It's been a while since I posted...but for a good reason......Not much to write about unless you want to read all about my learning to be a diesel mechanic...pretty boring...

It's now Apr. 25 and Sarah, my niece from New Orleans, now a Peace Corp volunteer down here in El Salvador, came over for a visit to Rio Dulce....She brought her friend Cesar along and we spent a fun (3) days touring around some of the beautiful sites on the Rio....I took them to Livingston, Guat. in the Nutria Launcha which carries you through the gorgous canyon with 300 foot walls on each side with a side trip up a small river to the El Tanamit Indian country, then back through Texan Bay and past Gringo Bay where Jennifer holds court......................

May 01...today the internet was installed at Nutria so we'er now are ON LINE....

May 16.....A group of Marine Bioligists from William Carey College on the Miss. Gulf Coast arrived for a week of meetings with Nutria owners and myself.........one of the group Gene Cox is the owner of a 65 foot schooner ENCOUNTER presently based in Rio Dulce......the schooner is to be a floating classrom for about 10 to 20 students at workshops to be held at Nutria as well as using our dormitorio for housing for the students....I was invited to assist in sailing the Schooner to Livingston and back with the biologists on board again through the "canyon", blew the biologists minds........this is just one of the many groups that I've been persuing to develop the workshops for Nutria..........................................

June 17, Sat.......went to swap-meet @ Mario's Marina and found a much needed VHF radio for $50.....spent the rest of the day being lazy.

June 21 Wed.......Looking back and reminescing over the past (6) mo.living in the palapa on the river. Every morning I would have my coffee on my front porch and watch the river traffic. I lived on a very busy intersection, traffic mostly local indians in their dug-out canoes, or cayucas, the same as the past several hundred years. you begin to recognize a lot of the faces and they always speak or wave to me as they pass.  The village elementary school is nearby and the children would be dropped off at a landing about 100 yards from me.  Some paddle their own cayucas and some were dropped off by parents.  One cayuca always caught my eye, three little girls, obviously sisters, always came in their own cayuca, about an ( footer.The oldest, probably 3 rd or 4 th grader always in the helmsman seat at rear, second oldest in middle with the smallest in the front. Each had a custom paddle to fit.  They were always right on schedule at 7.30 AM and they would always wave to me.

The indians here still carve their cayucas from the trunk of a certain type tree from the rairnforest, the same as their ancestors.  The only difference is the more afluent cut off the stern and installed a transom for a small outboard, always a Yamaha. Nothing else has changed . ! ! ! ! Most of them still fish the river for their livlehood.  The most popular food fish here is the Mojarro, delicious pan-fried whole, with head on. It's actually a member of the Pirahana family, with fierce looking teeth and all, but they don't eat folks like their cousins. They are similar to the brim back home in size and taste. They fish from their cayuca, two young men per canoe.  One stands in front and handles the large throw-net while the other sits in rear and paddles, really hard work.  They start at first light till too dark to see.   Enjoy going down to the local fish mkt and watch them bring in their catch.

If you like fresh fish and fresh fruits and veggies (and I do love both ) , then you can eat well down here. If you prepare your own the cost is pennies, a restaurant meal of (2) mojorra, serving of rice and large green salad will cost you about Q35 or roughly $4.00, add a cold bottle of beer for $1.............

June 14, 06..Wed......moved from my beautiful little palapa onto the DEFIANCE and sailed her to my new Marina home. 

June 16, Fri......ANNIVERSARY, one year ago today the CHOUPIQUE struck the reef off Belize @ 3.30 AM.....

I'm enjoying my new living quarters and the Marina. A small one with only (4) slips and located right downtown. Adjacent to us is the DRUMBEAT, a beautiful ketch being restored by owners Steve and Anna and young daughter Africa, also live-aboards. Nice amall marina with clean showers and toilet facilities......less that 100 yds from one of the largest general store and favorite beer hang-out of local cruisers....also an internet cafe across the street...several restaurants, marine hardware stores and about (5) marinas here..I'm within walking distance of towns of Relleno and Fronteras, across the river from each other and connected by a bridge.  The rent here is $100 mo, oncl. elec. and water.  I was paying $250 mo. for a house and dock incl. elec. and water, plus about $75 mo. for gasoline for the outboard, back and forth from town.  The $150 and the$75 savings doesn't sound like much by stateside standards but here it's a lot of money

  Been working (7) days a week for the past (5) months and getting a little weary of body...now that I'm settled in my new home and stopped the $250 payments, think I'll take the weekend off and maybe read a book or what-ever, drink some beers with my crusin'buddies, maybe do some sketching, tidy up the boat.  

