Leaving the Rio Dulce, Guatemala 15:49.30N 88:44.75W
Five Islands
John & Sue
Mon 4 Apr 2016 02:05
All went to plan (hard to believe i know) and we travelled to Cayo Quemada for 2 nights (Q100 per night in the marina). Iguana Dance joined us there on the second afternoon then Marla & Eli promptly took off to organise their handmade wooden furniture from a local craftsman. 2 hours later they arrived back with a launcha full of wood, 2 deck chairs and a table. 3 guys unloaded it onto the dock then unloaded the coffee table to us. We were transporting it to Placencia for Jim & Cindy (friends of Eli & Marla). It was superb and had we not been so far from home they may not have received it. All this wood (dismantled furniture) was loaded onto ‘Iguana Dance. Eli, Marla, Laurie & Rod are all thinking "where is all this going to fit”. Jim & Cindy’s table tucked under our salon table for the ride to Placencia. We ventured down to Livingston in a small skiff with a local man, arranged through the Cayo Quemada marina (cost Q300 for the round trip), to do our checkout. Raul’s nephew arranged everything for us (Q610 including Agent’s fees, immigration & Port Captain). This allowed us 24hrs before we had to leave Guatemala. Livingston is a bustling place with a mixture of people from different cultures.  Women washing in the community laundry. The water level was very low (and a bit slimy). To get the water the women had to lean over the wall (feet in the air) to scoop water into a container. The water was then poured over the clothing in the basins. Soap was scrubbed into the clothes and the clothes were scrubbed/kneaded before being rinsed with another container of water. It looked like hard work and i can only image the bruising their thighs, tummies and ribs must have.  Looking across the street from Raul’s office - on the left is a small restaurant selling tortillas and fried chicken. Building construction with people wandering around on the roof (?3rd storey planning) and a tienda (shop) with a sun and dust protection sheet. A Maya/Indian women and baby walking up the street.  The pelicans and seagulls take up residence on a fishing boat. The boats go out into the Bay of Honduras late in the afternoon and return early morning. Daytime is for the birds. We travelled down the Rio Dulce Gorge the next morning following 'Iguana Dance’ cleared the bar at the mouth of the river (although the depth sounder was showing 0.3m clearance under our keels at one stage) then set a course for Moho Cay, Belize. Calm seas and not too many floating carpets of red weed this time.  Following the Dancing Lizards (Iguana Dance) down through the Rio Dulce Gorge.  A Maya family travelling downstream  Calm seas and yet another motoring trip. Note the ‘deck chairs’ on the deck of 'Iguana Dance’. These are going all the way to Florida then onto Puerto Rico into Eli & Marla’s house they have just purchased. |