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.

Visiting the Fair Trade store

A group of 15 cruisers took a tour of Ak' Tenamit on Thursday July 15, 2010. The tour was organized by Joan from “MV Panchita”. A launcha from Ak' Tenamit picked us up at Mario’s Marina at 8:30 am and took us down river to the Ak' Tenamit school and medical facility.

We were all favorably impressed with the school and health facility. The school has 498 students. Tuition is 50Q/month and if that is too much for the family to pay they can provide maize or labor instead of the 50Q.

Two doctors, a nurse and a health promoter gave us a tour of the medical facility which included an area where they stored medications. Medical teams sometimes hike over 10 miles to remote villages to provide medical care.

Hand decorated bowls

We continued downstream in the launcha to Rio Tatin where we visited a Fair Trade store that sold handicrafts. Those that finished shopping early purchased soft drinks at a small restaurant.

Both the Fair Trade Store and restaurant were run by Ak’ Tenamit students learning to run a business. We then walked up to tour the school, a new library and farm. When we visited the school the students were learning in groups and the teachers were supporting the group studies. I noticed one group studying mathematics. We were told the school teaches the students how to run a small business such as a tienda or restaurant, a tourism business or a farm.

School and health facility

For lunch we went to “Buga Mama’s” in Livingston which is also run by Ak' Tenamit students. We had a delicious lunch of either red snapper or beef with some side dishes and cold drinks. We returned to Mario’s just in time for 4 pm volleyball.

Ak' Tenamit means “New Village” in the Q’eqchi Mayan language, because the organization is transforming life in the Q’eqchi villages. Ak’Tenamit is a Guatemalan indigeneous owned and operated nonprofit association based in the rainforest that works with dozens of remote Maya villages, all of which lack electricity and running water.

Bhut Jolokia

OK, if you have been paying attention lately, you heard about Noni which has the most powerful antioxidants known to man and helps blood pressure, along with many things on the cellular level and the Miracle fruit that changes bitter to sweet.

But if you are still sleeping, I suppose it’s time to put a fire in your life and let you in on one more thing that Frutas del Mundo has to offer, how about the hottest chili pepper in the world!

Slashfood.com reported that the Bhut Jolokia chili from India has been named the world’s hottest pepper by the Guinness Book of World Records in 2007. It weighed in at 1,001,304 Scoville heat units.

Maybe it’s time that Guinness learns about the collection of world record holding fruits raised and sold in one spot! We also carry and sell the largest fruit in the world, a plant that grows fruits that taste exactly like peanut butter and more, but those are other stories. Anyway, we have Ghost chilis.

Since the last article, Noni products are now available at the Mini Mart at Bruno’s which include half liter and liter bottles of juice, capsules, tea, shampoo and skin cream. We have also put together a tour package of the farm Frutas del Mundo on Wednesdays and Saturdays where transportation, guided tour with sampling of the ripe fruits and lunch for 175 Q per person (minimum 2 people) and group rates available for 5 or more.

Frutas del Mundo

If you are interested in seeing just how easy it is to live with the land comfortably and profitably, this is an amazing place for a day excursion.

Starting now and into August, many fruits are blooming and will be ripe at the farm like Rambutan, mangosteen, jackfruit, miracle fruit, Durian, star fruit, velvet apple and many more.

The new nursery/garden center is just now open in Seja which can be reached by the van buses across from the ones that go to Morales for 5Q round trip, call 4076-2091 for more info.

In the next couple weeks there will be an announcement for the grand opening for the store along with a new kid on the block who imports aged Black Angus beef with USDA cuts like t-bone, rib eye, etc., boneless pork loin, chops, ribs, smoked boneless turkey breasts, deli meats and he smokes his own meats.He will also have vacuum packaging for provisioning. 

We plan to jointly show our stuff and have a good time. I will provide exotic fruits and liquado’s and he will have samples of his sausages and possibly deli sandwiches

The website for Frutas del Mundo is still in the making and will be extensive for those who want an education in eco friendly living and tropical fruits or just our product line that is expanding all the time.

The web address is www.frutasdelmundo.inriodulce.com. So call Kevin at 4076 2091 or email me at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it   for reservations or further information.

Great surf day at El Zonte

I normally leave downtown Mariscos in my Chevy and counting breaks for snacks and whatnot am parking in my friend’s hotel in under 5 hours.  And that is taking the long way to get there.  You might say the scenic route.

Brand new road along the coast

As you can see on the maps that I have made that it is a basic trip to Chiquimula and on to Esquipulas, except that just a few miles before arriving in this town, take a right on a fairly rough paved road for about 20 miles to the Salvadoranean border.  

As El Salvador is a member of the CA-4 it is a snap to cross the border and if your vehicle has Guatemalan plates there is no problem with car papers. 

As a matter of fact, after fighting to cross borders here for more than thirty years with my vehicles I was very pleased to hear the border official on the Salvadoranean side say, “Ah, I bet you are going to the beach!”  Perhaps the surfboards on the roof rack gave us away, I’m not sure.  They he really blew me away when he said, “Welcome to my country.  I hope that you have a great time and that you will visit us many times!”

This was a welcome change from the cold stares, endless lines, searches, and bribes that had constantly humiliated and angered me for so long.  The whole process of crossing the border took approximately 5 minutes.

Can you believe this beach?

Once you are in El Salvador you are, it seems, no more than an hour from anywhere in the country.  On my first trips I would consult the map, find the next town where we would make a turn, and within just a few minutes would be surprised to find that I was passing through the place. 

It really is a small country.  Just remember that it has about 3 million different roads and it is easy to get lost. 

Most people take the freeway into San Salvador and then hit the beach from there.  More power to you, folks, but I am from British Columbia and I love the mountains and the views that they provide, so I use a slightly longer route.

Road map to El Zonte

What you do, basically, is enter the country on highway #12 and stay on it all the way south until you take the left to follow the coast.  The only problem area is around Santa Ana as this is a large city.   Just write the number 12 on your navigator’s forehead and you can’t go too wrong. 

New 85 ton Travel Lift at Abel's Boatyard

Abel’s boat yard (Astillero Magdalena) now has an 85 ton Travel Lift to serve the needs of Rio Dulce boaters.

The huge machine is available for emergency haulouts as well as scheduled hull and bottom service, including power washing, blasting, repainting as well as fiberglass, welding and woodworking services.

Yard manager and administrator Abel Castro (known to most boaters as Abel Junior) said their haulout and dry storage yard presently can handle up to 15 boats but work is underway to clear another area behind the yard for even more storage.

Haul out yard can accomodate 15 boats -- more space will be available soon

The new Travel Lift is in addition to Abel’s three boat railway systems. They have two 150 ton railways and one 75 ton railway.

And yes, Abel’s can handle catamarans up to 32 feet in width.

Abel Senior has been in business on the Rio Dulce for 25 years. His son, Abel Junior, joined the family business 5 years ago. The yard has 27 employees.

Abel can be contacted at 7930 5059 or Cellular Phone 5200 7941 or email
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