.....December 19, 2005, packed up my meager little possessions and headed to Rio Dulce.........really excited to be getting back on the water and around my old crusin' buddies.....moved into my new quarters that I'd mentioned before..........absolutely beautiful little Palapa (thatched roof house) right on the water overlooking the Rio Dulce..........The Town here is Fronteras, Guat. and sits on the river where the bridge crosses , this being the only hwy in Eastern Guat that connects North and South Guat. no other roads in the area, travel here is strictly by water, everything is located on the river.  I'm about (2) miles from town in a tiny little village, my next door neighbor is also my landlady. A wonderful Guat. single mother with three great kids, I've adopted all three, Eddie , the oldest at 17 presently in college, Roberto 13 also away in school and home only on weekends.  The little escula here only goes thru the 4th or 5th grade, then Kimberly, the youngest 9 still home with Mom.........My palapa is the kind I only dreamed about before...built right on the edge of the river in front and the rear carved out of the huge Guat. rainforest....complete with all the sights and sounds of the jungle, including a colony of howler monkeys nearby, they are aptly named, their roar sounds like they weigh about a 1000 lbs......they roar all night and sleep all day....at night I lay in bed and listen to all the bird and animal sounds....fascinating ! !  it's liking living in a "Tarzan movie".......fishing off my pier is like a piece of cake.......quite a bit of traffic all day along the river....the most common (and only) means of transportation is the cayuco , an indian dugout canoe, still being used the same as their anscestors did hundreds of years ago, you see the entire family going by in their cayuco to town, church or where ever......the canoes range in length from the 8 footers the small kids use to the 40 footers used as ferries and hauling what ever goods needed on the river..the only change you see from the past hundred or so years is the rear of the canoe has been chopped off on the more effluent cayucos and a YAMAHA outboard added.....but many still use the paddle.....all of them carved out of a solid tree trunk, just like hundreds of years ago.....................................................

      I have been thoroughly enjoying my life "on the river"....making a lot of new friends and really getting into the way of life down here...........Thurs Jan. 5, 2006, my old friend and drinking buddy from Natchitoches, La, showed up on my doorstep for a (3) week visit........I was having a ball showing Bobby around the river....the high light of his stay was the Launcia trip down the River to Livingston on the Caribbean, about (20)miles of the most breathtaking ride you've ever seen, the Grande Canyon of Guatemala, with foilage covered limestone cliffs soaring over 300 feet in the air on each side of the winding river, eagles, ospreys and birds of all shapes sizes and colors......wonderful experience........

    After Bobby had been here about a week something happened that is going to make ANOTHER big change in my life.  I had just about made up my mind that it just wasn't in the cards for me to continue my cruisin' lifestyle...I spotted a "friendship sloop" anchored in the River and it was Love at first sight........I enquired of my landlady about it and found it to be "forsale"......I was shocked at the asking price, in my range with lotz of TLC required, I bought it and have been working my butt off ever since to get her back in sea-worthy condition.....................

..........After the loss of the Choupique, I was graciously offered a place to stay at the home of Cliff Evans, in Xcalak.....I stayed there about a week until I got my passport back from the Belizians.......When leaving for Antigua, Guatemala,Mr Evans offered to let me leave my two outboard motors and inflatable dingy in his bodega until I could return to pick them up.........

     On December 8, 06, I left for Xcalak after spending several weeks trying to locate Mr. Evans. He finally agreed on a day for me to meet him........I went to the Guacamaya Guest house upon arrival to stay with my old friends Bruce and Eva,  Eva took me in her pick-up to Evans' house the next morning to pick up my gear. I then realized why Mr Evans was so evasive about my coming back,  He had been using my Yamaha outboard, it was completely trashed as well and my brand new inflatable which had two punctures in it, He was complete;y beligerant and obnoxious with Eva and I..........We chose to just load up what was left of my gear and not get into a pissing contest with the jerk........We left and took the inflatable to the Port Captains' office , Jorge Morelos for safe keeping until he could arrange a ride to Rio Dulce for it.......I also left a brand new Icon VHF radio with Evans and he had given it to one of his mexican buddies, Eva and I retrieved it finally.....next morning I said good bye to my two wonderful friends and jumped the only chicken bus outta town and headed back to Antigua with my 15 hp outboard under my arm....I sold the yamaha to Bruce and Eva........

     ....the three day, two night trip back to Antigua carrying a 77 lb. outboard was a nightmare to remember , traveling thru two third world countries, and wrestling with customs (had to go around Belize, they want my butt, and $6000 for damaging their reef), books have been written about lesser experiences........................................arrived back in Antigua on Dec. 12............................

