5/15/18 We decided to leave Utilla and head to Rio Dulce, Guatemala as a low was predicted to enter the area soon and the best time for crossing the bar at Livingston is on the 17th and then not again until the end of the month. We left just after 11:00 and motorsailed almost the entire way to Tres Puntas, arriving there just after 08:00 the next morning. We relaxed and swam to cool off that afternoon and waited until the next morning to cross the bar and head into Livingston to check in. A French guy came over and asked to borrow a jerry can of fuel as he was out and needed enough to get in and cross the sandbar. We gave him our last jerry can we had on board and he agreed to fill it when we got to Livingston.
 |
| Sunset at Tres Puntas the night before crossing the bar into Livingston, Guatemala. |
 |
| Watching our course carefully and giving her full throttle to bump over the sandbar. |
 |
| Whew! Just passed over the 5.5 foot area now back into 10+ feet. |
5/17/18 Leaving Tres Puntas at 0630, we motored in to Livingston, crossing the sandbar at 0836. Highest tide was predicted at 0907. Our timing was pretty good. We bumped bottom 5 or 6 times but never got stuck. Lequesteau got stuck once but managed to get off by themselves. Several boats had locals take a line from their mast and heel them over to make it across the bar. We anchored in Livingston and waited for Raul and crew to come to the boat to check us in. We had contacted him ahead of time and arranged for our check-in and cruising permits, etc. He came out shortly and we then went into town to get some lunch and cash to pay for our visas and customs duties. However, the power was out in town and the ATM's were not working. We managed to find a restaurant that would accept US money and had some lunch. We were quite concerned about not being able to pay our fees and having to spend the night in Livingston as we had heard it was not safe there. We went to Raul's office and he assured us it would be fine. He would take care of the fees and we could deposit money into his account from the bank in Rio Dulce when we got there. Thank goodness for Raul!!
 |
| Our first look at Livingston and Guatemala. |
 |
| Raul and all the customs/ immigration people |
Heading up the Rio Dulce River from Livingston to Texan Bay:
 |
| Beautiful limestone cliffs line the Rio Dulce in the Gorge. |
 |
| Many places here have thatched roofs. They are quite watertight and have to be replaced about every 7 years. The palm leaves have to be cut at the full moon to insure they are full of sap and will maintain their shape. Then they are woven into the thatch for the roof. |
We motored on up the Rio Dulce river to the area just outside of Texan Bay and anchored for the night. The ride up the river is beautiful and serene. Gigantic cliffs border the river in the gorge and lush tropical vegetation surrounded us. The French guy anchored nearby. He wasn't able to get any fuel to replace ours as the power was out in Livingston and now our fuel reading was extremely low. We borrowed a tank of fuel from Lequesteau and French guy would replace ours when we all got to Fronteras.
We motored on up to Catamaran marina the next day and found our home for the next several months. We both got slips at Catamaran marina amongst several friends we had met over the last few years: Steve on Slow Flight, Janice and Dave on Livin Life, Reggie and Shanique on Migrateur, and Dan and Melissa on Slow Dancing. We were "home." The marina is quite adequate with showers and bathrooms, power and water at each slip. There is a hotel here that is actually several cabins around the grounds and beautiful tropical gardens and a pool. There is a restaurant and bar and several areas for us to sit, relax, congregate and enjoy life. The marina boat makes several trips to the town every day (we are on an island.) so we can get in easily to get groceries or the numerous trips to get parts for projects. Other times, we just take the dinghy.
About a week after we got to Catamaran marina here on the Rio Dulce, one of the cruisers organized a zip line trip just down the river a ways at a place called Tenamit Maya. The place is a resort with very nice facilities. They offer two different zip line trips and even picked us up in their lancha and took us down the river to their place. The first time we did the 9 zip lines and the aerial obstacle course. Then had lunch at the restaurant there. It was so much fun! I wasn't sure I would do it because I am not good with heights but they have a lot of safety gear and are there to slow you down before each landing and help you onto the platform. It was so much fun we went back a second time a week later and did other zip lines and then a kayak trip to a hot springs and then back to the restaurant for lunch.
