Friday, February 28, 2020

Hooray! The New Engine Exhaust Pipe is Installed!

Two weeks after ordering (as predicted), our new piece of engine exhaust pipe arrived, and Peter has successfully installed it. We will be able to cast off the dock tomorrow. On Monday morning, we will pick up our sails and have the rigging inspected. With any luck, we will be in the waters of Belize sometime on Tuesday!

One advantage of spending a month in a small country and staying in the same place for weeks with not much to do is that there is time to converse with local people and expats, to learn more than the usual tourist does, and to reflect on the lives of the people for whom this place is home. Guatemala is the most densely populated of all the Central American countries and has a larger percentage of native (Maya) people as part of that population than any other nation in the region. There is a wide divide between the rich and the rest, and poverty, lack of education, employment opportunities and malnutrition are major problems. 

A couple of days ago, I read about George Clooney being appalled to learn that children are working on the coffee farms in Guatemala which are a source of beans for Nespresso, the brand with which he is associated through advertising to the public and through his membership on its Sustainability Advisory Board. Reading or hearing about this through the media, a conscientious person in a first-world country might automatically condemn this practice and hold the company responsible for child exploitation. However, being here and having traveled in other third world countries, and having talked with people here on the ground about the livelihood of the local people, I think that it is unlikely that Nespresso or its farmers are actively recruiting children for the workforce. This does not mean that there are not children working on the farms; there probably are. However, these children have been encouraged by their families to seek work to get money for the most basic necessities such as food, to stave off starvation, or they have taken it upon themselves to work. It must also be kept in mind that this is an agrarian culture in which children are in the fields with their parents and grandparents from a young age and begin helping when they are able. For the local people, there is nothing unusual or wrong with children doing manual labor. We see it all the time. We have been served food by pre-teens in family-run restaurants. Just today, we saw four barefoot teenagers working, manually driving pilings for a new dock.

Four teenager manually driving pilings
There simply is not enough of many things in Guatemala:  food, clean drinking water, education and employment. The population, which is growing faster than any other in Central America, cannot be sustained by the resources available. Recent droughts have caused crop losses and localized famines. Currently, 60% of the population is living in poverty and at least half of the children, who comprise about 50% of the populaiton, suffer from some degree of malnutrition. 

Given this situation, it is not surprising that teenagers, if they can, are working to survive. And what else would they do with their time? The government provides free education to children only through sixth grade. Beyond that, there are private schools in some areas, and those families who can scrape together the tuition usually can only do so for one child, almost always the oldest boy. Therefore, most children pass the age of 12 are not in school. What do they do? They look for employment; they marry and start having children at a young age. At around the time of puberty, as has been normal in human culture for millinnea, they become part of adult society. 

If first-world cultures find this appalling, if they believe that childhood should extend through the late teens and that youth should be afforded education and leisure, then they need to do more to assist in making education free and available to teenagers in places such as Guatemala. Child labor will not be eradicated (if, indeed, that is a necessary objective) by company policies forbidding the hiring of teenagers or even those younger. One practical tactic is for Nespresso and other international corporations to supply facilities, teachers, books and other materials to allow children to be educated past the sixth grade in the communities and areas where they are hiring or subcontracting labor. Another way to deter child labor is ensuring adequate nutrition in the population through directly supplying food or promoting sustainable agriculture that is adaptable to a changing climate.

Until recently, children in places such as Guatemala, probably had no idea that free public education through 12th grade is a reality for most children in first world countries, so they did not realize what they were missing. Cell service and the Internet are rapidly changing the local people's awareness. Yet, while I have observed poverty, I have not noticed people doing any type of work being disgruntled. The four young men we saw doing pile driving earlier today were joking and laughing as they worked with no shoes, no helmets and no harnesses high above the water with an extremely heavy tool. Yes, it might be nice if life here offered them more but, on the other hand, they are not expecting more and as long as at least their basic needs are met, they seem to be happy.

Wednesday, February 26, 2020

20 Days in Río Dulce, But Who's Counting? We All Know Who Is!

Since the last post, life has crawled on, with Peter diligently working and watching the stock market and with me languishing in tropical torpor. There have been more monkeys to watch and more birds to see (including the lovely Montezuma oropendola and striking green heron). Butterflies flutter in the foliage near the ground, including many types of heliconius such as the bold red postman (Heliconius erato). Its ebony wings have a creamy white stripe across the top of each hindwing; each forewing is brightly highlighted with a wide crimson bar paralleling the black body, halfway between the tip  and the base of the wing. The loud, hollow rapping sound of the toads has returned in the early part of the night. There are manatees in the river, but we had no luck finding any on a dinghy expedition on Sunday.

Unable to dislodge the hydraulic autopilot system, even with the aid of a blowtorch and a pulley puller borrowed from a fellow cruiser, Peter used Plan B and by-passed one of the two pumps so that we have one system that works. After shopping around the limited supply of outboard motors, Peter finally settled on a 15HP Yamaha Enduro, which we purchased a few days ago. It will now be possible for me to venture out with the dinghy on my own. The motor starts reliably and easily so even a mechanically unskilled person (me!) can manage. Also, with the additional horsepower, our trips into town for errands are now much shorter in duration.

