Trip to Lanquin

While we were waiting for the boat to be launched back in the water, all the other boaters in our marina except Angelina left the river, so it was getting a bit boring.  We, along with Rodney and Katrina, decided to take an inland trip. One of the places many cruisers have on their list is a visit to Semuc Champey, a natural monument in Alta Verapaz, in the middle of Guatemala.  It is a natural bridge in a valley, above which are several stepped, turquoise pools, and is best experienced when there has been rain, so we figured this would be a great time to visit. 

One website states that Semuc Champey is becoming a popular site to visit, but can be a little difficult to get to.  Boy, is that an understatement!  We made reservations on the van from Rio Dulce to the Mayan town of Lanquin, which is close to the monument. We were picked up at noon and joined by four young backpackers, from Slovenia, Germany, Israel, and Austria.  (We are always amazed at the number of young persons from all over the world who set off, frequently by themselves, to backpack across Central America.)  About 45 minutes into the trip, we turned off onto a gravel/dirt road which wound itself up into the mountains.  With all the recent rains, the road was rather bumpy, and there are no guard rails on the side of the road overlooking deep drops in the hillside.  Since there was no A/C on the van, the windows had to be opened, making for a rather dusty ride.

After about two hours, the van turned into a guarded, fenced compound, which turned out to be a camp where the workers in the near-by nickle mines lived.  We were discharged and our luggage taken off the van.   We met up with another group of young travelers on the way from Lanquin (our destination) to the Rio Dulce.  Their van had broken down, and somehow they were brought to this camp, after what they described as a harrowing six hour journey.  They were loaded into our van, which then turned back the way we had come.  We sat for about an hour until a pick-up truck arrived, on which they started loading our bags.  Katrina and Pat, as the two "older" women, sat in the front, and the other six climbed into the back. The driver, who spoke only Spanish,  was one of the mine workers who lives in Lanquin and was on his way home for his once or twice per month visit.  We spent the next four hours on a very narrow muddy road full of ruts and potholes.  The driver honked the horn, or flashed his lights after dark, whenever he came to a curve, to let oncoming traffic know he was there.  Several times, one vehicle had to back up until there was room to pass.  The driver frequently shifted into 4-wheel drive, causing us to wonder how the ordinary vans ever made the trip.  Bill and Rodney and the other four had to stand up holding on to railings on the truck, as it was too bumpy and uncomfortable to try and sit in the truck bed.  We were about 20 minutes from our destination, after dark, when we came to a small village where they were having a religious parade in the middle of the road.  About 40 men, women and children were holding candles accompanied by several others who were carrying a "float" with a statue of Christ carrying the cross or swinging pots of smoke. They would kneel down while the leader read passages from a book, and then they would stand and walk slowly forward while singing.  After doing this four times in complete darkness except for their candles, as there was no electricity in the town, they finally came to a place in the road where they could step aside to let us through.  They were Mayan Christians performing the parade for Lent.



BB court at Nickle mine camp



Taking a break on a bridge



View from the bridge

 We finally made it to our destination, El Retiro Lodge in Lanquin, about 8:00 P.M.  After a buffet meal in the dining room, we were directed to our rooms.  Rodney and Katrina were lucky to get the last room with a private bath, while we got a private "hut" with one "matrimonial " bed, a small table and a bookcase.  The group toilets and showers were a short walk up stone steps.  The backpackers usually stay in dormitories for 6 to 12 persons.



Our private abode



Our room the first night at El Retiro Lodge



One of the sinks outside the showers



Truly a "throne," up 3 steps over septic tank

 The next morning, we saw that we were in a beautiful, riverside compound of palapas and wood buildings.  The open-air restaurant and bar down by the river served adequate food and was a fun gathering place for people from all over the world, the four of us being the oldest.  The second night, we were able to get a room with private bath, so didn't have to climb up the outside stairs to the toilet.

The morning after we arrived, we signed up for a tour of Semuc Champey.  That adventure to follow.

Back in Guatemala

We flew back to Guatemala City on January 16 and spent two nights in our usual hotel, Los Torres.  We visited some of our favorite shops and went back to the big Central Market for a few more Mayan souvenirs, now that we have a condo to put them in!  Rodney and Katrina from Angelina arrived on the 17th, and the next morning our marina manager, John, picked us up in his newly acquired van for the trip back to the Rio Dulce and our boats.  We enjoyed the ride and didn't miss the usual violent Spanish movie they show on the bus.

