Nubya -- Las Mexicanas manager

Happy Hour will be from 4 to 7 p.m.

A buffet will be served with antojitos mexicanos, pozole, pambazos, tostadas, and quezadillas, sopes. One free cuba libre will be served to each customer.

There will be mariachi music and a raffle for 2 bottles of tequila 

Free lancha service will be available.

Monkey River Town to Placencia

This is my first post dealing with the profusion of marine parks in Belize.  Please note that I am a conservationist at heart, and it is not that I object to the idea of marine parks, but rather that I don’t like to pay money to anchor behind a caye. (For a larger version of the map, click HERE .)

Frankly, I can’t afford it and I am sure that there are many cruisers who feel the same about shelling out hard cash to pay to anchor.  

The reef has been decimated by the fishing fleets from Sarteneja, Belize City, and Honduras.  If you could have seen the reef as I did in the mid seventies, you would understand where I am coming from. 

The last time I went to the southern cayes with my two sons I was shocked to see the reef......broken, bleached, and without fish.  I felt sorry for the boys even though they were thrilled to see the few trunkfish and one small barracuda that we saw the first day.  Those cayes used to be loaded with fish as the fishing fleet did not have to travel that far to fill their ice boxes.

Cheers -- Miriam, bartender at Mario's, was one of many employees honored with pig roast and pot luck dinner at the marina

The management of Mario’s Marina and the Cayuco Club Restaurante hosted  a Pig Roast dinner on Saturday, July 24, to honor and recognize their loyal and hard-working employees. El Jeem provided the pig, which was cooked to perfection by fellow cruisers, Hank and John.

We all got to taste a variety of different side dishes, provided by the cruisers docked, moored and anchored at Mario’s. You can see by all the smiles that everyone had a really good time.

Special thanks to the staff and crew at Mario’s, Hank and John for doing such a good job cooking the pig, and all the cruisers who provided food and camaraderie.

Big smiles

Extra special thanks to my partner –in-crime, Susie, for her help washing all the dishes!

Yeehaw

If you have been to see some of the sights accessible from the Rio Dulce, and are looking for something new, think of taking a 4-hour horseback ride in the Mountains of the Mines behind Punta Brava village.

Some Canadian friends of mine took the trip a couple of years ago and said that it was well worth the less than 13 dollars that it costs.

First get to know your mount on the beach and then head toward the village.   This is a chance to see Guatemala as it really is.  The people here lead a simple life, working for the cattle farmers and growing their corn crop twice a year. 

Corn farmers

Their houses are simple with dirt floors, made from wood harvested from the mountainside, and covered with palm leaves to keep the rain out and maintain the temperature inside a little cooler. 

It is possible to enter the homes and take photographs if you are so inclined.

The next part is the climb up the mountainside to the “vega” where much of the corn is grown.  There is always time to visit a small waterfall and a cave along the way.  Take a swimsuit to cool off in the streams.

Depending at what time of year you are travelling there are many different kinds of fruit to see and learn about. 

On the trip that my friends took, they had the luck to eat fresh oranges that were found in abundance on the trail leading to the cave.