We have made a number of frustrating and fruitless visits to marine supply stores and boatyards in search of pipes or stainless steel elbows or any part that might be used to jerryrig an engine exhaust hose and have finally resigned ourselves to waiting for the part ordered from the US to arrive. It is supposed to be here in two days, meaning we should leave (fingers crossed) be able to leave the last day of February! We still have to stop for a couple of days downstream to pick up repaired sails and have the rigging checked and then at the mouth of the river in Livingston to clear out of Guatemala, but with luck we may be on the reefs of Belize by the middle of next week.

The monotony was broken yesterday by a trip to some lovely natural wonders with four other travelers--young guests at the hotel--and an expat guide, Bruce. Our first stop was Finca Paraíso's Cascada Caliente. We hiked along a well-maintained trail to reach a place where steaming water from a hot springs at the top of a cliff streamed down across roots and rocks to fall into a pool in a clear, cool stream through the forest. Stalactites slowly grow along the hanging roots and rock faces. Behind the falling water is a small cave reached by diving under a row of short stalactites like scraggly, rotten, pointed teeth in the mouth of a large monster to a greenish interior. A guide brought us clay mud which we rubbed all over our bodies for exfoliation, letting it dry in the sun before washing it off. Little fish pecked at our feet and ankles if we stood still, biting off tiny dead pieces of epidermis. The seven of us stayed and enjoyed this little piece of paradise until other people started to arrive.

Finca Paraíso's Cascada Caliente
Sherri and Peter
Peter and the others in our small group
Looking downstream from the hot waterfall
Rainbow in the droplets of the cascade
Hibiscus in bloom
Half meter wide spider web
Our next stop was the Cañon del Boquerón, where we loaded ourselves into a large cayuko and were paddled upstream into the narrow canyon from the open plane bordering Lake Izabal, where the river empties about a kilometer downstream. The vertical limestone faces soared above us, up to 600 feet high. Vegetation secures itself in any way it can. Roots of trees worm their way into crevices in the rock. Ciebas and other tropical trees perch precariously on stony protuberances above, dangling their their roots hundreds of feet toward the flowing clear water at the bottom of the canyon. Ferns, bromeliads, orchids and other epiphytes attach themselves to the roots, to the rocks, to the crooks of tree branches, creating a much greater abundance of foliage than the trees themselves. Butterflies and hummingbirds flit among the plants, and ghostlike flowers passed their prime floated down from above, plopping on the surface of the water in quiet whispers. In some places, the roots are the base for slender calcium deposits formed by constantly dripping water, and the rock faces sometimes have stalactites and drapery. Geological evidence of uplifting and sedimentary layering and inclusions are abundant.

Cañon del Boquerón
Cañon del Boquerón
Stalactites form on the canyon wall
Stalactites dripping from the rock and roots
Algae color the rock
Balanced rock from upstream
Balanced rock from downstream
When we reached a place where the boat could go no farther without portaging, we climbed out and walked up the river, over rocks and coarse sandy patches, where we could. We swam against the current, eddy hopping when we were able, until we reached a place where a large rock with large trees growing on top balances on the rocks below, almost suspended in space between the canyon walls. This is where our guide Bruce had sent us, but our curiosity led us farther upstream to a small cascade and steps leading up to a path that, had we followed it to its end, would have led us to a mountain voyage and a put-in spot for intrepid kayakers in the wet season. But Bruce and lunch on the lakefront were waiting for us.

Our driver, Marie Cruz, picked us up in her big gray double cab truck after our trip into Cañon del Boquerón and took us to a lovely restaurant on the shores of Lake Izabal, the largest lake in Guatemala. Marie Cruz is one of the owners of Finca Paraíso along with her extensive, multi-generational family, who has owned the ranch for centuries. With fantastic views, cold beers in iced mugs, delicious food for both carnivores and vegetarians and pleasant conversation, lunch was idyllic.

Lunch at Finca Paraíso
From this wide-open space with its fresh air and well-maintained facilities we went back to the town of Fronteras (usually just called Río Dulce). Splitting up, we set out to get funds from ATMs, wine at the supermaket, and vegetables from the vendors along the street, who are packed into close quarters on the main street as well as gritty alleys. One of our group, a young Swiss woman, was looking for souvenirs, particularly textiles, but, despite the fact that the town attracts thousands of cruisers and adventurers with backpacks, none are available.

After drinks at the usual gathering place, Sundog's, we came back to Boatique. A dip in the pool was just what was needed after the hot and humid town.

Monday, February 17, 2020

It's a Jungle Out Here

So, here we remain, waiting, waiting, waiting. Yesterday, before sunset, Peter and I paddled a cayuko, a traditional dugout canoe through the jungle waterways. It is neither as easy to maneuver nor as comfortable as our kayak, but it was a peaceful experience moving through the water quietly looking at birds and turtles. We spotted one bird we haven't encountered before, a limpkin. This large, speckled wading bird was shuffling through the reeds along the edge of the creek, too well concealed for any photos.

Paddling in a cayuko
Today and yesterday, while hanging out in the pool area, we had better views of the golden mantled howler monkeys. They have black faces and thick dark brown, almost black hair, accented by longer, lighter, cinammon-colored guard hairs running down both sides of their bodies. Their bodies are about two to three feet in length with tails at least that long but sometimes much longer. The tails can support their full body weight, although generally only juveniles use their tails exclusively. Adults usually use at least one other appendage when moving among the branches of the trees. It is quite entertaining to watch them latch on to a branch with their tails and then leap to another one, seeming to free-fall noisily through the leaves. Of all the New World monkeys, howlers are the largest and are the only ones classified as folivores. We watched them carefully select leaves from the top of the canopy. In some cases, they broke off a twig or small branch and consumed the leaves and then casually tossed the wood to the ground. They also eat fruit, nuts and flowers, but we have not yet observed this.

