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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Bamboo living room set -- photos by Jane McNett

Emilio A. Mendizabal T. (known locally and affectionately as “Don Emilio”) is the director of Reforestation Projects at his Jardin Botanico “El Ciricote”.

At age 66, Don Emilio is a robust, affable and energetic man with an easy sense of humor and an engaging grin. You can’t help but smile back at him as he describes his projects and dreams with a boyish enthusiasm that isn’t diminished by the soft white cloudiness of glaucoma in his right eye or his noticeable limp as he rearranges the pieces of furniture for your examination.

Don Emilio

His vitality makes you want to go with him to dig into the rich earth, plant seeds, prune trees and help label and categorize his specimens. And you would be welcome.

For many years, his botanical garden outside of Fronteras near the town of Seja has been a source of pride for Don Emilio and a source of inspiration for those who share his concern at the high rate of deforestation throughout the world.

In 1989, Don Emilio held a tiny seed in the palm of his hand and carefully planted it. Today, it is a  magnificent Conacaste [Enterolobium ciclocarpum] tree that he estimates weighs over 100 tons.

A variety of finishes available

That, in addition to his many other projects, gives him great pleasure. And it gives him hope.

He views the cutting down of Guatemala’s beautiful hardwood forests by local villagers and craftsmen as well as commercial lumber interests with alarm and dismay.

And he’d like to encourage local furniture builders and carpenters to make greater use of an age-old building material that is strong, durable and, most importantly, can be grown easily and quickly.

That building material is bamboo.

Don Emilio is now building bamboo furniture in his small workshop at the botanical gardens to show local craftsmen and the public how bamboo can be used to create attractive, inexpensive and strong furniture, as well as other items.

Since he’s new at building bamboo furniture, he encourages your advice and opinions and welcomes different designs and construction methods. And he would welcome investors who share his concerns and dreams and would like to help establish a self-sustaining bamboo furniture facility.

Armando -- shoe repair under the bridge

Meet Armando. He's the smiling guy you'll see sitting at his workshop under the bridge, halfway between Hotel Vista Rio and Bruno's Marina.

He can put a new sole on your Crocs or other shoes that is better than the original, tough and with a good grip on wet surfaces. Cost? About Q30.

Armando also repairs shoes, sandals, purses and boots. His wife, located in the Zapateria shop nearby on the street, can do canvas repair, sail repair and clothing repair.

He recently repaired a very special pair of sandals which were given to Jane on m/v Steel Magnolia by Linda on s/v Lone Star, traveling all the way from the U.S. to the Bahamas, the Eastern Caribbean then to the Rio -- only to be chewed upon by the lovable yet mischievious yellow Lab "Toffee" owned by the lovable yet mischievious Denny at Denny's Beach.

Cost of repair?  Q3 -- make a note, Denny. We have a factura for you.

Sections of the two Puente de Rico bridges were swept away in the May 30 flood. Residents of Rico and surrounding villages now have to cross the river via lanchas.

Over a month has passed, but Los Amates victims in the May 30 flooding of the Rio Motagua are still in need of assistance in terms of clothing, food and construction materials.

While at least 10 Los Amates homes were completely swept away as the Rio Motagua swelled beyond its banks, many others were filled with water and mud, destroying the contents. Approximately 284 area homes were reported damaged.

A woman rescues materials from the river bank.

See related story of the May 30 flooding of Rio Motagua Here .  

Jane and I visited Los Amates this past Monday with Lupe, wife of Dennis Gulck of Denny’s Beach. Lupe and Dennis have a home in Los Amates which is located a short distance uphill from the river bank. Situated on higher ground, their home was spared from the flood waters, but many of their neighbors lost everything.

One neighbor, living in a makeshift house of wooden poles and corrugated sheeting, asked us for a camping tent – or even a tarp or plastic sheeting to help keep her children dry.