Chairs, Travel, Guns, The Guatemalan Way

Sat Nov ....14th 6:39 PM CST
I'm under orders from the Admiral to write this blog...we have been traveling inland 2x since we came back at the end of Sept. To date some boat chores have been completed but the list is still long...We have a new forward freezer...very cold...more efficient than the old. Just $$$$...The A/C well off and on....New pumps down in the engine room..all but the watermaker pre pump working great. My $149 A/C circulation pump works better than the $350 pump it replaced...so quiet you have to touch it to make sure its running.
Windlass installed...mainsail repaired...great job for $100 bucks...1/2 the US price...boat went up on the hard(on land ) to get paint and other work...Now to the title of this blog....This OLD Fart has a bad back....the comfort of chairs is noticed as soon as I sit down at a table....well it seems that the Guatemalans like to sit in chairs with a straight back....
:...........................These damn things have my back in spasms 3 min after I sit down...they really suck...So when I find a comfortable chair....well they can bring my cerveza to me there......

Now lets talk about modes of travel around Guatemala. Airports....well there are a few....the major mode of travel between towns are by bus.....more on them later...within town you can take a taxi...of the more favored Tuk Tuk. Seems 7-8 yrs ago India started importing these crapola overgrown tricycles into Guatemala. Once you get tags you paint the number on the back. In Fronteras here on the Rio Dulce has only about 25. Last week on our trip to Flores...they have over 700 of the damn things...The controls are like a motor cycle...top speed 25 mph..12 in dia tires that multiply every bump in the road 50 times....any shocks were destroyed 2 days after hitting the roads in the towns.. Some would say cobblestones...but just ROCKS...none flat...almost positive these damn things resulted in my increased back pain....1 good thing CHEAP...10 Q ($1.20) gets you a ride across town by the most uncomfortable route at maximum speed...............Most are Red...but you will find a few odd balls...silver green or yellow. .......Then there are the buses....lots of these things...old school buses fixed up and customized....always crammed full of Guatemalans...must be cheaper than the Tuk Tuk's....we never stooped that low.........Some would call these "Chicken" buses...and sometimes you would see some chickens as passengers...Then there are the trucks....any truck going down the highway might have a half dozen "passengers"...................................Lets talk about trucks....no railroads...so almost everything goes by truck. Back in my days with Chattanooga, Jimmy..our bus driver explained to me that all the over the road trucks when all the useful miles were used up were then put on a freighter in Savanaha and shipped to Central America....so the trucks going down the road more than likely have several millions mile on them....You see Covanant Transport based in Chattanooga has a very distinct paint job on their trucks. We saw 2 in 1 day....you can imagine...these trucks are USED................On the 6 hr ride back from Guat City we saw 4 trucks broken down...most with large oil slicks under them....never did see a tow truck...they would attempt to rebuild whatever RIGHT there on the road. Last week on a ride over the bridge here over the river there was a sand truck (grossly overloaded) with 2 flat tires....it was about 3 pm...our driver said it was too hot and they were going to wait till morning to change them....One must remember...Guatemala only has about 12 roads...99% 2 lane...shoulder on the side of the road....what's that...people walk there...so when they breakdown (a lot)...they stay in the middle of the road.............And now guns....We call Fronteras...Frontier Town....just like the Wild Wild West. All banks have several shotgun toting guards. Not unusual to see someone riding "ShotGun " on any truck going down the road.............Who in the hell wants to hijack a Coke truck

And now the Guatemala way....electricity is very expensive...I kind of think that is because most people steal it.....think this hook up at the bus station would pass code....who pays the bill

...........This major road construction in Flores....all labor is MANUAL...no back hoe..no steam roller...no trucks...all by hand.

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.....You have to look closely...this is the mower that cuts the grass on the side of the road...2 Guatemalans with machetes.....This is how they spray for insects in the fields
.....Not unusual to see them load a concrete block truck by hand,, pull a sand truck into a river bed and 6 guys fill the truck with sand with shovels. Want to wash your truck...park it in the river and 3-4 guys wash it.....

In Flores, we stayed in the hotel...had a 3 floor room with a huge balcony over looking the lake...even had A/C...The maid was looking for a tip...every day when we came back she would have fixed up out towels into this....

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...... .......Yep...she got a tip...we really enjoy the people here...they always have a smile...always wave out on the water...the average wage here is about 10-12 USD a day...average...most we see make 1/2 that...still happy...still smiling..still helpful...
Today we had the usual swap meet here at the marina...always an interesting time...lots of locals come for the bargains..things we tend to discard...things they never see in their stores....


An UPDATE on Denny.. those of you that have followed our adventure might remember Denny. He was our crew from Norfolk to St Martin. Denny was a nubie....well he left Norfolk last Sat...alone on his 46' Morgan..he was doing well till Thursday when his steering failed in a 30 plus knot storm....he did the right things...did not panic..did not put out the mayday...got things back together and is now a day out of Bermuda...we will all welcome him to the cruising community...he might be green...but has earned the title of a "cruiser"!