Scowling howler
Upside down howler
Howler climbing down a branch
Meanwhile, as the monkeys enjoy a life of ease and pleasure, it seems, in the jungle, Peter continues to be challenged by the boat. Yesterday, he discovered oil in the engine room bilge and traced it to the  hydraulic pumps which power the auto pilot. We have two, and only one seems to be in need of repair, but they share a lubrication system, so either the broken one must be fixed by a professional or Peter has to reconfigure the system to leave it out of the loop. Right now, he is literally manually struggling to get the bad pump free from its mounting.

I did some minor work on the hull today, but otherwise I have been quite useless and unoccupied. Tomorrow will most likely be the same.


Saturday, February 15, 2020

Stuck in Río Dulce

Although I am ready to cruise in the western Caribbean and enjoy the stellar reefs of Belize, our boat is not. Peter returned from running errands yesterday, Valentine's Day, without candy for me and with very bad news. The engine exhaust hose which he had thought would be easy to obtain in Río Dulce is not available anywhere, and he has had to order it from the States. The estimate is that it will take two weeks to get here. This is extremely frustrating for me, for while Peter will have no trouble amusing himself and keeping busy tinkering on the boat, I am looking forward to two weeks of boredom. Although it is quite pleasant where we are docked at Boatique on a back creek of the river, there is really nothing to do but enjoy the jungle scenery and swim in the pool. I can't even go for walks because we are surrounded by water; I can kayak, but that only takes up a small part of the day. I can and will study Spanish more and read books, but these sedentary activities become boring after a while.

While we brought back from the States many items we needed for the boat (an extra 100 pounds of luggage), Peter did not purchase and return with a piece of flexible exhaust pipe even though he knew we absolutely had to have it because he had heard that there was a shop in Río that sold pipe and tubing , and there is a small West Marine here also. When we went to town together three days ago, we searched out the pipe shop. When inquired about what we needed, the man behind the counter pointed to a small heap of rubber hoses of various lengths and diameters in a dusty pile on the concrete floor by the street. There was nothing we could use; the slim inventory consisted of rubber tubing for big truck engines, not suitable for marine use and not flexible. The next day, Peter acquired a piece of tubing at West Marine, but when he tried to install it, he found it would not bend to fit in the space. Of course, he had to take out the old exhaust pipe first, and it cannot be re-installed. It is in even worse shape than he expected. So there is no way we can move the boat, because we cannot maneuver out of here under sail!

Over a day and a half, while Peter was out running errands, I worked on a tedious job, emptying out various containers of spare hardware from the engine room and sorting by type, size and other characteristics screws, nuts, bolts, washers, cotter pins, hinges and other items that have accumulated for more than 25 years on the boat and been stored in a haphazard manner. Now I have no table in the saloon, and it is anyone's guess how long it will be until Peter has decided how he wants to store them. I thought of my son Matthew, who, based on the expertise and qualifications he acquired through AP Psychology in high school, has diagosed me as suffering from OCD. This is certainly the perfect task for it!

My accomplishment! 
So, while I am ranting, I would also like to discuss restaurants and vegetarianism. Peter really wanted to go to a nearby restaurant for Valentine's Day, joining another couple we had just met. We ate at Dreamcatchers a few nights ago, and I was not that impressed but he was, so I agreed to go. It had been announced on the morning cruisers' net that the restaurant was taking reservations and would be offering three entree selections, including a vegetarian option. When we arrived, we found the options were dead cow, dead tuna and dead shrimp (my description, not their fancy ones). The option I, as a vegetarian, had was for them to leave the shrimp out of the pasta dish. I felt it was misleading to say that a vegetarian dish would be available. We assumed that the chef would be taking time to create a recipe, procure ingredients and prepare something distinctly and deliciously vegetarian. I am sorry, but removing ingredients and charging the same price for less food (and the protein is the most expensive ingredient) is not in any way catering to vegetarians. It merely exhibits disrepect and disdain for vegetarians. And, just to make the experience more wonderful last night, a black bug appeared and then burrowed into my food when the plate was presented!

At least I was briefly delighted yesterday watching golden mantled howler monkeys cavorting in the branches of the trees around here.

Blurry photo of monkey. They would not pose!


Thursday, February 13, 2020

Río Dulce

Life along the river is laid-back, at least for me. Peter is hard at work a lot of the time. It appears that finally he has been successful in getting the generator to run reliable, after replacing filters and pumps, checking pressure, finding leaks and doing various other tests and repairs. He is also replacing old lights and fans and generally working his way through the to-do list that never ends. At least at this point, it is getting shorter rather than longer. I have done some minor jobs, but I simply do not have his expertise for most of the jobs that need done on a boat. So, I cook him meals, make tea and, at the end of his workday, hand him a beer.  

I find the temperature and relatively low humidity (for a jungle setting) pleasant, and it is only sweating hot if I am working in the direct sunlight, as I was this morning. Fortunately, the pool is wonderfully refreshing. It overlooks shoulder-height, dense green foliage, with purple and white flowers, and a few spaced trees beyond which there is an open marshy meadow. In the daytime, butterflies abound. We especially like to go to the pool at sunset. In the gloam, thousands of fireflies flicker, yellow flashes in the twilight, in the near foliage and out over the meadow, with some occasionally spiralling up the trunks of the trees. This draws our eyes upward, and each time we look up, more stars have appeared in the black sky overhead as darkness deepens. The insects make background music in the otherwise quiet night. Occasionally, in the day as well as the night, howler monkeys bark and growl and moan, communicating with each other, claiming their territory. 