It was good to find Mobetah bobbing happily in her slip at Monkey Bay Marina.  Not many changes noted except the caretaker's children have really grown since we left.  Abby (6) and Bertilda (4) head off to school every morning in the launcha, often accompanied by mom and brother, Thomas (2).  Alan, at almost 14, leaves way early in the morning for his job in town selling shrimp, and then he attends a private school in the afternoon, not arriving back home until almost 7 P.M.


Off to school



Alan in school uniform with Spice, the marina dog



Abby, Thomas, and Bertilda love to pose for pictures

We got back into the marina life of boat work, happy hour, pot lucks, trips to town for shopping and trying various restaurants.  The only boaters left at Monkey Bay besides us and Angelina were Art and Renie on Jewell and Vonnie and Ray on Wishbone.  Ralph and Cheryl came for a week to check on their boat, Fortuitous, before they left for Chile for a year, where Ralph will be working.

The weather made boat work difficult.  It has been one of the rainiest years in Guatemala in ten years.  There were days of unending downpours.  Our caretaker, Efrain, has had to work hard at keeping the "green" from taking over the boats and marina.  It took us almost three weeks to get four coats of varnish on the exterior brightwork, since there weren't many sunny days.  Finally, by mid-February, we were ready to have the boat hauled for what we anticipated to be a 4 or 5 day "bottom job."  We have always done our own bottom painting, but in doing so, we just kept adding layer upon layer of bottom paint, so we decided with the inexpensive labor prices here, we would have them remove all the old paint.  It was kind of fun to watch three or four men scraping and sanding the bottom of our boat.  It was slower than we had hoped, but finally, after a week, they put on the first coat of bottom paint.  We expected the second coat the next day and then getting back in the water.  Unfortunately, the day before this should have happened, the one-and-only travel lift operator got mad at the boss and quit, so there was no one to put our boat back in the water.  They had to wait a week for someone from Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, where they build Travel Lifts, to come down to train more operators!  Thus, it was the end of February before Mobetah was back in the water.

We were fortunate to have our marina owner offer to let us sleep in his vacation house while the boat was in the yard.  We did all our cooking out in the cruisers' kitchen and spent much time in the cruisers' palapa, when not at the boat yard.  By the time we finally got back on the boat, we had stuff scattered all over the marina.  Now it is time to finish getting the boat ready for cruising.


Karl (The Marina Owner's) Vacation Home



Interior of Karl's Vacation Home



Bill at the Kitchen Bar



2011 in the U.S.

We flew from Guatemala City to Houston and Chicago on June 6.  The next two months were spent between Pat's sister's house in Milwaukee and her brother-in-law's mother's house in Butte des Morts, Wisconsin, near Oshkosh.  Much of the time was occupied with routine medical care, and Pat had carpal tunnel release surgery (getting old is not for sissies!).  In mid-August, we flew to Seattle, to spend two weeks with another of Pat's sisters.  We toured the Space Needle,  the Ballard Locks, and downtown Seattle one day, including the fish market.  Other days were spent taking ferry rides to various islands in Puget Sound, and visiting Mount St Helens and the S. W. Washington Fair.  The highlight  of the trip (at least for Pat) were visits from her sister in Milwaukee, her sister from Orange County, CA, and her niece from Hollywood, CA. Bill and her brother-in-law, Irv were bombarded by constant women talking! We all went to Vashon Island one day for a barbecue with Pat's nephew and his family, who live there. During our last few days there, we went to the cabin near Hoodsport and hiked some in Olympic National Park.


Irv &Nancy (Lunch at Port Townsend)



Pat with her sisters in Seattle

 .

World Famous Fish Market

The Locks

Mt. St. Hellens

Bill had been researching real estate during the summer and found some interesting properties in N.W. Florida.  So, late in august, we headed south in the car, stopping in northern Indiana to visit Nancy and Steve, who have visited us twice on our boat in the western Caribbean.  We rented a condo at Tidelands in Palm Coast, Florida to see how we would like living in that area.  We fell in love with it and decided to try for one of the condos that was in foreclosure.  While we were there, Pat's stepson and his family from Atlanta came down to spend a week with us.  We had fun doing "grandparenting" things, like lots of pool time, visiting the beach and spending a day at SeaWorld.  Bill spent a lot of time researching foreclosures and going to auctions at the courthouse.  We stayed through October to try for the condo we liked, but that fell through, so we headed back up to Wisconsin, with our sites on another foreclosure coming up in December.



