Lake Atitlan, ChiChicastenango, Antigua, Guatemala Trip with Lourdes

What can I say about this trip but being so thankful that Lourdes was with me and endured ALL the rain, mudslides, road closings and change of plans.  We laughed a lot and dealt with the weather conditions.  A tropical wave came off the Pacific and then a low hung over us for almost 1.5 weeks.   One of the first questions Lourdes had for me prior to the trip is if we were going to ride “chicken buses” and was it safe to travel.  A “chicken bus” is usually the old USA Bluebird diesel orange school buses that get exported to Central America when they are not considered safe any longer.  Well all over South/Central America you will see them some in better shape than others.   The diesel engines continue to tick so that’s why they get exported.  They are usually painted very artistically and colorfully then named after some girlfriend or macho being.  The insides don’t always get a facelift and seats are still the uncomfortable bench seats you may remember as a kid.  Growing up in the country I REMEMBER!  I assured her that we wouldn’t need to ride them and that the touristic buses were safe. Well the only buses that were traveling during this timeframe were the “chicken buses” as their income depends on it, usually know the back roads and are less concerned about their safety.  I hadn’t realized that Lourdes had never been on a “chicken bus”!!  But we not only used buses but also many other modes of transport like – tuk tuks (small 3 wheeled covered cars imported from Thailand), pickupardos (trucks where you rode in the back with a plastic sheet on the top), shuttle vans and tourist transport buses.

So here’s our general route over the 2 weeks we traveled with lots of small village stops in between.  We went from Guatemala City to Solala, to Panajachel Lake Atitlan region, to Chichicastenango and then Antigua.  We had thought that we were going to travel further but weather limited us.  We chose this area for the mayan culture and traditional craft/weaving.  There is too much to really write about and possibly pretty boring for you so I will try to touch on the highlights.

We were very impressed with how hard and long the mayan men, women and children work ALL day.  They live in basic structures, grow or raise whatever they need to eat and may walk miles to be able to sell their craft.  Each mayan group has their own traditional dress, color, weave pattern and style.   I guess they were forced into this so the spanish could identify them. The  weight of the weave and how its worn differs in the highlands vs the tropical areas.  Even the men in certain regions where the traditional weaved pants, shirt and skirt (especially in the highlands).   But that is falling off as the women don’t have time to weave the items that they can sell to the tourists.  There is lots of history and battles the mayan endured during the spanish take over of land and life.  Their beliefs are deep and ceremonies varied with LOTS of candles (red, yellow, white or black depending on the need), flower pedals and copal (a natural incense from the bark of tropical trees).   They use idols like Maximon, mayan figures and saints mixed in with christian beliefs so its abit confusing when you look at their altars or praying/healing rooms.  The churches are shared and have different times for their services.  The mayan use shamans and go to mountain spirit centers for removal of bad habits, health, crops and marriage, etc.

We were able to see mayan shaman cleansing after hiking to the hillside ceremony site with a local guide.  They used white eggs rolling them around his body, then more prayer, then yellow candles, then both smoking a large cigar, then incense.  The daughter waited patiently to the side for this to finish.  The guide asked if we wanted one so I guess even gringos can partake.  They traditionally don’t bath how we do but in a special shallow sauna hut you lay inside.

It was difficult to understand who and how does one become a shaman.  Usually they are men but we did meet a women that had secret separate structure/rooms by her home where she performs.  Her girl brought us in these rooms in hopes to obtain a monetary offering.  We got into this home mearly by being curious when I saw 2 young girls lap weaving in the door opening while we were walking around the back streets.  We do believe that there are special shaman’s that are part of the mayan service and during special mayan holidays have wear special customs and masks.  Usually they were owned or passed down to the new shaman’s but now they rent them from a special mayan man that has that skill.

We traveled, ate and slept very reasonably.  The market comedor’s was usually where we ate for less than $4 each, slept in hostels or hotels for less than $10-15/night and traveled via “chicken bus” for less than $5.  I have always said that if you REALLY want to travel you don’t have to have a lot of money.  The young European/Canadian backpackers even spend less….  But if you wanted to stay in 5 star accomodations it is a lot less than most countries – especially USA.

We saw LOTS of craft, markets, weavers, cooperatives and even got dressed by mayan in traditional wear.  We both came back to Guatemala City with lots more than we expected.  I think we fed off each other in our interest for traditional craft but in all the countries we have visited I have never acted this way.  The craft weavings are wonderful and usually pretty reasonably priced.  They expected you to bargain with them and at times forgot how poor they are and what did $1-5 US really mean in the bigger picture of my life.  Most of the time we would sit and observe what was happening and how they operated their lives – totally facinating.  They are like work horses in how much weight they balance on their heads or how the men use a strap wrapped around the front of their heads to carry bags of corn, furniture, wood for cooking, etc.