The first day we were back on the boat (last Friday), as it became dark, we noticed loud, croaking noises reverberating all around us. We went out toad hunting and found many. Watching first one then another carefully and patiently, we were able to see the mud gray toads expand their throats into bulging white sacs and vocalize. We happened to see one toad jump on the back of another, as if to mate. The toad underneath hopped one small leap away, followed by the first toad hopping back on top. Leap-toad! This repeated itself several times until the pursued toad jumped farther away and escaped. Later research revealed that sometimes the toads seem to be confused about gender and a male will hop onto another male; I believe this is what we observed.

I noticed that we did not hear or see the toads for the next couple nights, which aroused my curiosity. The Internet solved the mystery. At least some frogs and toads seem to align their reproductive cycle with the lunar cycle, gathering in one place at the full moon and mating on that one night.

Yesterday, Peter and I took the dinghy to town for errands. At our first stop, we encountered David and Anna from our sister-ship, Tamarisk, and we decided to have lunch together at one of the cruisers' favorite hang-outs, Sundog's, which specializes in pizza. We always enjoy the repartee with them. Aftewards, Peter and I set off to look for exhaust hose and a new (or used) dinghy motor to replace our larger one, which is beyond repair. This took us along the main road, where everyone walks on the narrow asphalt berm right beside the two lanes of cargo trucks, motorcycles, tuk-tuks and a few cars. With wheels turning within a foot of our bodies, we breathed in the exhaust, which is much dirtier than in the US, Europe and other places where health and environmental restrictions reduce the pollution. This was all we had seen of the town on our last visit, but our search for parts and an engine took us off this main road, where traffic was not nearly as intense and the streets were more pleasant, even though the buildings come within a foot or two of the road and the sidewalks are intermittent. At least there are no big trucks. Comidors, small storefront restaurants serving a limited menu of local food, are interspersed with tiendas, little stores that are crammed full of goods. Some are organized and tidy while others look almost like junk yards. It is often surprising how much can be found in these shops. I think of how shocking it must be for people from towns such as this to go into a metropolis such as Guatemala City and find modern shopping malls, where goods are arranged by size and color and brand and the aisles are wide and the lighting is good. Since we left here in November, a modern supermarket and a hardware store, side by side in the same large building, have opened. Since we desperately needed provisions, this is most welcome. However, the effect, we are sure, may be the same as a Walmart being opened in or near a town or small city; ultimately, the small shops are forced to close because people prefer convenience and low prices. Here, I am still buying our produce at the tiendas because it is not packaged; it is fresh from the fields, inexpensive and of good quality.

Baby chicks for sale in one store--not a pet store. These birds are going to be a source of food.
After our errands were completed, we headed back to our boat, detouring slightly to get close to the aptly named Bird Island. As the sun was getting low in the western sky, pelicans, herons, cormorants, egrets and other birds were arriving for the night, circling and landing in the reeds and the trees, white, brown and black against the verdant green. We also popped over to a sailing vessel at anchor, Mistral.  We had chatted with them earlier in the day by radio about playing cards and we just wanted to say hello personally. It turns out, they are from Ocean Pines, Maryland, just across the bay from where the annual Rodgers family beach vacation takes place every summer. We made plans to join them for dinner at a nearby restaurant for Valentine's Day (which I had forgotten about).

Birds flying in to roost
Comorants
Egrets and pelicans
After I worked this morning putting protective tape over the caulked edges of the windows in the hard dodger, I was tired and sweaty. The pool beckoned and I responded to its call. One young man was on the pool deck, a backpacker from Helsinki, and we had a nice chat. We really enjoy our brief encounters with so many people from around the world. Yesterday, it was a couple with a 7-year-old from Corsica. When I returned to the boat after my swim, I found a guest onboard, a beautiful green heron. It was sitting perfectly for a profile shot, showing off its long, narrow beak; the cape around its neck, maroon or rust or chestnut (depending on how the light was hitting it); cream-colored streaks along it neck, breast and sides (indicating it was an immature bird); and long yellowish legs and feet, with which it perched on the railing. "Kyowk, kyowk!" It announced its return a half hour later, where I found it sitting on top the wheel.

Green heron
Our plan is to start moving some time next week. I will probably have to convince Peter that he has accomplished enough. I am enjoying our time here, but after another week, I think I will be ready for the tropical reefs of Belize.



Sunday, February 9, 2020

Back on the Boat, Time to Catch Up on Blogging

Ruins of the Catedral
When I stopped this chronicle, I was writing about our enchantment with Antigua and I left us at the Catedral, so I will re-start from that point in time. After viewing the facade and the main sanctuary of the main cathedral, we walked around the outside, where the ruins of the original and later structures can be seen. The first church was constructed around 1541, was demolished in 1669, rebuilt by 1680 and mostly destroyed again by the Santa Marta Earthquake in 1773, which began in May and continued with aftershocks until December.