Curtis with the kids



Rebecca with the kids

November was spent in Butte des Morts, where we decided to put a new engine in our trusty old Lexus.  (You know us boaters--always thinking of "re-powering.")  We enjoyed Thanksgiving with the Wisconsin family and even did a little shopping for the condo (which we did not own) at the worlds greatest hardware store (located in Butte De Morte, Wi).  As winter was beginning to set in, we packed up everything that we had been storing in Pat's sister's basement for the past ten years and hauled it to Atlanta in a little trailer behind the car.  

Pat with friend at the Hardware Store

Early winter view from the house at Butte De Mortte

We visited the kids again, added things stored in their basement to our trailer, and headed back to Palm Coast.   We attended the auction at the courthouse on Dec. 7 and won the bid on our "dream" condo.  After waiting the requisite ten days (actually twelve due to the weekend,) we were granted the deed to our condo. 

We had not been able to get into the condo before the auction, but it was the exact lay-out of the one we had rented, and we could peek through cracks in the blinds, so knew it was in decent condition.  It had been vacant for almost two years, so when we finally got in, there was some slight mold and dust, but otherwise, it was in good shape.  We spent the next week scrubbing everything from top to bottom.  Having no furniture, we brought an inflatable bed and bought a patio table and chairs at the Salvation Army, so kind of "camped out" at first in the condo.  We were able to get some more furniture on Craig's list, so are partway through with furnishing the condo.  We spent Christmas and New Year's getting acquainted with some of our new neighbors and the surrounding area. 

Front of our new condo



ICW side of our condo



Kitchen & Dining Room as seen from the Living Room



View of ICW from our living room



Furniture form Craigslist



Pat's Christmas Present



Another Christmas Present for Pat

On January 15, we put the car and codo in storage mode and flew from Orlando to Houston and then back to Guatemala and the boat.

The rest of 2011

Needless to say, it has been awhile since we caught up on our blog. We will try to give you a synopsis of the rest of last year.

After returning to Monkey Bay Marina in the Rio Dulce, Guatemala on 04/30/11, we spent a week getting Mobetah settled in her new slip along the outer long dock. Then on May 11 we took the bus to Antigua accompanied by our good friends Rodney and Katrina on Angelina. We spent a couple of days reaquainting ourselves with this lovely little town before hopping on a shuttle van for the ride to Monterrico, Guatemala on the Pacific coast. The ride was much different going west, as there was a four lane highway most of the way, and the land became quite low and flat as we approached the Pacific. It was out of season, so we had to search to find an open hotel. We shared a "penthouse" room that left much to be desired--the screens on the windows were torn, none of the sheets or towels matched, the toilet did not flush well, and the shower was cold! It also rained all night, so everything in the room was damp. We did find some nice places to eat and explored the little town. The sand on the Pacific coast is black from all the volcanoes, so from about 10 AM to 4 PM you cannot walk on it in bare feet, because it is so hot.

Pool at motel--nicer than room!

Fish dinner in town.

Woman carrying items to sell.

We decided we had seen enough of that part of Guatemala, so caught the van back to Antigua on May 14.

We stayed in a pleasant little hotel, Casa Cristina, where friends Norm and Linda on Ariel met us. We shopped, drank, ate, and toured Antigua for the next five days. On the 19th, Rodney and Katrina headed to Guatemala City to catch a plane back to the US, and we got a van to Panajachel on Lake Atitlan with Norm and Linda. The travel agent had recommended we stay at Hotel Jardines del Lago. It was quite luxurious compared to the smaller places we usually stay. We had King sized beds, lots of pillows and real hot water showers, and it included a nice breakfast in their restaurant. The hotel is surrounded by lovely gardens with many beautiful tropical plants and flowers. The first day we took a ferry boat to a funky hotel/restaurant on the hillside, Casa del Mundo, for a great lunch. The next day we took the ferry boat to San Pedro on the other side of the lake for lunch and sightseeing. Lake Atitlan is a beautiful lake nestled high amongst several volcanoes. There are many different groups of Mayans living all around, adding much color and interest to the area.

King size bed.

View from our hotel

Another view of lake from the hotel

Bill, Linda and Norm on ferry boat.

Cathedral in Panajachel

We returned to Antigua for two days, said goodbye to Norma and Linda who were returning to the US, and we took the 6 hour bus ride back to the Rio. (Always a thrill on narrow roads where everyone passes willy-nilly and the bus driver spends much of his time on his cell phone.) We finished getting Mobetah ready to leave for hurricane season, spent time at various places on the Rio, and finally boarded the bus for the 5 hour ride back to Guatemala City on June 4. We spent the night at our old stand-by, Los Torres Hotel, and flew back to Chicago, via Houston on June 5.