The rain…..  we got stuck in Panajachel for a few days as bolders fell on 2 of the main roads, roads washed away, rivers flooded and homes on the edge fell in.  It was cold and we felt especially sad for the mayan in how many lives and homes were lost.  It was a national alert to warn of travel and road repairs.  Considering their budget I felt the government did a great job in communicating and providing resources for both local and tourists.  We finally decided that maybe we could find a way to leave Panajachel after talking to police, locals drivers, military, tourist travel boards as you never got exactly the same story so you hedged with what appeared to be most similar and IT WORKED.  We got out to the main street around 7:30am and started looking for transport.  We looked around the corner and saw a “chicken bus” where did that come from as there hadn’t been buses here for the last 4 days…. The driver said he drove the back roads all night from Quetzaltanango and was headed back in 15 minutes.  Of course, we still look around for other options to make sure as 15 minutes could really mean as long as it takes to get a bus load…   We also wonder about our safety, what the other roads look like and how can this same driver keep driving. So we hang in the area and within 15 minutes or so the driver starts the engine.  Off we go to the nearest town  (Los Encuentros) on the main highway of which we can find other buses to get to Chichicastenango.  It was rainy, foggy and traveled on many windy, hilly roads with mudslides.  I’m certain the views would have been spectacular if only it was clear.  The driver kept receiving or making calls to what appeared to be getting updates on the road conditions ahead.  We finally got to the main interstate with a HUGE traffic jam due to road closing/narrowing to 1 lane for both directions.  The driver motioned for us to get off and get over to another “chicken bus” that had just cut in front of us.  Lourdes got off/on alternative bus faster than me so had to force the driver to wait for me to get there.  I was delayed due to normal VERY crowded bus and taking photos of how odd this was happening….  So life is not always as you plan and one learns to make the most of it – usually!  I have to admit I was struggling with my emotions and felt awful for Lourdes.

Lifes adventures continue as long as you have courage and health!  My Love

Rose

Rio Dulce, May 2011

We left the Bay Islands of Honduras on Sunday, May 1^st and had a great overnight sail to Tres Puntas, Guatemala where we  anchored overnight in order to get up early on a rising tide to cross the sand/mud bar to get into Livingston, Guatemala. We were pretty salty as their were nice winds but along with that comes waves that occasionally break over the stern quarter. So we were blessed with a nice rain shower as we entered the anchorage.

The next early morning we crossed the bar which is about a mile. It was abit exciting to see the depth sounder go to below 4′ which with the offset is 6′ when we draw 6′! We felt the keel bump slightly once. So the routine is that you anchor in Livingston and call Raul (the agent) to brings out ALL the officials (port captain, customs, immigration, agriculture) to your boat to start the process to check you and boat in. Or should you say just to collect their money. The costs continues to rise at $160 the first 3 months and $240 thereafter for a year.

So this season we sailed from Panama, Providencia-Colombia, Vivorillos-Honduras (near Nicaragua), Bay Islands-Honduras then finally Guatemala so it was abit of a journey but enjoyable most of the time. We met a lot of new cruisers that we really enjoyed so was a nice social season as well. We can see why a lot of cruisers hang in this area as marina and living costs are reasonable, 15 nm to Belize and a overnight to Bay Islands-Honduras.

Its HOT here until afternoon when the land heats up so the breeze from the river/lake kicks in. Its not too bad at night but will be better once the rain starts apparently every evening to cool things down. We are up the Rio Dulce about 25nm so don’t get the sea breeze any longer. For some reason we waited a couple weeks to put our small A/C window unit in — it is pricey to run about $4/day at .46/kw but worth it. Getting things repaired and cleaned since lots of fresh water.

I was flossing and pulled a crown out a week ago. OOPS! So asked on VHF cruisers net (boats near Rio Dulce) at 7:30am if anyone knew of a local dentist in Fronteras (oddly known by locals as Rio Dulce). Apparently a dentist Dr. Carlos comes from Guatemala City on Saturday/Sunday so I called him and went to see him last Saturday at 7am. So I took the Catamaran Marina/Hotel/Restaurant boat shuttle (used to pick up/drop off workers in town) in at 6am and walked to his office. The last launch in the am comes back at 7:45am. Its always interesting to see what locals do at this time of the early morning. Its quite nice as its still abit sleepy as workers are cleaning the front of there tienda (store), taking things back out to the street along with asking if you want to buy something (always looking for customers). Plus the local ladies are bringing their corn kernels that were soaked overnight to the local grinder so they can make tortillas to sell. I found his office to be quite rustic but acceptable. After asking if he would try to finish by 7:30am, he cleaned, reviewed and cemented the crown (corona) back in while listening to chickens looking for food. His young 10 year old daughter Carmen was his assistant. Got back to meet launch only to find that they were at another dock and starting to head back to Catamarans. So I yelled and fortunately they heard me above the motor/chatter. Next time I’m taking a whistle! Got back to boat and proceeded to chip my front tooth along with needing some more of the crown ground off so called him back for a Sunday 7am visit. This time I brought my camera to preserve these memories. Each time I spent 150Q which is $21. AMAZING!