Inside the Catedral
Catedral ruins
As we continued along, we were sometimes passed by the local "chicken buses," colorful vehicles, sometimes crammed with people inside and loaded with parcels and luggage on top. A man jumps on and off, often while the bus is not fully stopped, to help load and unload passengers and goods. These buses belch diesel fumes as they speed up or struggle up hills and mountains. They are the main means of transportation for locals and intrepid backpackers traveling across the country. (We are not quite as intrepid as we used to be; we rented a car.)

Chicken bus
On the way back to our hotel from our early morning walk for breakfast, we passed by the ruins of Iglesia del Carmen, where everyday local vendors spread out their wares, mostly textiles, across the cobblestones.

Vendors in front of Iglesia del Carmen
At our hotel, Casa de la Alameda, we ate a typical breakfast which began with avena con leche, a warm, sweet, oatmeal-based drink served in a mug, a delightful and unexpected start to a delicious meal. The main course consisted of eggs scrambled with diced tomatoes and onions, fried plantains and black beans boiled down to a paste. Although warm tortillas are usually served, we had bread.

Typical breakfast
After a short rest in our hotel, we set out again about 10 a.m. for further exploration of Antigua. We strolled past La Merced again and passed by the 17th century Santa Catalina Arch, constructed to allow cloistered nuns to walk from the convent to the school and an orchard and garden without going out on the streets.

Santa Catalina Arch
Our next stop was the ruins of the Santa Domingo monastery and church complex, which was established in 1538 and, like so many structures, was partially destroyed in the 1773 earthquake. Now, the extensive property houses the luxurious Hotel Casa Santa Domingo (the restored convent) and the former Santo Tomás de Aquino College (now San Carolos de Guatemala University), two institutions which were once one; they mutually administer multiple museums and the ruins.  There is a replica of the original oval-shaped fountain in the main courtyard as well as the remains of two underground crypts, chapels, a kitchen and other structures. In addition, many of the rooms have been converted to small museums, including a pharmacy museum, a museum of arts and crafts of the Sacatepéquez area, and archeology museum, a modern art gallery, a music salon, the museum of Precolombian Art and Modern Glass, and museum of colonial art. We spent a lot of time in the Precolombian Art and Modern Glass museum, where ancient pieces, including urns, statues and jewelry are displayed juxtaposed to modern art works in glass from around the world, highlighting the similarities in form, decoration and use. The back part of this exhibit hall was formerly a chapel, and the some of the murals of the interior walls are still intact. In Marco Augusto Quiroa Hall, the works of modern local sculptors in various media were arranged beautifully and complemented exposed excavated foundations beneath the room, covered in glass flooring. Walls and facades were still laying on their sides just as they had fallen in massive blocks almost two and half centuries ago. In the archeology museum, stone and ceramic objects from the Classic Period of Mayan culture (200-900 A.D.) are exhibited and include figurines, vaes, plates, bowls, funerary urns and ceremonial hatches and yokes. The informative arts and handicraft museum displayed and explained objects including textiles, toys, kites, candles, painted ceramics, wrought iron work and pieces demonstrating carpentry and cabinet making skills. In the pharmacy museum are 19th century furniture and cabinets as well as porcelain, marble, glass and bronze pieces that were once used to store and produce medicinal products.

Fountain in the main courtyard of Santa Domingo
Insect artwork in the contemporary art section
Precolombian Art and Modern Glass exhibition with stucco walls showing floral designs (Darker parts are original.)
There was a honeycomb of crypts under the ground level of the complex, and a few have been excavated and made accessible. Particularly outstanding is the polychrome stucco scene of the crucifixion in the Calvary Crypt, dated 1683. 

Out on the streets again, we encountered many Maya women selling their textiles, and we finally succumbed to a persuasive girl near the Santa Catalina Arch. These women all were wearing traditional, pre-Colombian dress, but not necessarily to provide photo ops for tourists. Even in the non-tourist sections of the city as well as in the surrounding area of western Guatemala, almost all the women still wear the traditional huipil (a loose rectangular blouse) a wrap-around skirt, an embroiled textile belt, and a tzut (a shawl that doubles as a multi-purpose carry-all). The bright, multi-colored pieces of clothing are created on traditional hip-strap looms. The warp of the cloth is attached to two rods, one attached to a tree and the other to a strap that goes around women's hips, allowing them to adjust and control the tension. Sticks are used to separate the warp yarns and to interweave the weft. During the weaving process, the women hand-embroider designs, traditionally bird, animal and plant motifs, to make elaborate and intricate patterns recalled from memory, without the use of patterns.

Our next stop was the Church and Convent of the Capuchins, a extremely severe splinter group of the Franciscans. Nuns were permitted no contact at all with the outside world. In terms of the architecture of these 18th century ruins, the most intriguing is the Tower of Retreat, a circular building with a central raised courtyard surrounded by 18 small cells which would have furnished with a cot, perhaps a desk and an altar where the nuns could sequester themselves from each other for study and prayer.  In contrast to the austerity of the convent when it was in use by the Capuchins, an expensive and elaborate wedding reception was being set up in the main courtyard, with an over-abundance of food, popular music, and numerous glamorous floral arrangements.

Convent of the Capuchins ruins
Convent of the Capuchins ruins
Courtyard of the Convent and Church of the Capuchins
We wandered into the Cocoa Museum, which had interesting displays and clearly explained the process of making chocolate and other cocoa products, but we had already learned these details in Cartagena and at the cocoa farm in Panamá in our travels last year. We did stop for a beverage in the courtyard and our eyes were once more delighted with the vivid colors of textiles for sale.