Trip One:
 |
| The facility had beautiful woodwork everywhere including this sink carved like a canoe. |
 |
| Got the harness on. Just need the gloves and helmet. |
 |
| The resort is still a working ranch and the scenery was gorgeous. |
 |
| The aerial obstacle course was more challenging than the zip line. Each step on this one was at a different height and was suspended so they moved as you shifted your weight. |
 |
| Walking the cable was the most difficult of all. Even though I was clipped on, trying to keep my balance holding only onto the top cable proved very challenging and fatiguing. |
 |
| The final Zip! |
 |
| There was a visitor up in the ceiling of the restaurant during lunch. |
 |
| Beautiful handmade tables and chairs in the restaurant |
Zip Line Trip 2:
 |
| Greg comes in to land at the end of a zip |
 |
| Got the hang of it now |
 |
| Greig and Caroline in the kayaks. We were quite happy to be on the water. It was 101degrees that day. |
 |
| This spider web looked golden in the sun. |
We took a road trip back to Honduras by bus to Copan Ruinas. There is a large Mayan ruins site here that was a fantastic experience. We stayed at Hotel Don Udo which we recommend as a quiet, clean and friendly place. We took a tuk tuk to the ruins and had an English-speaking guide, Marvin Diaz, who was great. He had a sense of humor, was very knowledgeable and spoke very good English. He made the visit to the ruins very worthwhile. If you ever go, you should get a guide to be able to appreciate the history and culture. Otherwise, you are just looking at a bunch of stone structures that you have no idea what they represent. We ate at two great restaurants in Copan. One was Carnitas Nia Lola where they cook on hot coals and the waitress brings little pots of coals with appetizers on top up the stairs, carrying it on her head! The shish kabobs were great and very filling. One order is plenty for two people. We also ate at Twisted Tanya's. The manager/waiter/bartender is Tanya's husband and she is the cook. Great food and very friendly service.
 |
| Welcome to Copan! |
 |
| One of the stelae, or carved Mayan statues which tell a story about the king or a historical event. Sort of like a Native American totem pole. |
 |
| Our guide, Marvin shows us the overall outlay of the whole Mayan village. It was quite large. |
 |
| Macaws in flight |
 |
| There are many of these mounds under which are Mayan temples and homes. They were covered over through time as the deterioration of the civilization began around 900A.D. Many times one temple was built on top of another. In one place there are four temples on top of one another. |
 |
| One of the altars where sacrifices were made. |
 |
| Another stella with very intricate carving |
 |
| Carvings all the way up the stairs on both sides |
 |
| Turkeys walked freely on the grounds |
 |
| Many of the Mayan structures were originally dyed red, a symbol of blood and life. |
 |
| In the museum: this was the façade of a home. |
 |
| A reconstructin of the Rosalila Temple in the museum. |
 |
| Caroline, Greig and Melissa in a Tuk Tuk, the local form of a taxi. |
 |
| A face only a mother could love |
 |
| What you lookin' at? |
 |
| Gorgeous toucan |
 |
| Don't know the name of this bird but he was so unique and not even shy. |
 |
| Many macaws are allowed to fly free |
 |
| Passed a local on the road bringing firewood somewhere |
 |
| A much smaller acropolis than the one in Copan but still impressive. |
People come and go all summer long here on the Rio, going home for a few weeks to a few months and a few just stay here all season long. We take our dinghy into the town here, Fronteras to buy boat parts or groceries but the selection of things other than fresh produce is very limited. Casa Guatemala, a local charity that houses and educates neglected or abused children and orphans has a grocery boat that comes to the marinas twice a week so we tend to stock up with them.
Some of the beautiful foliage here at Catamaran marina:
And our local avian resident who patrols the dock every morning.