I and sometimes Tom have been walking at a eco tourist palapas/restaurant/marina resort called Tejax that a Canadian cruiser friend is staying at. So I grab the 6am launch that drops me off en route to town and ask that they pick me up en route back to Catamaran’s at 7:45am. A few times they have forgotten me as there are different drivers and have had to call Tom to come pick me up. Its abit cooler but still quite HOT. Its a neat place to walk as they have many suspended bridges some as high as tree tops along with rubber tree plantation that is constantly being harvested of its white glue.

I had a girl thing happen in December after about a 1-1/2 years of nothing so my OBGYN thought I should have it checked out. Cruisers and another Dr. recommended a OBGYN in Guatemala City (that speaks English) so I made appointments and took the 5-6 hour bus early on May 22nd to stay overnight and have physical, ultrasound and then meet with a OBGYN/Surgeon to see if he thinks. That was interesting to learn how to traverse the city buses/taxi’s/walk as there are dangerous sections just like any big city. I go back on Friday en route to fly to MN to have a diagnostic hysterocopy proceedure done in my uterus(camera).  I’m sure there is nothing. 

We also got up early and to take the bus to Morelas (next town) to have blood lab stuff done so can take to Tom’s Dr. for his Thyroid and Cholesterol stuff. Its much cheaper here than in states as we don’t have insurance.  When we picked up the results we noticed that they had missed his Thyroid test so fortunately they still had blood and were able to fax it back to Rio Dulce.

Have you ever had Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo (BPPV)?  Well I woke one morning to being very dizzy.  I started asking others and was amazed how many people had this issue.  So I started researching internet and found that crystals (octoconia)within the inner ear break loose.  I also found excersizes so started doing and it went away after about a week.  Aging sure is interesting.

Other observations:

I have realized that since cruising I don’t think I have purchased any garbage bags as you always seem to have enough grocery bags even though I use our cloth bags a lot.

Gas continues to increase and around $5/gallon in central America.

You buy a pineapple or avocado but it continues to amaze me with how many variations there are in each country. 

Oh my gosh – we have mostly left no see ums (sand flies) area. They REALLY are small but BIGHT like they are monsters. We now are seeing mosquito again and at least you can hear and see them!

My latest way to cool down while sleeping without A/C is to put a wet handkerchief on your chest.

Bus from Guatemala experience – start with A/C good thing as we sat for an hour in the heat waiting for an truck accident to clear, then none after our bathroom break so I open the window (thankfully this bus did have and the sun was going down), then bus assistant comes to open the windows, then watch a pregnant women and husband do nothing to open a window as she is looking sick so I suggest that he open window and does (WHY not think of this himself – its an example of Spanish culture), its dark but the interior lights don’t work or driver forgot to push the button, then we change buses ½ hour away from end of line. This life sure is interesting!

Rooms that advertise bathrooms and hot water as specialty items. 

Okay you can only get white eggs in Roatan, Honduras but now we are back with brown eggs in Guatemala. Is it the British?!?

We will be coming back to MN in June for 5-6 months this year as our renters have left our Pagan town home and Tom wants to spend more time with family/friends and land based things. So we will be updating the town home, moving our boxes/things stored various places and buying abit of furniture to start thinking about using this as our part time home. We may rent out a room to help with income and have someone look after the place as we will only be there 5-6 months out of a year so let us know if you hear of anyone. Looking forward to seeing ALL!

Holy Week (Semana Santa) Antigua, Guatemala

Guatemala celebrates this holiday in great magnificence, making it one of the most outstanding in the world. It is a crazy country, crazy but happy and profoundly attached to their dearest traditions.

So the highlight of the year is this season … the catholic population prepares months ahead. You must know about the Procesiones, those big solemn parades where people pick up on their shoulders the big platform with the glorious wooden images of Jesus and the Virgin Mary. The male carry Jesus and women carry the Virgin Mary Anda. 

And you must have noticed too, that men dress in purple. It is like an ocean of purple that when you see it makes you sniff your ziggy or your drink wondering if somebody put something funky in it … because it is quite a sight that takes over blocks and blocks of the city. Purple everywhere… a slow purple river flowing through every street and alley. Then you think “hey man, that’s kewl!”

Well, this purple garment goes back to the ninth century and the Crusades. It wasn’t like this all along, it has suffered some modifications, but the tradition of the gown, coat and belt do go back very far in history. 

The purple represents penitence. The coat, called “esclavina” is the main symbol of penitence. It can be white or black and White to commemorate The Last Supper and black in sign of mourning for Good Friday. 

Before, these gowns and coats used to have heavy and delicate embroidery out of silver and golden thread, making outstanding designs. If you are lucky, you just might see one of those on an 80 or 90 year old man who still carries on his aged shoulders the beloved “Anda” (the big platform), with the white coat turning into a yellowish memory of its original majestic past. 