Textiles for sale
(Break now:  This is taking hours because of Internet speed.)  (Now I'm back.)

Public lavaderos
Continuing our perambulation, we passed through Parque Central again, admired more exampoles of Baroque architecture, and walked along colorful, quiet side streets until we came to the Church of San Pedro Apostal, then the public lavaderos (where local women still come to do their laundry in the alcoves), and finally the ruined facade of the Sanctuary of San Francisco el Grande, with its twisting columns and the remains of the bell and clock towers. Inside, the popular church is spacious, with teal walls and white columns along the nave ending in a multi-storied gilt altarpiece in the apse.

Yet another example of Baroque architecture 
Facade of the Cathedral in the afternoon light 
Typical side street in Antigua
Parque Central
Church of San Pedro Apostal
Altar, San Francisco el Grande 
San Francisco el Grande
By now, we were hungry, and we went back to a restaurant we had passed earlier in the day which had appealing, colorful food enticing people walking along the cobblestone street. A man behind the array of pots and pans and bowls filled with appetizing selections fills your plates as you indicate what appeals to you and then another man carries them back to the courtyard seating area behind the street-side kitchen. (The name of the restaurant is La Cuebita de Los Urquizú.)

Yummy vegetarian stuff
Various meat stews
Well-nourished and revived, we decided to climb up to the Cerro de la Cruz to get a view of Antigua from above before darkness descended. We were surprised to find the park around the cross crowded with people, mostly locals, there to enjoy the sunset. 


Volcan de Agua looming over downtown Antigua
After that, we returned to our hotel. I had hoped to blog while the memories were fresh, but I was really tired and the comfortable bed beckoned.

On Sunday morning, after another typical breakfast, we drove to Chichicastenago, famous for its twice weekly market where vendors sell textiles and yarn; fresh flowers; local produce, meat and fish; and ground limestone. The Maya add lime to water when they cook corn because it improves the nutritional value; it softens the kernel, releases the germ and converts nutrients such as B vitamins and amino acids into a form more readily absorbed by the human body. 

The stalls, which are erected on either side of the streets and throughout the central plaza, are carried in pieces on the backs of men, women and children in the hours before dawn in preparation for the throngs of people, mostly Maya from the surrounding area, although the tourist trade has increased, meaning there are more textiles on display than needed by the local population. We were amazed at the sheer volume of everything. By mid-day, the supplies did not seem to be depleted at all, and we wonder how they actually make any money while maintaining such a large inventory. And where does all the fresh food go if it is not sold? 


Produce for sale
Chichicastenango market
Maya woman in traditional attire
Textiles and clothing in the market
Fish for sale
Farmer selling beans
Colorful yarns and fabric on sale
Varities of maize
Main breaking up limestone to sell for cooking with maize
We went into the church on a corner of the central plaza, the whitewashed Church of San Tomás. It was built around 1545 on top of a Pre-Colombian temple platform, and the existing steps originally led to a temple and are still venerated by the Maya. K'ichi' Maya priests use the church for their rituals. Incest was being burned outside the portal, and inside the sanctuary was filled with smoke from burning candles and incense. Triptychs and other sacred decorations were coated with black carbon residue from the offerings; I suspect some are quite colorful under the grime. Along one side of the nave were three separate altars with icons of saints, bordered by colorful feathery arches. Each had its own large, low metal platform in front of it for candles, and people also place offerings of liquor, flowers and corn. As we had seen in other churches, a congregant took responsibility for scraping off the melted wax and making room for more candles.

Bright polychrome statues contrast with smoke covered paintings and ornamentation
A woman placing a candle in front of one of the shrines
smoke-filled sanctuary of San Tomás
Two of the altars and numerous candles 
The main altar in the apse of the church
We also visited a small museum along another side of the plaza. In addition to archeologic relics and a room of portraits of previous civic leaders, there was a large wheel demonstrating the Maya calendar. Actually, there are three separate calendars. One has 20 named days interlocking with the numbers 1 through 13 for a total cycle of 260 days, each of which has a special meaning and requires specific rites and rituals. Another system, based on the sun, has 18 months, each 20 days long. Five days are added at the end of the solar cycle to make 365 days, but these 5 days are regarded with dread and only the intervention of priests can prevent disaster. These two systems are intermeshed to make a cycle of 52 years. Then there is the Long Count, which apparently was developed during the Classic Period of the civilization to distinguish long periods of time. It is also cyclical, starting over every 5125 years.

Depiction of Maya calendar
Another fascinating stop was a smaller church on the opposite side of the plaza from San Tomás, El Calvario. Although no one was present, it was obvious people had been busy preparing a float for Santa Semana, or Easter Week, when in every town there are numerous processions.

After lunch, we drove back along the 12-kilometer mountainous road to the main highway (the Guatemalan section of the Pan-American Highway). Suddenly, the traffic came almost to a standstill. We wondered if there was an accident ahead, but as we made our way forward up a steep grade, we passed the cause of the slowdown, a religious procession taking up one side of the two-lane road. Actually, we were delighted. We had read about the Cofradías before going to Chichicastenango. Each of these brotherhoods is dedicated to a Christian saint, and they carry the image of the saint in processions through town and, apparently, from one village to another. To be selected to be a cofrade is a great honor, reserved for respected males of the community. It also requires financial resources since the colfrades are expected to contribute toward the village celebrations and annual fiesta, providing costumes and alcohol, an maintain the saint's image. Although the cofradías are associated with the Catholic Church, they also continue Maya religious customs, including the keeping of the calendar and worshipping Maya dieties. Because of this integration of pagan beliefs, since the 1950s the Catholic Church has discouraged these organizations and the centuries-old community tradition is not as strong as it used to be.

