Rapi Refri -- Luis Ordonez and Francis Ramos

Luis Ordonez and Francis Ramos are partners in Rapi Refri, a multi-faceted service company which not only services and installs refrigeration and air conditioning components but can also provide service for:
Generators
Electrical
Refrigeration
Air Conditioning
High voltage and low voltage transformer repair and installation

Rapi Refri

They have 5 mobile trucks, 12 employees and a workshop in Barrio Nuevo, Morales.

If they can’t fix a particular item, they’ll ship it for you to a repair center in Guatemala City.

Luis says that all their work is guaranteed.

Call them at 5526 6772 (Luis) or 5919 9999 (Francis).

Email them at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

Meliponines fighting

So what do you know about the bees? Do you simply think that they pollinate flowers and produce honey and that those little black ones scare or drive you nuts you when you are trying to sit down and eat outside? Don’t worry about them, as a rule those are one of the species of stingless bees called locally “Coshushu’s”.

Hopefully this article will give you a new appreciation about bees. Yes, there are strains of the Africanized bees around here that ARE extremely aggressive when you get around their hives. But there are also many other species like orchid bees (Euglossini), bumble bees and many others. The one species I am going to talk about, many can only consider magic. From personal experience, I can attest that the honey from one is a hundred times better medicinally than penicillin.

Now where do I start? Since there are about 20,000 species of bees existing globally I will only focus on one local group that are of particular interest to me, the stingless honeybees (Meliponinae). Found primarily in Central and South America, there are only about 30 species here and on the Yucutan Peninsula going as far south as Peru and are declining rapidly. They range in size from the smallest of all bees to species larger than honeybees. But it should be noted that all bees are in decline globally at a drastic rate.

Meliponines do not lack stingers morphologically; they are simply inadequately small and cannot be used for defense. Although their stingers are reduced and do not function, many species are by no means defenseless. Attack consists of biting and of crawling into the eyes, ears, nose, and hair of animals or people that disturb them.  They often fight off attacking swarms of other full sized bees by biting off their wings and rending them defenseless. Do you still think size matters?

Derek and Zory of s/v Celtic Dancer, winners of the costume contest He's an affable lad from Ireland and she's a beauty from Mexico.A lovely and fun couple!

Elizabeth, Bill and Chico of s/v Wandering Star

Winners of the costume contest were Derek and Zory of s/v Celtic Dancer.

Patty Harmon reports that “Mike provided the music, lightshow and smoke effects and the food was outstanding.”

Randy and Pat of s/v Homeward Bound with Marjorie and Tom of s/v 3 Quarter Time

“All the tables were full, the dancefloor was seldom vacant and the smiles were wall to wall!” she said. Ït was difficult to take pictures while on the dancefloor!”

Bomberos en route to the fire

The building was called "the swamp house", occasionally used as a dormitory for workers and a storage building.

The wooden rancho style structure was in full blaze by the time firefighters arrived. Marina employees were unable to control the fire with water hoses and buckets.

Remains of the building still in flames

No determination has yet been made as to the cause of the fire.

The building was totally destroyed.

Pana Meats

Welcome to those who savor quality meats! If you are tired of tough, stringy, shoe leather, here is a solution and a treat for you. Imported Black Angus beef from the U.S, pork and other meats cut to your desired thickness, gourmet sausages and even deli sandwiches are custom prepared to your specifications.

Many of us are or will be glad to hear about a newcomer to the Rio. He’s not new to business here in Guate though. Jim Cameron of “Pana Meats” just relocated here from Panajachel where he operated for five and a half years and primarily serviced the restaurants there and sold deli sandwiches on the side. Desiring a warmer climate he found Rio Dulce and is opening a shop here two doors north of the Bombero’s under the bridge.