The tradition of wearing the purple gown to carry the Anda is passed from generation to generation and the men of the families start getting them ready months ahead. Men in the purple gowns are called “cucuruchos”. 

Cucurucho is a cone, they used to wear a cone shaped mask before during the first procesiones, (very much like the ones the KKK had and I wonder where they got their idea) but now is used very little. They are purple as well. In Spain somewhere they are still worn and they are black and in velvet. In Guatemala they use now a funny alien shaped hat made with the same material as the gown. You’ll see it in the pictures. 

On their waist you will find a belt called “cingulo” that represents the self flagellation or self punishment, going back all the way to the middle ages. The color is up to the day too, black or white.

How do you get your spot to carry the “Anda”? They are called Turnos, and they are purchased ahead by donating money to the Church where your “brotherhood belongs”. They can get very, very … very expensive.

The turns or Turnos, change every block; but the very first ones, leaving the Church are an honor and cost a lot of money. When they leave the church, men don’t wear the purple outfit but a black tie suit. It’s very solemn! These “turns” are also carried on from generation to generation too.

And that’s not all, there are 7000 more Devotas (the women who carry) following with the Anda of the Virgin Mary.   As they carry this Anda while walking you get a swaying affect which brings the image to life which requires a couple in front and back to assist in controlling this float.

Another characteristic of “our” Semana Santa are the carpets. They are catalogued as Ephemeral art and it is speculated that they come from the Mayans, who used to make them out of feathers, fruit and exotic flowers for rituals and ceremonies. The other possible background goes to the Canary Islands back in the 7th century from the Christian era. 

These carpets are probably the most representative icon of the Guatemalan Easter. They are mostly made with dyed saw dust and people have the freedom to choose any designs they want. The groups can be integrated by a Family, a neighborhood or even a company. Some of these carpets are so elaborated that they have to be started a day before they Procesion passes. 

They are not only to honor the Image carried in the Procesion, but also carry a message or a meaning. They are like legends. Some are made in memory of a loved one, some are messages of gratitude… making this carpets not only a work of art but a special mean of communication between the makers and the Image they are venerating. 

The most popular material is saw dust, but people also use a lot bread, vegetables, fruits and flowers. Some people are more daring and use bottle tops, plastic and wooden toys or anything that will be useful to fulfill the creative burst. Usually, after the Procesion has passed, the poor people and bums pick up the fruits and bread left over. 

The chanting and the praying is so intense you will fall into trance. This is one of the most magnificent manifestations of faith, love and pain you can see in a lifetime. Go. Go to Antigua and look for it, it is an unforgettable experience. Watch them when they descend Jesus from the cross, it will bring tears to your eyes, I promise. At least that’s the way it was three years ago, last time I witnessed it by a matter of luck since I had to write a script for a television documentary about it. 

Well, fun facts about all of this: the Anda (platform) in average weights 2 tons but it can go up to 3, they are two meters wide and 24 meters long. 140 people carry during each turn, for a block each, they have a long wooden or metal stick that bifurcates at the end which is used to hold the Anda in ever turn shift. There is a small party of men with longer sticks whose sole purpose is to pick up electric wires along the way. 

The smell of incense chokes you… and if it rains… oh my God! There will be rivers of colored sawdust flowing turning the streets into a hallucinating scenario while they cover the Images with plastic. Raindrops will be confused with tears. People will stand there, faithful to their beliefs. Guatemala, without a Semana Santa would be incomplete. I took some of above story from Rio Chisme, a local and cruisers web site.

So that’s Semana Santa.   Was I moved?  Yes by the community involvement of all economic status, the pain witnessed on the faces of the carriers as their bodies sink which puts more stress on either side of you, the tears of past loss, spiritual connection, etc.  Catholisim is filled with rituals which I find comforting since my childhood and witnessed during the processions.  On a funny note, I kept running into this spanish women carrying her well dressed dog in the churches.  She would make sure that the dog saw all the vigils.  Everyone has a place in this life I guess!

But Antigua itself is an amazing BEAUTIFUL village with its Colonial ruins and renovated homes along with its cobble stoned streets and Mayan people dressed in their traditional wear that arrive daily from many villages, selling their special weave and art. In addition you also have ALL the MANY tasty fruits and vegetables grown in the highlands. This village was one of Guatemalan’s capitol from 1543 till 1773 when a earthquake destroyed it and they moved the capitol to Guatemala City. It is quite wealthy in Guatemalan standards and houses a lot of x-pats. 

To get to this great event that we made reservations for in January, we had to leave Sojourn on a mooring in Roatan, Honduras. We left 2 days after our friend Vicki Staudte from MN arrived. We took a 1 hour ferry to La Ceiba, Honduras, then the following early morning via a 12 hour bus to Antigua, Guatemala. We arrived during a evening procession and had no idea what was going on. Now we understand!

Roatan, Part II

Part 2 Brief Update March, 2011:

Our refrigerator is still working and batteries holding up. We plan on nursing batteries until we return back to the US summer 2012.