We have found that Guatemala is a good place to get some work done on the boat that we don't feel comfortable tackling ourselves. You do have to be careful and ask around for recommendations and others' experience with different workers. We had a new dodger and bimini made for Lagniappe and had gel coat cracks repaired and the deck polished. She is looking spiffy. We had our hatch boards for the companionway varnished which turned out okay, but I could have done better. So we found a different guy to refinish our cabin sole. He and his crew worked hard and did an excellent job. While they were sanding and varnishing, we couldn't live on the boat. Friends, Dan and Melissa of Slow Dancing generously allowed us to stay on their boat for a few days while they went home. We planned a trip to Antigua for Spanish immersion classes while the floors were being done too.
We spent a week in Anitgua, Guatemala one of the former capitols of the country and a beautiful old city. A few weeks before we were scheduled to go to Antigua, the Fuego volcano erupted spewing mainly ash over the nearby areas including a lot in Antigua. They had to close the airport in Guatemala City for a few days and we even saw ash on our boat in the Rio Dulce, a 6 hour drive from Guatemala City. But we contacted the Spanish school and they said all was fine in Antigua and it was safe to come. We took Spanish class Monday through Friday from 08:00 to 17:00 with a break each morning and afternoon and an hour and a half for lunch. It was intense. Lessons were one on one with the teacher. Greg was absolutely wiped out after the first day and I didn't think he would go back. But he did and felt better about it after the second day. It was a lot to absorb each day and I would recommend doing the half day classes and take two weeks instead. But we didn't have that much time and made the best of it. The school arranged a home stay for us. We stayed with Senora Clara who was about 75 or 80 and her adult son. We ate our meals at the home but often went out after class with other students for a drink. We needed that! We met a young couple, Jason and Amanda who are now living in New Orleans and planning to open a mescaleria, a mescal bar. They were fun and taught us about the new, trendy, upscale mescal. I took a sip the first time but decided it wasn't for me. I'll stick with my mojitos and margaritas, thank you. Greg enjoyed trying different mescals, learning to sip them and roll it around on his palate to absorb the flavor. And there were no bad results afterward!
We met another young student, Hannah, who is a college student and is already fluent in Spanish (and several other languages) but was taking Mayan classes. And she may be coming to New Orleans for her graduate school at Tulane if she gets into the program she wants. Lots of NOLA connections. We walked with her to the cross at the top of a hill overlooking Antigua on the Saturday after our week of lessons. It was a short, but energetic hike and the view was fantastic. We also went to the HUGE market in Antigua that day. I had gone with my Spanish instructor as part of our class on Thursday and was amazed at the size of the market. It is several square blocks and has everything from new and used clothing, kitchenware, fresh produce, flowers, and toys, etc... The prices for fresh produce here are unbelievably cheap. Even a dozen roses cost only $3.00 US. A big, beautiful head of cauliflower is 75 cents. Meat and cheese is a different story, though.
 |
| La Merced church |
 |
| Arco de Santa Catalina with volcano Agua in background |
 |
| Wall of masks in Nim Pott market |
 |
 |
| Catedral de Santiago on Parque Central. The Cathedral building was begun in 1545, wrecked by the earthquake in 1773 and then partially rebuilt over the next century. The ruins behind the main church are quite interesting . |
 |
| Tumbled pillars with some ornate carvings |
 |
| The Saturday produce market in Antigua |
 |
| Rambutan, a fruit |
 |
| Dragon fruit |
 |
| Dragon fruit cut open |
 |
| Busy market |
 |
| Local lady selling sweets on the street |
 |
| Old buildings of Antigua |
 |
| The Londoner, a British style pub, had all sorts of Abita beer on tap! Greg pouring his own draft. |
We caught the bus early on Sunday and headed back to the Rio Dulce. The floor in the cabin wasn't quite done so we spent a couple more days on Slow Dancing. Then moved back onto our boat.
Before refinishing:
After Manuel's great job of refinishing:
We spent the next couple of weeks deep cleaning the boat and getting rid of food we couldn't save while we would be gone. On July 17, we took the bus to Guatemala City (6 hours) and stayed in a hotel overnight so we could get our flight out the next morning. Back home for the summer...………….
