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.