.............It's now November 1, '05....back in Antigua.....In the little village of Santiago, just out of Antigua, they have an annual festival celebrating the dead.  But, main focus and attraction of the event is the flying of humongous kites...Large crowd converge on the village for the event.....I went up with my friend John Ford to take it all in....quite a spectacle, but a dangerous place in the large crowd....I was warned of the pick-pockets and was taking extra precautions, moved my wallet to a side pocket where I could always keep one hand on it......didn't work! ! I took my hand out to take a quick photo....only a matter of seconds....put my hand back immediately and my wallet was gone! ! ....they apparently had been following me for some time and waited for just the right moment, slit my pocket with a razor, slid the wallet out and was gone.....credit cards, drivers license, mariners documents, social security card , cash etc., etc.,......I headed back immediately to Antigua and an internet cafe to contact my bank in Key West to cancel the cards....took about (2) hours to get this done....during this time, over $1200 was removed from my account through fake signatures, and ATM withdrawels, in Guatemala City about 150 miles away........finally got it all worked out and bank insurance covered my losses....but what an ordeal ! ! ! ! gotten a great education these past (2) years but it's been very expensive.............................

    Took a volunteer job at the American Legion Library in Antigua to off set some of the boredom and actually got back into my water-colors and did some of the best ever work but just couldn't get Rio Dulce out of my mind.......

      back down to Rio Dulce for the weekend and found a fantastic house (with boat-dock) for rent $250 month USD...grabbed it.....

     talk about bored....had a few tequilas' too many one night at the Cafe No Se.........volunteered to cook a gumbo one night for (50) people......after that ordeal was finally over I swore off...no more tequila ! ! ! .....but they loved the Gumbo ! ! !

    Went up the mountain (volcano) to the "earth -Lodge" resort/ retreat/ avocado Plantation for a few days of just lying around, taking in the fantastic view of Antigua about 3000 ft below and read a book.......a wonderful (3) days........

    ....spent a great thanksgiving in Antigua with a few friends, and started my preparation to make the move down to the Rio.....

       ......On Dec. 8, headed for Xcalak, Mexico to pick up my (15) hp outboard left there after the Choupique disaster......

.........Antigua, Guatemala, is a beautiful and fascinating city, a perfectely preserved example of Spanish Colonial Architecture.  I spent hours and days just wandering the streets.......on July 9th, I enrolled in a spanish language school for four weeks of intensive , emersion type of espanol lessons......moved in with an assigned family of locals, I lived , ate all my meals with the family, quite an experience......the school was tough......been a long time since this ol' gringo sat in a classroom and had to go home and do HOMEWORK ! ! I somehow survived the four weeks, and was a little unhappy with the outcome....I was under the impression that I would just come outta there speaking spanish all over the place, not! What that really does for you is simply provide you with the skills and tools to go out in the public and LEARN SPANISH ON YOUR OWN.......it's been (6) months now and I'm gaining a little everyday but still have a looooong way to go....actually you are learning more every day than you think.......looking back, I'm surprised at what I can do now compared to when I started. But I AIN'T THERE yet. Their program is good but I think too much time was spent on proper grammar and not enough on just conversational spanish.....My english had become so sloppy over the years that I had to first go back and learn some basic english....like the first week I had to ask my instructor what a preposition was, I'd forgotten ! ! We had one-on-one instruction and my instructor was a little (21) yr old Guat girl, Marleny.......

     On Sat. July 23, I moved from the family quarters into an apt., mostly to save money, and prepare my own meals...

     On Aug. 20 flew back to Key West for my physicals, clean up some personal business, and dispose of more property (toyota pickup). I also had meetings with the publisher of my book that actually came out while I was in Mexico....while in KW I also celebrated my birthday. Drank lotz of beers at Schooner Wharf bar with a lot of old friends. Flem back to Guatemala on Sept 10.

     By this time I was getting a little bored with Antigua and the weather was not agreeing with me. I have been at sea level in South Fl. too long. Just coulden't take the altitude and cold of Antigua.  Took a weekend trip down to Rio Dulce (the original destination from Fla.)  Being back on the water and meeting some old friends that I met on the way down was just too much, I had to get back on the water.

      Took a volunteer job as part-time libriarian at the American Legion library......believe that?.......kept me busy for a while but couldn't get my mind off Rio Dulce.  When hurricane Rita hit Guatemala it created extensive flooding and caused massive mud slides. Entire villages , with residents, were buried, most still buried. The Govt. just simply designated the site of the village as a "cemetery".  Volunteers were desperately needed so I jumped in and loaded up in the back of an old truck with a lot of other gringos,, mostly tourist here on vacation and young back-packers.  What an experience that was.  Fortunately I worked on sites that weren't full of buried bodies, but it was so pitiful to see the conditions these people were forced to live in, homes with 4 and 5 feet of mud inside. I only lasted a couple days, that shovel got awfully heavy after 5 or 6 hours.  It was an experience I'll never forget. 

     On Sun. Oct 23, left for a little trip over into Honduras, visited the Mayan ruins at Copan, and spent a day and night in the village of Copan.  Very interesting little town up in the mountains.  Took the bus on over to La Ceiba, Hon. then up in the mountains to the "jungle river lodge", a beautiful, very rustic lodge on the banks of a really wild river in the heart of the rainforest. Stayed there for 3 days and had a blast, did the canopy tour one day and white water rafting the next, and a day sitting on a rock in the middle of the river reading a book.  Would like to go back there. 

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