A MN railroad friend Gary who now lives in KC visited for a week. Its was a lot of fun with lots of laughs. We socialed and partied with other anchored cruisers for St. Patrick’s day at Fantasy Island Resort and Marina. Actually I (Rose) won a bottle of Cuban rum for best costume. Now that doesn’t mean much in cruiser lifestyle as who has Patty costumes or resources to get any Patty wear out here in Roatan. So I obtained a green napkin and ended up creating one of those childhood finger games where I wrote Irish proverbs on the folded square. Since I didn’t know where to put it – I placed it in my hair and then I found kelly green croc shoes to accessorize. I would play the game occasionally when I found a willing participant. Gary also helped as he wore a kelly green shirt. We sailed to West End Marine Park where you grab a mooring ball for $100/month. West End reminds me of Key West with hits hippy ways, sand roads and lots of dive shops, backpacker hang outs and restaurants. It’s quite different from West Bay where all the wealthy tourists find top resorts and cruise ship people go to the beaches. This is where Gary decided to take a Scuba Resort course and we were able to dive with him on his first official dive. He did great – especially since he hadn’t even been snorkeling in 30 years. We also rented a car and finally did get to the furthest east part of Roatan after pursuading Tom to let me drive up the rutty hilly gravel road. This is where my farm skills kicked in.

A day after Gary left Tom got very sick with high fever (102-3-4 then down to 100, etc. for 6 days) and weak but no digestive issues. Went to the clinic twice with lots of blood/urine tests for malaria/denghy and nothing came back except abit elevated white blood. Fortunately medical care at Anthony Cay Clinic (Dr. Rafael) is pretty good, english speaking doctors, reasonably priced and close to West End via reduced taxi (called collectivo) or bus. Dr. said he could start on malaria pills to see if that reduces fever after 2 days as its difficult to get conclusive results but that didn’t work. Next Dr. visit found possibly lung infection — maybe pneumonia so took x-ray and on antibiotic Levaquin 750mg for 5 days with lots of acidophilus. This NW Carib has been difficult on Tom’s health. Life for Tom was difficult — actually for both of us as its hard for me to see him like this plus I’m up with him checking temperature, giving him fluids/food before Tylenol/aspirin/ibuprofen, cooling him down with water/refrig gel packs and I’m washing sweat soaked sheets every morning, waking up with him, ect. His fever left 3 days ago but still weak so back to Dr. to see how lungs sounds and more blood work. Dr. said that he wants us to have his lung looked at via Pulmonary Dr and if Tom doesn’t get better we will have to go to La Ceiba mainland as they have more ability.

During this time I (Rose) have done a lot of diving with other cruisers moored here in between playing nurse and bringing Tom to the Dr. It gives me a mental break….. Some cruisers say its much better than Belize. The mooring here at West End is better than at French Harbor as you are protected from the prevailing East/SE winds so can still play in the water. You have long beaches to walk and a variety of vegee trucks come each day along with cheap bus to Coxen Hole for heavy provisioning. Plus you are away from the busy West Bay and town of West End so no loud music at night. Only the chickens and wind to wake you in the AM. But there is more social happy hours scheduled at Fantasy Island Marina – French Cay Harbor – but that is a mixed blessing and sorta like Georgetown, Bahamas. Oh the decisions us cruisers must make….

We did finally meet up with Dave/Ellen on S/V Cordelia from Marquette, Michigan who just came down to Guatemala last year. We stopped to see them in 2006 when we Duluth, MN. It was great to spend some time and listen to Dave play/sing. He is VERY talented.

On a sad note Tom’s cousin Leonard R. Bouchard recently died.  This is one of the many times we wish we were closer to MN and realize your own mortality.  May his kind spirit live on….

I’ve added photos as well so you will have to go the Photo link to see them as they are still posted on the old MSN spaces site.

Keep your dreams alive!

Roatan, Honduras

Roatan, Honduras February 1^st to March 8^th, 2011

Misc. thoughts or stories: 

We had just arrived in the area of French Cay Harbor, Roatan, Honduras that a lot of cruisers hang out so that Tom would have LOTS of sailors help him celebrate his 59th B-Day on Feb 3rd. It just so happens that there was a happy hour at one of the major resorts along with pizza night and a Cindy on Andante was also coming to the same anchorage SO she baked him carrot cake w/cream cheese frosting per his request. We had a great night! Plus since they sold alot more pizza’s than normal and another group at resort – they were delayed and SO they asked the Garifuna tribe dancers to come out to perform. Then Tom got pulled out at the end to dance with them….. So he was a tired boy. 

Don and Mary Losure came to go luxury camping on Sojourn week of Feb 7th. We decided to go east to more traditional area called Jonesville when the wind died down. There are lots of bights to anchor in this area. What’s unique is that you can dinghy to all of them thru various mangrove/reef channels and not have to go outside where the waves are large with the E/SE trades in this area. You go to main bights called Hog Pen, Oak Ridge, Fiddler’s and Calabash. 

