December,  2011
Happy Holidays.

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The background was shot on San Pedro, Lago Atitlan, Guatemala on a path where I found coffee plants.  The foreground was shot on a peninsula village called Placencia, Belize where an evergreen tree was decorated on a path to the beach.

November - December,  2011
Guatemala, Lago Atitlan and the Rio Dulce 

I heard a lot about the Rio Dulce in Guatemala because it's one of the main hurricane holes where boats can winter until the hurricane season is over from June - November.  (Boats can also go north to the Chesapeake Bay or south to the Venezuela/Curacao area.)  It was such a beautiful 13 mile stretch of fresh water in Northern Guatemala and turned out to be one of my favorite cruising areas.  It reminds me of the beautiful lakes in Wisconsin in the summer months with a lot less mosquitoes.


After landing in Guatemala City, I had 5 days before I needed to head off to the Rio so I decided to visit Lago Atitlan.  It is a beautiul lake surrounded by volcanoes.  It took a day to get there by bus and boat and was well worth the trip.

The last boat portion of the trip.

Paddlers on the lake.

Guatemala is so colorful, there is color everywhere you look.
These three women sell vegetables every morning
carrying their scale and their vegetables with them.

One of the many small, narrow walkways in the village.

They love to tell jokes and tease each other.

A passenger stop.

Hostel where I stayed and restaurant.

New money.

Catching a few zzzzzz's on the water taxis.

A small town taxi.

Christmas decorations in Antigua.


It was now time to head back to the capital, Guatemala City and take a 7 hr. bus ride to Rio Dulce.  The 7 hr. ride turned into a 12 hr. ride as two passing trucks collided just as they were crossing a two lane bridge.  Well, it's actually all 2-lane.  Later I learned that this was not unusual.  I arrived at the marina, Ram Marina about 9pm and couldn't find the skipper.  The marina finally tracked him down and I could now put my things on the boat.

The next morning we went shopping for more food and then took off down the River.

Ram Marina, the largest marina in the Rio Dulce area.

Much of Rio Dulce appears like this.  It's so beautiful and all the water is fresh water.

Grand mother and daughter sell what produce they can to the boaters. 

 Enjoying the view as we slowly cruise down the river. 

 The slow paced life on the river. 

This is what happens if you're a cruiser and you find a spot that you just can't leave.  

You buy a house and settle in.  

 More Houses along the River.

 There are a lot of catamarans in the area because of the shallow water.  
The one I was on is in the middle.

 At the end of the 13 miles of the river, we come to the small village 
called Livingston where we will check out of Guatemala.

 Some people of Livinston are noticably different from other Guatemalans. 

Garifuna people like the one you see crossing the street here, come from a mix of African slaves mixed with local Arawak Indians.  Their customs, dress, well everything about them seems different from the other local people.  

 Famous 'Topado Soup' which is a coconut seafood base with a whole fish, shrimp, 

clams and crab  Way too much for one person to eat but I did my best.

 A typical garifuna band consists of 3 drums, maracas, and 1 turtle shell. You can see them h parading here through the small village streets celebrating a saint's day festival.

 Star fish can be found n the sand and in the grasses.

A local Royal Tern.