Bay Islands update! 01/13/11 thru 02/27/11

We left Monkey Bay Marina January 13th and headed down to Texan Bay. After an uneventful 2 hour motor down the Golfete (little gulf in English--a widening in the river), we arrived at Texan Bay and anchored on the inside. We met up with Terry and Sandi from S/V Gambit II (who had left Monkey Bay earlier in the day) for happy hour .... We probably got a little too happy that night! The next day Bill and Terry took the Texan Bay Marina launcha into Livingston to clear out of Guatemala. Everything went smoothly, and we were then ready to cross the bar out of the river on Sunday around noon  (Gambit was concerned about the depth and their draft). We actually crossed the bar about 10am and proceeded over to Cabo Tres Puntas (about 10 miles east of Livingston) and anchored for the night. The prevailing winds are from the east in this area, however they were supposed to die down and the seas were supposed to be somewhat calm the following couple of days, so we planned an overnight to the island of Utila in the Bay Islands of Honduras. We left about 11:00 on Monday morning and expected to arrive at Utila harbor the following morning about 7:00am or just after sunup. All went well, there was little wind, small seas, and no problems. We also did not get a single bite on the fishing lines!

We arrived at Utila as planned and went into town to clear in with customs, immigration, and the port captain. Clearing in was simple and uncomplicated. We explored the little town at the east end of the island. The town is full of dive shops, dive schools, hotels for divers as well as bars and restaurants that cater to scuba divers. The town was quite interesting, however, the holding in the anchorage was not very good, so "Mobetah" and "Gambit" went to the west end of the island to the Water Cays and anchored for three days. Even though the wind was quite high, which made snorkeling difficult on the open reefs, we did find a small patch reef just a few yards from where we were anchored that offered some superb snorkeling. We also spotted a lot of small conch but none large enough to keep for fritters, etc. We walked the sidewalk in the small town on one of the islands, visiting small stores and restaurants.

After stopping back by Utila harbor and doing some shopping and filling up with fuel, water and gasoline, we left Utila for West End on the island of Roatan. We arrived at the mooring field (operated by a National Marine Park) about three in the afternoon and were immediately invited to a dingy raftup. A dingy raftup is where a lot of boaters gather together with their dingys tied together and have happy hour (bring your own drinks and an appetizer to share). There were probably 20 dingies there, and a good time was had by all. West End offered good snorkeling and a number of tourist type bars/restaurants as well as gift and dive shops. The mooring field is completely surrounded by beautiful, clear water and reefs to explore. The one highlight of our time in West End was the Superbowl, for which many boaters gathered at a newly opened sports bar.  "GO GREEN BAY". We ended up staying two weeks at West End before moving on to French Cay Harbor.

At French Cay Harbor we found not one, but two, modern US style supermarkets, hardware stores, and US fast food franchises, computer stores and marine supplies. After restocking, we were off to Jonesville Bight which is only about 4 miles away. Many of the resorts and houses located around the edge of the bight (or small bay) are not accessible by road (only by water). From here, you go by dingy to Oak Ridge and on to Calabash Bight by a system of waterways which includes small mangrove canals. Accompanied by Gambit (Terry is a master at finding all the little local establishments), we discovered  many bars/restaurants as well as a seafood processing plant (shrimping and lobstering are really big here) which sold us headed shrimp for $2.00 US per pound. We've been back twice since then and have bought nine pounds so far.  They were processing lobster but refused to sell us any saying that all their lobster were contracted to Red Lobster in the states. We also met an assortment of expats who live in the area.

From there it was back to French Cay Harbor to pickup our guests, Nancy and husband, Steve. ( Nancy was Pat's college roommate.)  After one happy hour and one shrimp dinner, we picked up the anchor and moved back  around to Jonesville Bight for a couple of days. From there we went back to French Cay Harbor for more provisions.  We spent one day enjoying the facilities at Fantasy Island Marina and Dive Resort.  They have a beautiful beach and a nice pool.  Then it was back to West End for more snorkeling, beach walking, and visits to the little resort town.  Before we knew it, our guests' week was up, and they caught a taxi from West End to the Roatan airport. We hated to see them go, and they weren't too excited about flying back into a snowstorm in Chicago. (It was 80 degrees and sunny here.)