I was interested in learning more about these traditional dory’s they use for taxi service as there are minimal roads in this area. So I waved to an older man and he decided to stop. We learned his name was Clyde. He ran tours thru the mangrove to Carib Point for $7.50/person and grew up here in Roatan. He told us that his ancestors came over from the UK and were pirates. He had a UK father and carib mother and appeared to have a difficult growing up but seems to be a jolly soul. He does have a few scares he is living with. as he doesn’t like that the “queer” Honduras President allowed spanish mainlanders to come to Roatan and squat on private land. He even lost some land to them. These dory’s are pretty cool as they are made of wood, have a inboard engine with line to steering wheel to rotate external rudder along with bobbin type control with line connected to the govenor for acceleration.  

It is the home to the historic “Hole in the Wall” bar where we met all sorts of locals and x-pats that have lived in the area for quite awhile. They have a huge bucket of free cigars made on the mainland. They pay around $.05 per cigar. We met the owner Bob who built a traditional 20′ all varnished wood dory 19 years ago. It is beautiful! He told us that he gets bored and has had 15 different engines or modes of moving this dory. It had sails, electric motor powered by batteries charged with solar panels and currently has a 10hp diesel. The bar has a pretty tame beautiful red McKaw called Apo (short for lawyer). I went in the back to say Hi and it picked up its claw like it wanted to be picked up. So I did a few times to see how it reacted and ended up bringing it to the front of the bar. I soon found out that it normally bites and should be cautious. Oh well – another lesson.

We got back to French Harbor for some snorkeling with the Losure’s and realized that it was going to rain for 2-3 days and have North and NW/W winds so not able to go to West End. So they decided to go hang out at a resort there and we would visit. As it turns out that was the best thing to do as it rained a lot and were stuck down below with chilly weather (almost similar to spring on Lake Superior). Then our refrigerator decided to die. After 2 days of running tests and skyping this retired refrigeration expert, we determined that the capillary tubes inside our evaporator holding plate were plugged. This can be quite challenging on a couples team working skills but we endured. So we started trying to figure out how to get a new evaporator bin shipped to Honduras which unfortunately charges duty on everything. But after +5 years of cruising this is the first time that we couldn’t beat the system so I guess our odds aren’t that bad. The biggest issue is not knowing when via air it will get here. You would think that they would have manifests that could tell us that at least its at the Florida office and when they expect it to be shipped. The Honduras office says they don’t know that info and we can’t call the FL office. We will continue to pursue options to determine this as one thing we have learned is to keep trying alternatives.

The weather here in January/February has been a bit odd from other areas we have been. We had a glorious full moon and the next day the spawning of TONS of jelly fish larva and jelly fish in general along with higher tides and garbage floating left over from the previous rain. Before the 4 days of constant 20-25kn wind we did get some great snorkeling and diving in. We hadn’t been since Bonaire so was good to experience how easy it felt. You probably don’t realize that salt water is never your friend anywhere on the boat. Well try keeping your clothes from getting salt spray or better yet drenched from the dinghy ride to/from your boat. So it takes abit of a driving/parking skill to minimize the salt water experience.  

French Harbor is the cruisers central activities center of Roatan so at times it gets abit much with always something you could participate in. So there goes my Spanish time but I guess I could ask if anyone knows of a local teacher that I could hire. Because these islands were once ruled by the UK the older speak English, Creole and Spanish but the younger mostly Spanish as it is now part of mainland Honduras. What helps this recreation center is that we are anchored next to a marina and high end Fantasy Island Resort. This resort just got purchased and is being renovated so doesn’t have a lot of tourists. The grounds are wonderful and close to fill our scuba tanks and rinse off once we are finished diving. Plus I initiated Yoga early mornings on the beautiful fir tree point with varied blue water to look out at while you breath thru the poses. This is a wonderful and thankful to leader Kathryn on Pelican!

The resort is not where you can get a local bus or collectivo (low end taxi) so you dinghy to the commercial repair dock for shrimp boats and walk a short distance to the road, grocery store, etc. You see horses and steer tucked in between resorts and local homes along with pine trees whistling in the wind which reminds us of MN as well. BUT you have to be out of here around 4:30pm as that is when they let out their night security attack DOGS. So its not just weather and pirates that we have to be careful about. Speaking of pirates – they just caught the Javier Marten from Spain who has killed 2 single handed male cruisers in the San Blas, Panama. He was able to illegally transfer title of both sailboats to his name and tried to sail away. That didn’t work so he stole what he could and hide out in the Darien area of Panama via horse.

