June 9 - June 13 Texas Bay, Rio Dulce in Guatemala
It took us about 18 hours to get from Utila to Livingston where we checked in with Raul, pretty painless procedure. We decided not to stay overnight in Livingston because of security issues near this little Garifunas town. It took us 2 hours to motor from Livingston to Texas Bay, about half way from the destination to Rio Dolce town (called La Frontera), where marinas are situated. We enjoyed our stay at this beautiful tranquil bay for four days. We swam in the Rio (that was so weird to swim in the fresh water!), took dinghy trips to the "black" lake nearby to watch different kind of birds and plants. There were not any tiendas nearby, but the local boats sold us some veggies and fruits, as well as self-made weaving baskets. Couple little villages are situated nearby, but it was very safe to stay in the bay, even though local indigenous people live very poor. A lot of expats own vast and beautiful properties on the Rio, and we met with some of them. These people are actively participating in the local social life and education, and help a lot indians with the charities, funds and teaching.
June 14 - July Rio Dulce, Guatemala
Well, all our friends already situated in the marinas in Rio Dulce for this hurricane season. And it's time for us to join them. We got a place in Nanajuana Marina and Resort, where Miss Molly, Garua, Jade, Walking on Water and others are staying for the season. We gladly joined our cruiser buddies, and met with some new people. Most of the cruisers here speak English and it makes much easier to communicate and have fun, but not as much good for the learning Spanish. Nearby town, La Frontera Rio Dulce, is always very busy, dirty and stinky. It's built on the busy road and it's not possible to walk around the passing cars without walking right in the middle of the heavy traffic (mainly transferring a lot of cattle in over sized tracks). The crowd is very vibrant and colorful, mostly mayan Indians (not sure which kind of tribe out of 50). Women are wearing traditional outfits composed of the long pleated full skirt and over sized blouse from nylon lace, and guys are wearing cowboy boots and hats. The fruits and vegetables are very cheap and fresh on the street stands, also there are chicken sold just of the street, Sarita ice-cream shops, fish stands (not sure I want to eat the fish from this river where all sewage from the town and marinas goes), ferraterias, but nothing can beat the amount of shoes and cloth sold here.
Every day we some different little projects on the boat, and then in the evening all cruisers join for a happy hour or other activities. Here, in Nanajuana in Rio Dulce, we have more socializing than last season in Grenada in Prickly Bay! In the morning Marina is teaching yoga in Palapa, of Michelle leads aqua aerobics, twice a week we have Mexican Train (domino game) - ladies only, on Sundays we have potluck BBQ and Fridays happy hours. Uhh, there is no time to do anything else!
It's very hot and humid on the river and a lot of bugs, and it's raining almost every day.
This is Freddy, the rescued hog by the organization Freddy's Friends, who help abused and sick animals in Rio Dulce. The founder is Pat, a texan lady who loves horses, and she offers very cheap horse rides ($13/h).
This is Freddy, the rescued hog by the organization Freddy's Friends, who help abused and sick animals in Rio Dulce. The founder is Pat, a texan lady who loves horses, and she offers very cheap horse rides ($13/h).
July 5 - July 9 Guatemala City and La Antigua
We "escaped" our marina for 5 days and travelled to Guatemala City to visit Dermatologist (there are none near our town, not even in Morales), and then stayed in Antigua for two nights. The Guatemala City is a huge city, with different districts and practically there is not much to do in the this city. But there is a Walmart here! That is such attraction for us! We bought a large floor fan for our boat. The artisan market in the historical center is worth to visit if you are looking for cheaper mayan textile (and I bought quiet a lot). The city is not secure, you cannot walk on the streets after 7 pm and we were strictly advised to not to use red town bus, publicos, white taxis and "chicken" bus (the old yellow school buses tricked and repainted in the gangster style monsters). We took one of those chicken buses to Antiqua (it's about 1 hour drive on the scenic road in the mountains). We liked this tranquil and beautiful colonial town, which was restored couple times after volcano explosions and then earthquakes. Antigua used to be a capital city of Guatemala, but government moved to Guatemala City just to be sure not to deal with destroyed city time to time. The city is surrounded by three huge volcanoes, one of them is still active, and the view on the mountains from the streets is amazing. There are plenty of restaurants offering quality international cousins, as well as cheap local cafes. The coffee there is the best! A lot of coffee houses serving also crapes and pastries. Antiqua is known for the plentiful of Spanish Lanquage schools (I guess, more than 20), generally $6-8 per hour of the one-on-one instructions. We visited many of such schools for the information and decided to come back for at least a week of studies in September. I loved this town a lot and would be glad to be back! We stayed cheap in one of the hopidajes - $23 a night with the private bathroom, it's a deal!
On the way back we took a chicken bus again, got in the rush hour on the streets of Guate, and our driver decided to detour through the narrow and windy little roads of the poor neighbourhood. That was adventure itself: passengers were cheering a driver on extremely sharp turns of the steep little roads, and we thought that bus will flip over... but it did not, and we safely got out of the bus near first Walmart. I was a bit disappointed that Guate's Walmart is not so abundantly stuffed with goodies as our US one, and we did not find some things we wanted to bring back to the boat. But oh well, for a moment I felt like back home.
July 13 - 17 Flores, Tikal ruins, Lanquin - Semuc Champay
We went on the trip to Tikal ruins with "Miss Molly". The drive was just about 4.5 hours from Rio Dulce, and we took 1st class bus of Fuerte del Norte company to San Helena city. We stayed in Flores (a little town on a little island in the lake) at Green World hostel for GTQ 175 a room with private bus. It was ok, but very hot at night, even with a fan. Next day we got in the tour mini-van to Tikal. This is a very scenic archaeological site. It was very hot, but luckily the trails to the attractions are hidden in the jungle. We spent another night in Flores, and next day left to Semuc Champay. So far, it's the most beautiful place in Guatemala for us. We stayed in Oasis Hostel Lodge for 2 nights. The place is very nice and relaxing, everything is done for the comfort of backpackers, even camping with your own tent is allowed between newly built bungalows. Staff is very friendly, fun and helpful. They have a magic journal where they record all your charges and then at the checkout present you a final bill. With this method seems you spend more money than you planned too!
We hiked to Mirador, where we saw a breath taking view of the cascade of the natural pools in the woods. Then we enjoyed swimming in the blue and very clear water of these pools. Afternoon we had very exiting, adventurous and fun trip to the caves - we called it Extreme Survival trek because this trip in the caves is not for everybody. Swimming, crawling, jumping from the cliff, waterfall repelling, diving and all that while preserving a flame of the candle in one of you hands! Tough! And it's very very cold in the water.. But that was a great adventure.
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