. It was a bit cramped but leaving early we were back at the boat by early afternoon. Oh what a wonderful few days we had in Tikal. 

You have no control over how your story begins or ends. But now, you should know that all things have an ending. Every spark returns to darkness. Every sound returns to silence. Every flower returns to sleep with the earth. The journey of the sun and moon is predictable. But yours, is your ultimate art. – Suzy Kassem