back to the interior of Guatemala
From Guatemala to Mexico
Our friends Frank and Shirley got to the Rio Dulce, Guatemala to visit with us just fine. Only problem Shirley left her fanny-pack on the bus. It was one of the better bus line and we were able to get it back, minus money of course, but she had her passport and credit cards and mad money still there.
We had a great time at the cruisers' Halloween party. Dancing and drinking and the funniest contest I´ve ever been in sculping a banana. The next day we left the dock at Mario's Marina which had been our home for many months.
We left Livingston Guatemala on 14 November, 2000. We had to go at night over the bar in spite of the fact that it was raining. With our 7ft draft we had to depart during high tide which was 7pm. It was fine. We just used our GPS and waypoints. It makes cruising easy. We anchored and had a good night's sleep.
The next day we took off for the Sapodillo Cays, Belise. Frank and Shirley really enjoyed it. We had lobster and conch . We anchored at Nicholas Cay for a few days and went north about 5 miles to a little atol Tom Owens Cay and everything there was fished out. So the guys sent Shirley and I on a mission. We had to go to the atol and talk the fishermen out of 4 lobsters - para cambio. We exchanged candy,coffe,sugar and 6 gallo cervasas for 4 nice sized lobster. The fishermen first paraded us around the little camp for all the boys to see, while they made their decision. We knew Frank and Dave,were watching, and we would save us if anything went wrong. We cut coconuts with a machete and had pina coladas with fresh coconut milk.
We had a wonderful trip through the outer islands of Belize. We went to Glovers and Lighthouse reefs. Wonderful snorkeling. Then north to the Chinchorro banks which is a beautiful shallow anchorage and snorkeled and caught lobster. We dove on on a sunken ship dating back to the late 1770's and saw 22 cannons and the ship's large anchor. From there we did an overnight to mainland Mexico. We anchored for a week waiting out a cold front, high winds and waves. We enjoyed the bay called Bahia Ascension, again lots of lobsters. That was our main staple the entire trip. Tuff, I know!!
Then, we made it to Cozemel, and really enjoyed it there. We used to go there every year on dive trips, for years. It gave us a warm fuzzy feeling going there in our own boat.
Now we are in Isla Mujeres. It took us 12 hrs to go the 50 miles from Cozemel - northeasters right on the nose. But we are here safe and sound and finding it to be a really nice little island. Internet, one bank with ATM and supermarcardos like in the states. There is a Wal-Mart-the cruisers meca for merchandise! Then there´s Cancun nearby so we will check it out.
Laura is flying in from Spain on the 21st Dec for Christmas and New Years so it will be a wonderful holiday. Hope yours is too!
Happy Holidays! Fran and Dave