Religious procession up a mountain with comfrade carrying the image of a saint 
Decorated trucks waiting to join the procession
Having left this interesting piece of culture behind us, we quickly made it to Panajachel, where we parked the car for a couple days and made our way by ferry to a boat-only accessible lodge on the northern side of Lake Atitlán near the village of Santa Cruz de Laguna. The lake is surrounded by three conical volcanos and its shores are home to 13 Maya villages. Around 12 million years ago, a giant caldera, much larger than the present lake, was created and around 9 million years ago a slightly smaller, bowl-shaped caldera fromed inside it. Lake Atitlán is the result of third enormous volcanic eruption 85,000 years ago which blocked water flowing from the lake. The lake, 5125 feet above sea level, is fed by three rivers. For unknown reasons, the level of the lake has risen about 6 feet in the past two decades, submerging docks and beaches around the lake.

Our accommodation at Sunset Atitlán Lodge was idyllic. For two nights we stayed in the Tree House, a two story apartment with magnificent views of the lake. The host and the staff were helpful and interesting, and we enjoyed getting to know them and the few other guests at communal breakfasts and dinners. On our only full day there, we walked along the shoreline for about a half hour to reach the village of Santa Cruz. The heart of the village is half way up the mountain, and we hired a tuk-tuk to transport us to a place called CEPAC and its restaurant, Sabor. CEPAC, supported by an American NGO, offers training programs in cooking, sewing and others skills to the young people of the area, helping them to gain skills to rise above poverty. We were impressed with what they are doing as well as the delicious meals we were served. From the rooftop restaurant, we could also peek into the everyday lives of the local people on the streets and their back terraces.

Peter enjoying the hammock on our private terrace
Sunset from our terrace 
Peter paddle-boarding on the lake
Afternoon view from our terrace
View from the restaurant 
Sherri at Sabor
Woman working on her back porch
After lunch, before walking down the steep road to the docks, we took a peek into the church on the main plaza, a simple structure with white-washed walls inside and out. Red and white cloths were draped from the rafters. Along the walls surrounding the altar, there were various carved wooden statues, most with fading and chipped paint, and the altar itself was full of flowers, offerings and small icons.

Draperies brighten the interior of the church in Santa Cruz de Laguna
Statues lining the walls 
Statues lining the walls
Altar of the church
The plan had been to explore some of the other villages around the lake during our short stay at Atitlán, but we found that just relaxing at the lodge and enjoying the lake were just too enticing.

View from the lakeside trail, showing submerged terraces and our lodge on the far right
Man fishing in front of the lodge's docks
With reluctance, we left this restful and scenic place to head further up into the western highlands. We were expecting to encounter beautiful scenery and traditional villages. Unfortunately, before the day was over, we wished we had never departed from the lake. For most of the hours-long drive, we were on the Pan-American Highway, and commerce, industry and concrete and corrugated metal roof housing border each side. The cities and villages seem grubby, polluted by the exhaust of the big trucks constantly rumbling through. Regularly, large sections of the land right beside the road are gouged out. Stripped of all vegetation, the quarries for rock and sand scar the hillsides. The steep mountains have long lost more than half of their forests, it seems, replaced by terraced fields where the Mayas, who make up a significant percentage of the population of this region, plow, plant, tend and harvest their crops without help from machines or animals. The small patches of various shades of brown, tan and green create crazy quilts draped over the mountainsides. This somewhat attractive picture does not disguise the blight of deforestation. Where there are not farms, there is urban sprawl. It seems obvious that the size of the population cannot be adequately supported by the resources available, and the recent drought has only exacerbated the poverty and malnutrition that plagues the people. They crowd into the cities seeking opportunities that are just not there or push their way further up the mountains, trying to eke out basic sustenance.

Centuries old facade of cathedral in Quetzaltenango that survived a 1902 earthquake
Post-earthquake interior of the cathedral
Three small old women carrying firewood through a village
Finally, after having stopped for lunch at Quetzaltenango, hours later we arrived at Huehuetenango, high in the mountains, where we zigzagged through the narrow streets until we reached our hotel and shuddered in shock at the sight of an ugly multi-story Western building boldly advertising Bingo on its facade, plunked down in the middle of one and two-story typical Guatemalan buildings. I wasn't expecting much of Huehuetenango, but I thought I had booked us for two nights at a resort with lovely grounds from which we could easily do day trips to ruins and some of the most traditional villages (according to the guidebooks). It was not the sort of place I would even have chosen in a first-world country. Our room was large and comfortable but without any real style, and the businesses all around were shut up. Hungry, we had hoped to find a local restaurant, but we ended up having dinner at a replica of an American fast-food restaurant, complete with a play place for kids.

The staff were wonderfully helpful and breakfast was delicious, but we just could not stay. After our meal, having quickly booked another hotel for the second night back in lovely Antigua, we checked out without even asking for a refund.  (Well, hotels are inexpensive here in Guatemala.) Before leaving the area, we did visit the local ruins, Zucaleu.