During this windy time, we decided to rent a car with another cruising couple and go explore that back gravel roads of Roatan. It really is a beautiful island with many vistas and has the indegenous Garifuna living here. We still had time on the car early the next AM so my Venezualan friend, Marie Helena (S/V Not So Interim) and I drove via gravel rutted road to Cerro Brazil (235 meters) to see the views. At the top we found the Cesna central navigation station for the airport behind guarded fence. That doesn’t stop MH as she went right up and asked if we could come in to take photos of the views. We saw awesome views as we climbed the towers that Juan’s family living there were guarding. A lot of the employment is built around tourism created from the cruise ships, diving vacation packages and x-pats building their dream home or businesses. There are a lot of cruisers that leave the states and stop here. They sail between Honduras and Guatemala where they stay during hurricane where its reasonably cheap. Its abit of a journey and slog against weather to keep going east toward Panama.  

Well we got our new evaporator bin from Defender thru customs with much expense but at least it came and not damaged. It took us 2 days of ripping out old holding plate, freezer walls, adding more insulation, cut tubing and add flare fittings for the new filter dryer and installing evaporator. It was abit of a jig saw puzzle but we got it in only to find that it wouldn’t work after adding freon. Also realizing during this rip out process that Adler Barbor gave us bum info and possibly wouldn’t have had to replace evaporator holding plate. Oh so emotionally deflating. Plus while we were pulling vacuum to remove any moisture we were running the generator along with charging batteries. Pelican offered dinner that night and when got back to boat we saw that the batteries were boiling as the charge/regulator had malfunctioned. So we both just wanted to cry! We decided we couldn’t do anything that night so went to bed. The dreams that night were not good!  

The next day we started again and finally did get the evaporator to start cooling!! Yes – I am so thankful for my wonderful husband who endures when it gets tough by reading and is so smart! I do the – let’s call this person, what about this idea, etc. Not always helpful but I feel better. So we started putting all the stuff back in the quarter berth, starboard lazarette and rear locker. That is when you realize that we have a lot of STUFF – but we continue to use most of it. Over the years however our rechargable batteries for the drills, etc. are dieing so we need to buy new.

More Later….

Guanaja, Honduras – 1/19/11

Departed Vivorillos for Guanaja, Honduras 

Arrived around 1pm after a 155nm, 30 hour passage with beautiful full moon, no squalls, following wind/seas which at times made it slightly difficult to deal with sail combination (wing on wing – like a butterfly) but sailed most of the way. Good thing we had the moon to assist with walking around on deck. We anchored at El Bight and waited a few days before checking in at Bonnaca as you only get 3 months. Met up with other cruisers when arrived and went for pizza at Hans (german hippy man along with son) that lives here since 1995 and has a farm (grows lots including ganja). Very interesting. He makes wine, vinegar and lots of other stuff. 

We were surprised to see that Guanaja was so tall and most of the 10K residents live on a TINY Bonacca reef poured with cement to make it larger. The houses are crammed and have only cement sidewalks (no roads) and some canals to place their boats next to their houses. So sorta like Venice. Most of the homes on Bonacca survived the hurricane Mitch in 1998 but the rest of the northern part of the island and its trees were destroyed. The island is 11nm long and about 4nm wide with beautiful hilly sights. We’re going to go dinghy exploring thru the island via a canal to do some hiking on the north side. They get their provisions from mainland about 20nm away.  This is the first island since leaving Trinidad that hasn’t charged us immigration/custom fees to enter their country.   It’s not like this country doesn’t need the income as economically they are challenged as well. 

We went to Annette’s 50^th birthday party with husband Claus (another german couple) at Manatee Restaurant. They played old-time german music and I got to meet a lot of x-pats from US that have lived here a long time. Met 1st x-pat that moved here 40 years ago – Duluth, MN raised, 75 yrs old Capt. Al who brought a BUM boat from Lake Superior down the Mississippi to here. He told me that we should go meet Susan Henderson who lives here from TN that did the diving for most of the Discovery series and has a museum near Michaels Rock on the west side but found out she wasn’t here. 

We went on the north/west side of this island Michaels Rock Channel/anchorage to go on a hike to waterfall and for great snorkeling. Can only do it when weather is settled but even still the hills are high and night land breeze was pretty windy. The hike was in the jungle and up, climbing rocks, etc. with limited path markers. A collie type dog decided to come with us and it was a good thing as when we took a wrong turn it just sat there until we went the correct way OR he would start heading us the correct way. It was pretty cute so we fed him some of our lunch in gratitude. It was wonderful to swim and bath in fresh water. Guanaja, Honduras has some fir trees and very hilly so quite beautiful. 

We came back to El Bight for another cold front. It rained, so we have been bleaching/washing teak of mold and then put on lemon oil as heard that actually against my initial thoughts may help reduce mold growth. I haven’t been oiling for a few years. But this area in the summer is very humid so hope it helps. We are also collecting rain water in our tanks as a few of the watermaker fittings are leaking so need to work on that. We got internet on the boat via a used USB modem stick with Tigo SIM we bought from Andante. Living the high life now but then of course you are limited by how much battery capacity you have to run the computer. We also went snorkeling in this area which has very nice reefs but limited big fish like most places.   There is a dolphin that visits El Bight most days during his feeding rounds.  So I decided that I would go in the dinghy with my snorkel mast to see if I could watch it.  It sorta worked but they move pretty fast!  Never did get all the way in the water before it took off.

