The (2009 - 2010) Voyage of Rejoice
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Olla!
It is beautiful here on the Rio Dulce with the mountains in the distance. We are well into the cruising life here already. The flights on Tuesday were successful without too many hitches and we met up with one another in Houston. The last leg to Guatemala was delayed an hour due to a passenger checking their luggage and then never boarding the flight. We got through customs without any problems and no fees on the 200 pounds of boat stuff we brought with us! Our hotel had a taxi waiting for us and the staff stayed awake to let us in. Wednesday began with an early breakfast at the hotel – no bigger than our house- a taxi to the bus station and then a 5 hour ride down the beautiful mountains to the Rio Dulce at sea level. The marina had sent a boat to meet the bus and we finished our journey with a local boat ride to the Marina Tijax. Our friends Diane and Bob Deans from Maine - boat Sanderling and dog Rudder- had cold drinks and dinner for us after I dug the bedding out of storage. We slept well (even though the air conditioning failed )because there is a hurricane off shore to our south and east and it is keeping the air a bit cooler than normal. If the temperatures were to be over 90, I don’t think we would be able to get all of our work and repairs done very quickly. So far the refrigeration and freezer are working, air conditioning problem fixed on day 4, propane fixed on day 2 so I can cook and make coffee. The food here at the marina is good and inexpensive so we are taking advantage of it. The pool is small and clean, the shower rooms better than expected. But we are definitely sitting at the edge of the jungle with sounds of the exotic birds and animals clearly heard in the quiet of the evening. Saturday night we joined 9 other cruisers from our marina and many others from several other marinas at Marina Tortugal for pizza, beer, salad and a movie for USD 8.50= 50 Que local – can’t beat that at home can you? BTW – the movie was Disney’s Eight Below about the huskies left behind on Antarctica. We both cried like babies – but there is a happy ending.
Friday I bought 2 lbs of giant shrimp for $13 USD. Diane and Bob took me to the ATM for local cash, the Saturday veggie market and the local supermarket. I bought a week’s worth of salad, veggies, fruit, milk, eggs and butter for under $32 USD. Sunday we got Forest away from the AC repair long enough to see another local sight = Cheeky’s combo hardware, grocer, marine store. I have to wash everything in bleach water before stowing for safety sake, but that is part of the local color. Air conditioning fix was successful by Sunday night and we slept like logs - Capn Forest worked and sweated so hard and his persistence was well rewarded. Forest and Bob found dinghy fuel today, and Bob and Diane showed Forest some more of Frontera = local town where the men wear cowboy boots and ten gallon hats on their 5 foot petite frames. We have enjoyed the pool each afternoon after working through the heat of the day, but thankfully it hasn’t been extremely hot. All is well aboard Rejoice! Tomorrow we will reinstall the sails and peek at the main under its cover after the heat of the summer layover and the varnish work begins. Please use our normal email while we are here at the marina – until Thanksgiving. We will get our local phone running very soon. We are planning to tour inland to Anitgua, Guat for a week before Thanksgiving, plan to enjoy Thanksgiving with 100 other cruisers at a large get together and then head east to the Bay Islands of Honduras by end of Nov.
Susan and Forest
Aboard REJOICE! Dockside Marina Tijax
Rio Dulce, Guatemala
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