Heading "HOME"

On March 21, we finally untied the lines from Monkey Bay Marina in the Rio Dulce and headed Mobetah out of Guatemala.  We spent two night at La Laguna, formerly Texan Bay, from where we took a launcha to Livingston to clear out of the country and indulge in the Garafuna specialty, a seafood soup called Tapado.  The next morning we headed out of the river and across the bar, followed by Angelina.  It turns out, we went a day too soon, as we ended up motoring into a NE wind and waves on the way to Belize.  We spent a few days in Belize visiting with Art and Renie on Jewell, doing some shopping for Belizean items, and anchoring at Colson Cays for snorkeling.  Pat, Rodney and Katrina found seven conch, which Bill cleaned, since he still couldn't get in the water.  Katrina later treated us to conch fritters and cracked conch.



Gathering Conch



Bill cleaning conch


We had two wonderful days of sailing north in near perfect conditions, until we arrived south of Cozumel, Mexico at dusk.  The wind then shifted more northerly, creating "washing machine" waves, so it was a rather uncomfortable night.  Thankfully, we had the current with us, so were able to get to Isla Mujeres by the next afternoon.  We tied up in a slip at Marina Paraiso and turned on the A/C and cable TV!

Marina Paraiso has been bought by a new owner, who is making some much needed changes.  There is a beautiful, new infinity pool, new palapa bar, a restaurant, and repaired docks with new pilings.  There is also a new grocery, Chadraui, in town, so one no longer has to take the ferry to Cancun for decent grocery shopping.

Marina Paraiso



One of the resident Iguanas

We were at the marina for Easter week or Semana Santa, which is an important week in the Central American Countries.  The Good Friday procession went down the street in front of our marina.  They set up stations of the cross at various points along the main road on the island and walk to the main square in front of the biggest church, where they inact the crucifiction and burial of Christ. Along the way, they stop at the stations for readings and singing.



One of the Stations of the Cross