Now that we’ve left Guatemala I wanted to share some of our thoughts about the country where we’ve spent much of the past 2 years and will spend more time this year. The Rio Dulce region of the country is beautiful and very primitive but a wonderful place to live.
View of Vulcan Fuego from Vulcan Pacaya
The Rio Dulce is called the river that swallows gringos and after being around here for 19 months it is easy to see why. This season alone we have been in Guatemala for 8 months since we returned to the Rio from cruising in April when we cut our cruising season short and delayed our sail to Panama because of Linda's surgery. We expect to be around the northwest Caribbean until late 2019. When we finish cruising and look to settle down we are considering doing what many others have and make this a permanent home.
The Rio Dulce gorge
Lago Izabel on the Rio Dulce
Unlike the islands of the Caribbean, Guatemala is a real country. It has a unique, distinct and deeply rooted culture that goes back over a thousand years and is a mix of cultures with Mayan, Garifuna and Spanish. The many cultural sites blend with the modern economy that produces many agricultural and industrial products. Unlike the islands that produce nothing, Guatemala produces much and is rich in resources.
The pyramids of Tikal
Life on the Rio is very easy and since we moved across the river to Catamaran Marina it is even easier. There really is everything here a cruiser could want. Very cheap slip rentals. Many people proudly claim that they never stay in marinas. But why not? At about $200/month and free water it's hard not to get a slip plus like here at Catamaran there is a great social group, a pool, a bar, a good
Catamaran Marina in the summer
restaurant and great wifi. Food, including eating out, is cheap. Just yesterday we did our produce shopping at the tienda we usually shop at and carried off bags of produce for about $5. Even restaurants are inexpensive. But beyond that there are boat parts and automotive supplies generally available along with a range of services from almost any specialty craft that aren’t available elsewhere.
View of Antigua Guatemala from the Hill of the Cross
Repairs and upkeep are so inexpensive it is almost worth having someone do the work. I had to take one of my outboards for service again. Turns out the fuel tank was leaking and filling with water. The mechanic charged the equivalent of $26 plus 2 spark plugs that cost about $8. For the most part work
Great farm to table breakfast
also gets done quickly. Cruisers who are used to waiting weeks or months for work to be completed are pleasantly surprised when it is completed in days or hours. Cleaning our canvas and polishing the windows along with a few minor repairs cost $130 and reinstalled in less than 48 hours.
Crowd on the street of Antigua
There were far more boats in the Rio this year than last. Cruisers around the Caribbean are discovering the great value and the relative safety in the Rio. The Rio is probably the closest thing to a perfect hurricane hole for the Caribbean. Winds rarely blow over 20 kts and then only briefly.
A dinghy raft-up on the Rio
Surrounded by mountains and the whole Honduran peninsula a tropical storm has many obstacles to cross before bringing damage in the Rio. A tropical depression crossed over this year that formed a hurricane in the Pacific. We had some wind and a few inches of rain as it crossed.
View from the Rio Dulce bridge
Departing from just the cruiser concerns, the town of Fronteras or Rio Dulce is full of contrasts in many ways and is a great cultural experience itself. The majority of people here are Mayan or of Mayan descent and mostly very friendly, honest and hard-working. The dresses the Mayan women wear are beautiful hand-woven patterns reflecting the community they represent. Most work is done without much machinery but the skills and attention to detail is fascinating.
View of a local tienda loaded with fresh fruits and vegetables
The main street of the town is lined with tiendas (stores) of every type. After 19 months here, we still discover new places offering things we never thought we could find here. I recently got a part for my propane gas solenoid from a shop with all sorts of fittings. There are guys that do watch and cellphone repairs. There are many women with stands along the street grilling, fish, chicken, pork, tamales or other foods as well as making tortillas. Most gringos say don't eat the street food but you
Sunset on the Rio
can find vendors where you could grab lunch for about $3. At the same time, however, the main street is a major Central American highway with constantly heavy traffic along with the local tuk-tuks darting in and out with local people. While browsing the tiendas you get to walk shoulder to shoulder with semi-trucks hauling livestock, shipping containers of produce, metal ore or building materials.
Views on the main street of Fronteras
Walking back off the main street the chaos subsides into rows of concrete houses with few doors or windows with kids and chickens roaming freely. There are also more services offered out of houses or general buildings for things you may not need or want.
Vew from the pipeline road
Outside of town there is a jungle road along an oil pipeline that we walk (some run) for exercise that runs through rubber tree and palm oil tree plantations in the jungle. The local residents are very
View of the road through the jungle
The rubber trees with buckets collecting sap.
friendly, often stopping to offer rides and look at us in some amazement just walking for nothing. There is a village called La Esmeralda with a public dock where we tie-up our dinghy and begin our walk. By the dock there is a wash stand where women come to wash clothes standing naked in the river while children play in the water.
The local water buffalo herd.
Many people live in the jungle. Some along the road but others in houses at the end of footpaths deep in the jungle. Some of the homes have some doors or windows but usually there is no running water or electricity in the house, Women do the laundry either in a stream or on a wash table with a water
The public dock at Esmeralda with the wash stand near shore
pump and hang-up the clothes to dry. The wash table has a wash stone for scrubbing clothes that cause the clothes to wear out frequently. Traditional Mayan homes are wood with palm thatch roof and walls but many homes are concrete walls with a corrugated metal roof and dirt floor.
View of the public market in Antigua
In spite of these conditions the people we meet are friendly and usually happy with what they have. The Mayans have lived here for over a thousand years and many people live in the community of their ancestors living exactly the same as their ancestors. Children learn to do whatever their parents do.
The cruisers here work to support the community. Donations of time, money and goods go to the local volunteer fire company, Casa Guatemala orphanage and a group called "Pass It On" that seeks to repurpose things like lights and batteries to install solar lights in mountain villages that have no electricity.
A Rio getaway
At the same time the Rio is one of Guatemala’s vacation spots for people from Guatemala City. Lots of people from the City have homes along the river for vacations and holidays. The really rich have helicopters or planes that they fly in on and land in their private lawns. During the holidays the river comes alive with pleasure boat traffic, packed streets and lots of fireworks. Holidays always have lots of fireworks done by individuals and businesses.
One of the cathedrals in Antigua
The Guatemalan government provides education through the sixth grade and the school year runs February through November. Attendance is more voluntary than mandatory. Kids go when their parents want them to go. The curriculum is basic language and math. Although I never know how the
Us at Tikal
kids in the tiendas figure our grocery prices, they can always make correct change. Education beyond sixth grade outside the City is very limited and parents see little need for it. Most kids are impressed by their parents into the family workplan whatever that is. For many it's working producing food or collecting firewood.
Views of local scenery
Guatemala has been pictured very unfairly in the media as a violent country. It is a tough country. Very mountainous with people living throughout the mountainous jungle without roads or electricity and no public water or sanitation. Like many places with rampant poverty petty crime is high. The high numbers of murders that the media reports are gang-related primarily in parts of the City and a
The jungle near Dreamcatchers Restaurant
few other places where the drug trade flourishes. But, beyond that the violence is domestic. A lot of that is cultural based on traditional societal roles. Girls begin bearing children very young either through marriage or not and most mothers have at least 3-4 children. Among all the local folks we’ve met we have not encountered many long-term monogamous relationships among the local people in the region.
A truck loaded with people traveling along the road
Like many of the cruisers coming here we have fallen in love with Guatemala for so many reasons. It is comfortable, inexpensive and though there are political issues in the country they don’t appear to be likely to rise to the level of violence in other countries. We look forward to spending even more time in Guatemala in the future.
Twilight view of Antigua and Vulcan Agua
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