We took the dinghy to Savanna Bight to hike on the ONLY road in Guanaja going to Mangrove Cay to see the sights/bays and Columbus monument. It was pretty cute to see a few cars, horses, mopeds and enough population to support a taxi! The hurricane really devastated this area during Mitch and for some reason the Governor granted some land to the Hispanics from mainland Honduras so a new town called Mitch got created.

We had hoped to go around north side to Mangrove Bay to do some diving with Makai but determined that a STRONG front is coming so thought we better starting moving to French Cay, Roatan to prepare for Mary/Don Losure MN guests coming Feb 7^th.

Keep us posted as to your lives. We miss and like to hear from you!

Our Love

Vivorillos, Honduras – January 8, 2011

Depart Providencia, Colombia to Vivorillos, Honduras 

Had a GREAT SAIL (1st 24 hours avg. 7kn with minimal seas) passage, 36 hours @ 210 nm mostly had to reduce sail last 70nm. I think we made our best 24 hour period of 150nm. Got here abit early in dark so anchored back from reef, slept and then anchor once get more light closer to reef in sand. We deserve it as the last passage from Panama to Providencia, Colombia the first and last 30nm were horrible with wind/seas/current in our face and our little Volvo 28hsp just can’t do it! Check out Vivorillos on google earth N 15.51 and W083.19.  

Saw dolphins, helped a single bird take a respite, beautiful sunsets, sliver of a moon so lots of stars and caught 2 small and 1 LARGE 15lb Wahoo while sailing — so a wonderful trip. First time catching something that large with a donut rigged line and really don’t know yet what type of tuna it is. Good thing we could practice figuring out what to do before the large one came along and good thing I didn’t listen to Tom as he wanted to stop after the first 2 small ones. While cutting its gills and placing back in water to blood it out and again after cutting out its guts — we both were concerned that a larger fish/whale could come along and eat it with all the blood everywhere. Plus alot of clean up with blood and abit of scale on back of boat. Catching fish on a sailboat is alot of work! So the 2 other sailboats we traveled with Makai and Equinox will have supper tonight as it doesn’t all fight in our freezer.  

We hunkered down behind one of the cays in Vivorillos as cold front went thru with lots of wind/seas. Fortunately before and after front we had lots of snorkeling and bird watching. After about 2 weeks we continued onto Bay Islands, Honduras — another 155nm where we will stay for 2-3 months diving. So this season we need to make a lot of miles with Sojourn. We think we will end up dealing with the gear box/input shaft by transmission on the hard in the Rio Dulce, Guatemala. 

We are in an area with only option is hiding behind a reef or a few tiny islands. The islands are home to many birds, frigates with the males blowing up their red throat/chest with lots of clicking to attract females wanting to mate, the booby birds protecting their eggs with some already hatched. I was surprised to see that one booby chick (white fuzzy ball) as large as the mother but very clumsy, minimal wings and trying to figure out how to eat. I sat there a second time by myself just listening and watching…. Nature is an amazing thing and realize how much I don’t know.  

We were puzzled with what island group we should stay at during the blow, so saw some large shrimp boats from Honduras come in where we were anchored so decided to go chat with them. They look like an ornate hat. Their must be a nursery rhyme. I got ready to ask my questions in Spanish but determined once we got their that the captain spoke English due to England owning the Bay Islands for a while. Captain Bari was very friendly and provided us alot of info about his shrimping life of 37 years. He suggested that we stay here and if wind goes north to hide behind one small island. He also asked us if we would like some huge shrimp that he caught, cleaned and froze last night. Of course we said wonderful so Bari handed us a small grocery bag full of beautiful camaron. So night before the 3 sailboats created a potluck with fresh Wahu we caught and now shrimp from captain on Tin Tin. These shrimp boats stay out here from now until February so they make hay during the evening hours while they can and then return in July. They do 2 sweeps with nets per night. The nets can hold 2 ton of mud/shrimp/etc. Which they get in July but currently average around 3-400 lbs per night. They empty the nets onto the deck and crew of 5-6 people start picking off the heads and dumping into a light preservative salt solution before freezing them. He told u Currently we have 12 shrimp boats hanging around. They have LARGE supply boats that come out to take their 60K lbs of frozen shrimp and bring them water/fuel to fill their 12K/6K gallon tank and provide food supplies. We joked and asked them if we could be on their tab for some fresh vegetables. I think I may bake some cookies and bring them some for good relations. But they probably have a chef on board. We did go on 3 shrimp boats and each time got loads of shrimp so loving life and freezer full. Last shrimp boat called First One with Capt. Jim also gave us a huge frozen red snapper. 

We also met Joe and Douglas from Utila on their 35′ fishing boat where he travels the 200nm every month to catch snapper via hand lines. Their fingers looked very raw and cut up. They already had 500 lbs. on ice but waiting for this blow to finish before heading back.

Peace & Love