We stayed in the mooring field at West End until our week was up.  We were waiting to see when our Texas friends, Rodney and  Katrina aboard "Angelina," would arrive in the Bay Islands before making longterm plans. Their buddy boat got into some trouble, and they had to stop at Puerto Cortes on mainland Honduras for several days waiting on weather before finishing their crossing.

Rodney and Katrina finally arrived at West End just as our generator decided to go on holiday. We spent a couple of days with them before heading out for Fantasy Island Marina to have work done on the generator. We were lucky to get a side tie slip in the marina for $200 a week + $2.00 a day for electricity. We enjoyed running both air conditioners and watching the 30+ English speaking channels on the TV cable. Oh yes, we did find a young mechanic that was able to get our generator making 120 volt AC again, however, the selonoid shut off is shot, and we will have to get one once we are back in the US. (Meanwhile, we will have to shut it down manually rather than flipping the switch). Rodney and Katrina came up from West End once they heard about the air conditioners and cable TV ..... We stayed two weeks and they stayed three.

When we left French Key, we went up to Calabash Bight and anchored just off Mark and Lori's  "Turtlegrass Resort and  Marina" along with about five other boats. We ended up staying a couple of weeks there enjoying the NCAA basketball tournament on the TV in the beautiful home which Mark and Lori have been building for four years.  The resort is a work in progress, and a restaurant is planned but not yet operational. (Check out their website at Turtlegrass.net.)  There is a shell of a building overlooking the bight that has a kitchen and a bathroom. While we were there, the cruisers used some of Mark's scrap lumber to build a large picnic table, and Bill and John (from Up Jinks) installed three ceiling fans. After that work was accomplished, we cruisers had a place for happy hours, get-togethers and dominoes.

Since seafood was soooooo cheap in the area, we had another shrimp boil. Norm (from Ariel) had his big stock pot, and Bill had his jet burner, so Pat and the girls went on a shopping trip to French Key to purchase corn on the cob, sausage, potatoes, etc.  Norm cooked the seafood boil.  Lee Ann (from Live Sealee) made a great dessert, and a good time was had by all.

While we were there, Maggie, one of the marina dogs (Portaguese Waterdogs) had seven puppies, and they were named for the boats in the anchorage. Naturally, Moby was the smartest and the cutest one of the litter!

Finally, it was time to go, and we headed off to the islands of Cayos Cochinos (a national park) just off the Honduras mainland. We were accompanied by Rodney and Katrina along with Kent and Faye (from Southern Mist). The next day,  they decided to go on to the marina at La Saba (on the Honduran mainland), while we went back to the Island of Utila to extend our visas, since our 90 days were up,  and Utila's Immigrations is the only place that will grant you a reasonably priced 30 day extension.

When we arrived at Utila, we anchored next to Norm and Linda (from Ariel). After a day or so of sightseeing and eating in the village, we decided to go back to the Water Keys at the west end of Utila for a couple of days, since we had had such a great time there earlier. Big mistake!  The winds had shifted a little more from the southeast along with the waves and current, so our great anchorage was pretty rolly. The crews of Mobetah and Ariel decided to end the cruising season, check out and head back to the Rio Dulce. We left Utila about 4:00am headed for Puerto Cortes (where we would anchor for the night). Along the way, we caught a Little Tunny and a King Mackerel. The following day we motored from Porto Cortes to Tres Puntas and anchored there. The following morning, we left early (6:00am) for Livingston to clear into Guatemala. Everything went smooth and by late morning, we were cleared in and headed up the river to Texan Bay for the night . (We could have easily made it to our marina at Monkey Bay before night, however, the wind comes up every afternoon, and it would have made it almost impossible to get into our slip).  We anchored at Texan Bay and were so tired that we didn't even get off the boat.

The following morning, we followed Ariel up the river to Fronteras. While Ariel was getting settled into their slip, we went to the Puma dock to fill up with fuel. Once we were back and settled into our slip, we spent the rest of the day catching up with old friends from Monkey Bay.

Everyone was preparing to go home, so it was decided to pool our seafood and have a Monkey Bay supper. Terry and Sandi (from Gambit II) donated about 15 lobster tails, we donated our King Mackerel that we caught on the way back to the river, and several people donated shrimp that they still had in their freezers. It was quite a feast and everyone had a great time.

Now it's time to start preparing to store the boat during hurricane season while we  go back to the States to see doctors, friends and relatives. Maybe we'll do a little land traveling before we head out.

Stay tuned for more on the travels of MOBETAH