LAKE ATITLAN, THE MARINA AND LEAVING GUATEMALA 11/21 - 12/1/2018

Besides Vreni and Thomas Anklin (reading glasses), Sue and Denny Vosberg (reading glasses and assorted toiletries) and Kathy and Pete Connors (cash used to buy children books in Spanish), we also want to thank Ann and Jim Heckbert (toothbrushes and reading glasses), Judy and Greg Berg (tooth brushes and toothpaste), as well as the Hudson Lions (reading glasses) and Hudson Dental (toothbrushes), for their donations to Pass It On. It is the charitable organization that Delana and I have worked with in Guatemala. If you would like to learn more, check out previous blogs and/or go to https://passitonguatemala.org. 

Other Stuff:

1. By the time we left Guatemala more cruisers had arrived to get their boats ready to leave the river, the rainy season had ended and Delana had done quite a bit of sewing (i.e., fitted sheets, ottoman cushion and pillow cases).

2. Coconuts can be dangerous! They regularly fall onto the cottage roofs with very loud bangs, and have narrowly missed hotel guests. 

3. We were also lucky to have survived after mistakenly using the wrong faucet and drinking river water for a couple weeks. Let's just say that in this area the river is used for almost everything.

After visiting Antigua and the volcano, we went to Lake Atitlan for a few days.  At one mile above sea level with a depth of over 1,100 feet, Lake Atitlán sits in the basin of a huge volcanic crater in Guatemala’s southwestern highlands.

                On the sides of the volcanoes surrounding the lake are eleven Mayan villages.         

 

I think only two of the villages are accessible by road; the rest can only be reached by boat.
   

Besides the villages, there are a lot of very small hand planted corn fields located on the steep sides of the volcanoes. 

I used to think that the Mayan women only dressed this traditionally in the tourist areas. but it doesn't matter how remote the places are, they take a lot of pride in their clothing and are always very colorful.

The same goes for the Mayan girls.

The Mayan men not so much, though these guys are more traditionally dressed than most.

 The four of us stayed just outside Santiago with friends of my sister's. They're a very interesting couple, particular him. They moved from the States to Guatemala over 30 years ago and were there during the local civil war. He had some VERY interesting stories and the experience staying there was kind of bizarre. I could tell you more, but then I'd have to kill you. This is the view looking from the front of the house.

The house was built entirely of stone and is cool and unique in a lot of ways but definitely had some issues, some having to do with dogs.

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We took a tuk-tuk into town where we caught a launch to take us to some of the other towns on the lake, each extraordinarily different from the next.

DJ connecting with his inner Mayan.

Now this is very strange. Between the two guys on the chair is a mannequin of someone/thing called Maximon. Legend has it that when men left the village to work in the fields, Maximón would sneak into town and sleep with their wives. When the men found out, they caught him and cut off all his limbs, leaving him behind as a womanizing torso. Besides his philandering, he was also well known for his bad habits of chain smoking and drinking heavily. Still, every year during Holy Week, an effigy of Maximón leaves his shrine and leads a procession through many villages in Guatemala. The two guys in the chairs are responsible for making sure Maximon always has a lit cigarette, as well as for giving him a shot of alcohol every so often. The guy with the hat and veil is requesting help or a blessing or something, while everyone else seemed pretty bored.  

And in the same room is a mannequin of Christ in a lit up glass coffin. The entire deal is very weird.

Women washing their laundry in the lake.

We watched a demonstration of thread being made from cotton and were shown the plant types that go into creating all the great colors.

The bag of coffee beans that Jennie and Delana are looking at is being weighed at a San Juan coffee co-op. A guy had just carried it in over his shoulder.

Here are some beans drying in the sun before being bagged. 

It's interesting how different areas have such different boat designs. In eastern Guatemala the locals use dug out canoes and in Honduras we saw a different style all together. This one is built of wood planks doweled together. 

San Pedro, like many villages, has a thriving outdoor market.

We also ran across this procession. I thought it was probably a funeral but it turned out to be the celebration of a holiday I wasn't familiar with.

This was a new one on me, but I can see the value.

On the way back to the boat we drove by this little corn field. Even though a lot of corn gets consumed in Guatemala, the fields are VERY VERY small and are found in the strangest locations. Many are less than a 1/4 of an acre and I haven't seen any larger than a couple acres.

While driving through Guatemala City (pop. 2.5 million) we stopped at one of its two Walmarts. I assume the other one has armed guard towers too.

Back at the river everything was as usual, with beers at The Shack, along with all the other sights in and around Fronteras.

A typical grocery/convenience store.









There's usually a weekly Texas hold 'em game.



This is an all cruisers band. The woman on keyboards is a Russian solo sailor.

El Castillo, a 16th century Spanish fort, is only a mile up river from Fronteras but we haven't been there yet. We'll definitely find time this fall.

Here are some more river photos to stress how important the Rio Dulce is the area. 

This is the water taxi stand.

Work crew coming home.

This family would often net fish right behind our boat at the marina. Fisherman would come to the marina to sell us fish.

Garbage needs to be hauled...

Scrap collected...

And stuff moved around. 

   

        

A month earlier, during are shakedown trip to Texas Bay, we discovered that our AWS (apparent wind speed) readout wasn't working. So Delana went up the 70' mast and removed the instrument. We then found out that the circuit board, only available in England, needed to be replaced. Luckily we were able to have it shipped to a marina friend who happened to be in England, she brought it back, and in a team effort Jennie and Delana went up the mast and reinstalled it.

I've mentioned how easy it has been to meet new people and how fast you make good friends. However, just as quickly, you end up going your separate ways and having to say good bye. This couple, who I met in Isla Mujeras Mexico nearly two years ago, started cruising about the same time I did. She's German and he's Austrian. Their original plan was to sail around the world, and I have some great stories about their preparation for that. Anyway, while in Austria this last hurricane season they bought a brewery. And though we spent time with them in Belize for awhile longer, their boat is now in storage on the the east coast of the U.S. while they are working on their brewery in Austria. 

We met Shanique and Reg in Belize a year and a half ago. They left the marina for Florida in mid-November and we planned on seeing them a couple months later in Belize. But instead they decided to get married in Antiqua in the eastern Caribbean, where she is from. They plan to go through the Panama Canal this fall and on to French Polynesia. Reg is French-Canadian and has been cruising for almost 8 years.

Norwegians Kaia and Jhell are hard core racers turned hard core cruisers. We did a lot with them before they left for Florida in early November. After spending Christmas and New Years there, they sailed to Panama, went through the canal and after a 30 day crossing, arrived in French Polynesia a couple months ago. They will not be happy about this Halloween shot of them.

                                   

The coolest part of the trip to and from Livingston, where we check in and out of the Guatemala, is going through the gorge. The "mountain range" that the river cuts through is what makes the river safe from Hurricanes. In the 1930's this area is where "The Adventures of Tarzan" with Johnny Weissmuller was filmed.

Even though this was my third visit to Livingston and we've been told to never anchor there overnight, I do like it. The water front looks like something from an Indiana Jones movie.

This is a fairly common type of public laundry.

Our fees are paid, passports stamped and exit papers issued. Next stop is the Bay Islands of Honduras.