Like with most new ventures here getting started can be a challenge with finding certain basic items you need to get the ball rolling. Such is the case here too. At this point, Pana Meats isn’t much to look at so don’t judge a book by it’s cover.  Jim has some inventory to get things started but it will be next week (if all goes well) before the deli sandwiches and some of the other stuff is available.

Jim Cameron

Here is what he has now;

USA Virginia Ham, USA Smoked Pork Loin, USA made Canadian Bacon, USA Genow Salami, USA Prosciutto, USA Provolone cheese, Mozzarella cheese, USA Angus Ribeye steaks, USA Angus T-Bones, USA Angus Porterhouse, USA Angus Sirloin Steaks, USA Filet Mingnon-Beef Tenderloins, USA Tri-Tip Sirloin Roast, USA Angus ground beef patties, USA Pork Chops, USA Boneless Pork Loin, USA Boneless Pork Chops, USA Smoked Pork Chops and USA Pork Spare Ribs.

Next week Pana Meats will have his special homemade Smoked Pork & Mesuite Chicken sausages, Bratwurst and assorted smoked sausages including the Pirate version of Jimmy Dean breakfast sausages. Monday afternoon is scheduled for Roast Beef and Corn Beef. Tuesday will have Pastrami, Friday or Saturday will have Roast Turkey Breast and Monday it will be smoked! Monday will also start selling deli sandwiches with a bag of potato chips. Be warned though! He is only buying a certain amount of buns for his sandwiches per day, when those are sold, that will be it until the next day.

So lick your lips and listen to your stomach growl until you come on by to visit the new kid on the block, Jim Cameron.

Kayak made of empty plastic bottles

I can hear you all now, “Here we go again, he’s BACK!” Ok, I won’t get into my “Edible Landscaping”, or my “Edible Tours” this time even though you really are missing out on an incredible tour if you haven’t visited Frutas del Mundo farm yet.

I will only give you this one tip regarding food in this article. Do you want to know how to stop the itch from a mosquito bite almost instantly? Rub the inside of a banana peel over the bite and check it out! That’s but one of millions of remedies available naturally from our Mother Nature. 

Litterbug

Many countries sent aid after the war, but after headlines change to another catastrophe, people quickly forget before the solution is met.

Even today many Guatemalans are struggling to rebuild, living day by day to provide for their families so consequences for the land on which they live is secondary and often not even considered. It is impossible for most of them to rise above any sort of meek existence as this area as a whole is looked at as a third world country where people are expected to live below a quality standard of existence by travelers who expect to pay less for everything regardless if it is way below a fair market value or not.

And they're off .. rabbit start at Castillo San Felipe. Lorelei, Footloose and Consort

About 12 boats and over twice that number of participants attended the 2010 Full Moon Race from Rio Dulce to Denny’s Beach this past weekend, beginning Friday, August 20.

Boats gathered near Castillo San Felipe for a “rabbit” start with s/v Blue Water Cat serving as the rabbit and immediately spread across the lake searching for the best gusts of breeze. Spinnakers went up and down as the wind changed direction over the 10 nm course.

Oddly enough, the majority of the boats, with widely varying hull designs and sizes, converged together at the same time for the final stretch to the finish line.

Gathered up for the finish

Keith on s/v Tri-Ing claimed first place honors. No protests were filed since any protest would require the purchase of a round of drinks for all participants.

Kayak race

After the race, participants enjoyed daily happy hours, swimming, nature trail hiking, horseback riding, bucci ball contests, volleyball, horseshoes and windsurfing.

Music by fishing guide Gerry and Lorelei Gary

Music was provided by Parlamar fishing guide Gerry and s/v Lorelei’s Gary.

Several boats departed Monday morning to anchor at Bahia Refugio then explore the Rio Oscuro, by dinghy, led by Patty and Gary of s/v Lorelei.

Many thanks to host Denny and Lupe of Denny’s Beach and organizers Jimmy of s/v Blue Water Cat and Patty of s/v Lorelei.

Let’s do it again .. soon!

Comment on this article.