I HATE Fronteras, Or do I?

Wow, a lot has gone on since I last updated my blog.  I left telling you we were going to travel inland for a bit and we did.  We loved every bit of it.  Before we went we did a few things; we hiked up to the tower here at Tijax Resort/Marina, and we hosted a cyclist. 

Our first season here in the Rio Dulce, I was excited, but then by the second season, I disliked the town here in the Rio. The streets are crowded, dirty and hot, so not a real pleasure to shop for necessary supplies.  This season, being our third time here,  I believe I got things down. I can navigate more comfortably, and I am no longer hunting miserably for general supplies.

This lifestyle is mostly moving to a new location and first finding all necessary supplies then exploring for pleasure. Rio Dulce’s small town of Fronteras took a lot of joy I normally find out.  I am so glad I have finally found how to maneuver through it with little aggravation.  So, this season I took a few new friends I have met that are new here on a short tour of the town.  I showed them little things, such as where to get laundry done, where to get meat from butchers, where to get your hair cut, where to get hard to find gringo groceries such as cheddar cheese and pickles and where to find other gringo supplies such as shampoo we recognize.  I did this because I wished someone had done that for me when I first arrived.  I do enjoy exploring new towns, but Fronteras is very overwhelming. The congestion of people and moving motor vehicles, so close to vendors make it very unnerving.  Yours constantly guarding yourself to keep from being robbed, looking for what you came for and what else you may need in the future, as well as, making sure you don’t get hit or shit on by a passing trailer of cows. Now doesn’t that sound fun?! 

The Rio Dulce gets lots of tourists, from backpackers, vacationers to crazy cyclists touring the country or setting some record.  We have friends that cycled through a few countries.  They belong to cycle tour groups that share information regarding towns and where to find shelter.  Well, our friends contacted us recently and asked if we would host a cyclist passing by here. They just needed a place to sleep. We agreed to open our home to one of these cyclists.  Our friend got us in contact with each other, and we scheduled to pick her up when she got to a nearby restaurant.

So that was an interesting experience. You can read about our new cyclist friend, Natalie and her travels here.  She came and went because she is on a mission to completely cycle the Americas.  If you are interested in assisting these cyclists, I believe you can sign up on one of the many websites.

We finally hiked to the top of Tijax’s jungle trail.  It isn’t a hard hike but Steve isn’t a big fan of the creatures in the jungle, and I am usually too lazy.  Schooner and I have ventured on most of the trial but not the whole thing until our friend Jane drug us out of our comfort spot.  I'm glad she did because it wasn’t as hot as I thought it would be and I thoroughly enjoyed it. 

I want to endorse some newer friends of ours which I am sure you have already found. Desiree and Jordan off SV Atticus.  We met them in Isla Mujeres and became fast friends.  We have given them all the information we on Belize, The Bay Islands and Rio Dulce.  They are talented with videos on YouTube.  They can explain how it is out here much better than we can.  So if you are wanting a better idea of what our life is like, check out their YouTube channel... of course Steve and I are better looking than they are, hahah.  

Sorry, I don't have pictures of giving the ladies a tour of the town but parts of it may come out on one of Project Atticus' videos.  

I do have a picture celebrating our friend, Karen's, who runs RAM's marina and boat yard, birthday at Dreamcatcher.

Well that is all for now.. I promise to tell you all about our trip inland next time.. 

Remember, be good to yourselves and to others

Time to Migrate South

Well, we finally received Schooner's Titer Certificate to fly to England.  We purchased our tickets to fly from Guatemala City to Heathrow in mid-September and return November 6th.  We wanted to stay longer in Europe but it is what it is and we will enjoy it every bit we get.

We plan to find as many housesits to offset the cost and to make our stay a little more interesting.  The only place we plan to go is Bath where good friends are at the moment.  From there it is all up to the luck of the draw.  We use sites such as Trusted House Sitter and Housesitting UK to find people in need of a house sitter.  We currently have two sits scheduled.

We left from Isla Mujeres on Sunday, June 24th and had every intention of sailing to Guanaja Honduras, but the winds were a bit too much on our nose so we changed our destination to Roatan.  We planned to see all three of the Bay Islands this year but it looks as if we will only get to see two of them.

Our trip was fairly uneventful except for being a close reach and sometimes a close haul.  This means bumpy.  My meds worked somewhat, I still needed to stay laying down for most of the trip but I didn't throw up.  Once we changed destinations the ride became more comfortable and I was able to get up and do a few more things.

We are now anchored off Roatan's West End.  No complaints.... Check in was a breeze and it is lovely seeing the Bay Island blue water again.  Back to island life.  Not that Isla Mujeres isn't an island but it is a different culture in the Bay Islands, one we enjoy just as much.

Our plans are to sick around the West End for a few days then head up to Calabash and French Harbour.  After that head over to Utila.  Utila is a known diving destination. It is filled with many backpackers who are interested in diving. We have never been there before because we don't dive. So this will be a first for us.

We are expected back in the Rio Dulce by August first for a month-long house sit. That should be interesting since it will be our first long sit.

Well, that is it for us at the moment.  We continue to have our lists of continuous maintenance and improvements.  I think since I am unable to move my furniture around then I am constantly looking to improve the function of everything we have.

Remember to be good to yourself and to OTHERS.