Zucaleu (which means "white earth") is a Maya archaeological site on a small mesa which was first occupied in the Early Classic period (250-600 A.D.). The largest structures at the site, however, date from the Classic period (600-900 A.D.), and plazas groups and buildings were added during the Early Postclassic period (900-1200 A.D.) and the Late Postclassic period (1200-1525 A.D.). Since its beginning, it has an unbroken history and is still used by the Mam Maya as a ceremonial site. The Mam controlled the region for centuries, before they were invaded by K'ichi' Maya with their allies, the Kaqchikel, sometime during the Late Postclassic period, and their is evidence of Mexican cultural influence and perhaps domination before this time.

During the Spanish conquest of the area led by Gonzalo de Alvarado y Contreras (brother of the cruel conquistador Pedro de Alvarado), Maya warriors, under the leadership of Kaibil Balam, defended Zucaleu for four and a half months before they were forced to surrender because of starvation (and cannibalism), in October 1525 A.D.

Zucaleu has 43 structures arranged in small groups around 8 small retangular plazas. The buildings were constructed of masonry which was covered in a thick layer of plaster. The pyramid-shaped temples usually have steep double stairways. Remnants of floral and geometric designs indicate that these walls were colorfully decorated. Unlike other ancient Maya sites, Zucaleu has not stellae or hieroglyphics.

In 1946, the Guatemalan government licensed the United Fruit Company to excavate the site. Unusually, the archeologists chose to re-plaster some of the structures in the manner that would have been used in the original construction. The excavations uncovered ceramic vessels, anthropomorphic figures, pyrite mirrors, tools made from obsidian, and beads and earplugs (some unbelievably large) of turquoise and jade. Also found were gold, silver and copper objects, indicating that the Maya in this region were involved in trade networks spanning Central America. Many of these objects are now on display in a small but informative museum at the site.

Zucaleu
Zucaleu
Zucaleu
After our visit there, we headed back to Antigua, arriving there mid-afternoon. Our hotel, Hotel Eterna Primavera, just a couple of blocks from Parque Central, was amazing. Incorporating remaining structures from an earthquake-destroyed early colonial casa, the small hotel is modestly elegant. The rooms all face the central courtyard which seems to be practically overflowing with green and flowering plants (although, it is, in fact, carefully manicured). Our room was beautiful. After settling in, we set off to find afternoon tea. There were many options and after a stroll past several cafes, we chose Roots, where I enjoyed homemade tomato soup and a grilled cheese sandwich made with rosemary bread and Peter had a huge piece of poppyseed and raspberry cake.

Our delightful room


Courtyard of Hotel Eterna Primavera
Steam and smoke of El Fuego, an active volcano, from the roof of our hotel
That evening, we walked about and found a restaurant for dinner, Frida's, which is decorated with large reproductions of Frida Kahlo's works. The Mexican food was great, and a solo musician enhanced the delightful ambiance of the place.

Frida's Restaurante
The next morning, after a delicious breakfast al fresco in the courtyard of the hotel, we went for walk along the cobblestone streets, having an hour or so before we had to leave town. We found ourselves drawn in to a jewelry shop and museum, the Casa de Jade, where we were helped by a nice young man named Berny. The museum, of course, is situated in the rear of the establishment, making it impossible to avoid admiring the stunning jewelry on display in the successive small rooms of a former large casa. The museum itself has a fine collection of artifacts dating back to the Olmecs.

After looking at the Olmec and Maya pieces from excavations around the country, we went into shopping mode and selected a few pieces. We had to pass through the central courtyard to get to the front of the store, and we stopped there to admire the textiles of two Maya women. With Berny helping with translations, we chose a piece and also asked if one of them would show us how to use the hip-strap loom, which she graciously did. It was fascinating to watch her methodical work as she wove and embroidered from memory. When we paid her for our purchase, she reached up and sweetly gave me a big hug!

Hip-strap loom
Weaving in the weft yarns across the warp
Maya woman adding embroidery
Unfortunately, it was now time to leave (although we stole a few moments to buy a couple items at a chocolate shop), so we returned to our lovely hotel, packed the car and went to the airport where we returned the vehicle and met our driver, Will Jose, from Ottotours in Río Dulce. Seven and a half hours later, with only a brief stop for food, we arrived at Sundog's, one of the main cruisers' hangouts, where we were met by the lancha from Boatique. Finally, after tedious hours of traveling, we reached on second home, our boat Mantra.

Now we are enjoying this lovely, beautifully designed new hotel and marina which is peaceful but not silent--there are lots of animals around. We are getting ourselves and the boat ready to cruise again in a couple of weeks. We have done initial provisioning at the new, large supermarket in town. Peter has been focusing on getting our cantankerous generator to operate reliably, trying to track down where air is leaking into the system. I have been cleaning. At dusk, we go and enjoy the new pool, from where we can watch the fireflies in the fields and listen to the continuous music of various insects, frogs and toads, punctuated sometimes by the barks and growls of the howler monkeys.

The local vendors on the street have a better selection of produce than the supermarket
Toad below the raised walkway 
Boatique's pool
Mantra on the dock
The hotel itself, a collection of various-sized palapa covered wooden structures connected by raised walkways over the backwaters of the river, hosts 30-something backpackers and families, and we enjoy conversations with them in the outdoor restaurant, where the food is sublime.

In working on the boat in the last couple days, Peter has developed a list of hardware and supplies he needs, so we will be heading into town again on the dinghy as soon as I take a dip in the pool.