The "draw"....

According to Merriam-Webster the definition is: "to cause to move continuously toward or after a force applied in advance". What is the force we (at first it was just me...now it is both of us) feel toward Antigua?

We just HAD to make a short trip to Antigua before we left for Roatan and this trip was all about shopping! First of course...the getting there. To make a seven hour trip short...a late launcha...one broken down bus (it was interesting to watch them check the fuel with a stick)...luckily changing buses within 10 minutes of the breakdown...a much busier road into Guatamala City than we had remembered...then a lost ticket to Antigua...and, again luckily the young man let us ride the shuttle without any further complications! In fact he took us directly to the hostel that we have stayed at on all of our previous visits...Casa Jacaranda! This is a great little hostel...always clean...serves a great breakfast...very reasonable...and very friendly owners. Of course I was all about business...(ha ha ha) going shopping in town...knowing that the next day we would be shopping at the large Artesania Market...and thinking that if we were able to get back in time perhaps I could go on another horseback ride that Pam was arranging with some other friends. Capt Paul (CP) walked and walked (only cane assisted too)...of course he teased that he walked a zillion blocks...and I teased that it was only because he walked so slow that I could have walked those zillion blocks in the time it took him to walk the eight or nine that we did...but we so enjoyed, and shopped, and shopped. I did find a new shawl...but not the color of my favorite old one that I lost...they only had a scarf in that color...so I bought it...and who knows maybe this summer I'll find the old shawl! To dinner in town...and a few more stores! Back to the hostel where they always turn on Fox news for CP while he drinks a beer or two and to our room...we were exhausted!

I was anxious the next morning to get to the market, so once full with breakfast we were off and running by 9:00am! We did take a Tuk-Tuk there...because Capt Paul was (even more than me) wanting to walk every single isle of this market! There are so many beautiful things to see! I knew Capt Paul enjoyed shopping...but it turns out that he is the BEST shopper in the world!! While I was working price with a vendor on something we were looking for...CP continued walking to the next stall...or even a couple down...or to a bench even further down (this market is wonderful with benches every other vendor or so). This would panic the vendor into giving me a GREAT deal thinking that I was going to walk away too! Oh, it was FUN! Of course, at first CP did not know this was helpful...but when I explained that it was...we had even more fun with it! And, does the expression "shop 'til you drop" mean anything to you? Well, it certainly does to CP! He HAD to walk the entire market (I bought another beautiful bag to carry purchases) and once done there we walked to the grocery store (just had to get Guatamalan coffee)...then finally started walking back to the hostel...were two blocks away...when...yep...he dropped! He caught the toe of his shoe on the cobble-stone sidewalk, was so fatigued, couldn't catch himself, and down he went (rolled). No this isn't CP...A young man walking by, came running over and between he and I got CP back to his feet...then two blocks! CP was DONE for the day! Fox News and beer!

I decided to walk across town to the bus station to buy our tickets back to the Rioand did a little shopping on the way...and then proceeded to get lost!
I found this square that I believe use to be where laundry was done... Our third time here...and my only excuse in getting lost is that ...the volcano's were not out to guide me! I did see some neat things...I had not seen before...or perhaps it was just looking at things from a different perspective?Earthquakes have been hard on some of these wonderful old buildings. After buying the tickets back to the Rio...I walked back to the hostel! I was planning on taking a Tuk Tuk back...but somehow just spaced out and walked! By the time I realized I had forgotten to take a Tuk Tuk it would not have been worth it! I was exhausted when I returned...and we both decided that ordering in a Pizza was the best way to have dinner!

Our journey back the next morning included...the Guat City bus station...Views of Guatamala City...One of Capt Paul's favorite things!!And lots of Saturday men's soccer games going on!

So, we are back to the Rio... back to the boat...cleaning, provisioning, and getting ready for the high tide this week and our passage to Roatan.

So what is the draw I (we) have to Antigua? The adventure?...the food (topic for another day)? the shopping?...the town?...the volcano's? I do not know. I do know that the morning we departed, from the tiny little bus station, the clouds cleared... and the volcano's showed themselves...their way of taunting me to return? My disappointment was that when we got back to the boat I realized that there was way too much for me to do on the boat to go on another horseback ride with Pam and her friends! However...spending time with her and horsebackriding in the beautiful Guatamalan countryside...yet another "draw" back to Guatamala...

It's about the entire journey....

What, you might ask, is a blog about horsebackriding doing on a sailing blog?


We left early to meet our friends, Pam and Al at Vista Rio...picked up a couple of other gals...and off we went to their finca! Al and Paul enjoyed the gazebo on the river until football started then wandered up to the house to watch football. Us girls went up to the current horse corral (the barn being built is closer to the new house). The view from the current corral.Saddling up...Pam is wonderful with her horses...and got us all saddled up and mounted in no time! Pam's horse, Corey, wondering when it was going to be his turn! My ride, who turned out to be a wonderful gentleman! What a joy to be seeing the Guatamala country side via horseback...and what a beautiful country side! Through the town of San Marcos where all the children know the "gringa"... and when she rides through town it becomes somewhat like a parade of children after the horses! Through the rivers, a few "posed" shots Out into...the corn fields, the pineapple fields and ...about an hour and a half later up... into the town of the Miracle where we dismounted, Pam tied the horses up (mostly to each other) and into the local Tienda we went for a cold soda! To the next crossing of the river...and the smiles of enjoyment! Letting the horses relax... and drink while we take in the sights!!One of the wooden bridges crossing the river!Into the hills where we could see....Lake Isabella way off in the distance...I was amazed we were up high enough to see it...with the mountains/hills of Guatamala in the background of the lake...Tales of the 7 1/2 hour ride! Heading back down through the hills and farm land! Our four hour ride...and, yes we did take time to smell...well not a rose...but a beautiful Guatamalan flower!

So...back to the original question and to the title of this blog...it's about the entire journey...good enough answer?

Found it!

While I still don't have the suitcases stowed in the locker, I did find....the pepper grinder...a very important find...Capt Paul is very happy!

Shopping in Fronteras...and a traffic jam! We had forgotten about the unbelievably loud trucks coming down the bridge before going through town and how pungent the cattle trucks are as they pass you with only inches to spare! Of course they can be smelled long before they even get close so it is always wise to move over a bit more out of the street if you can! Capt Paul thinks that all they do is load the cattle up on one side of town in the morning and then take them back to the other side at night! Tourist attraction? Yeah, yeah...although, sometimes I wonder really what they are doing because so many cattle trucks do go through town! I bought a t-shirt about driving in Honduras when my kids were vacationing with us, we took the ferry over to the mainland, I rented a car and we drove to Copan (May 2010 blog)! I really think a t-shirt about walking and shopping in Fronteras would tell a great story and be a great sell! Saturday and Wednesdays are the best fresh fruit and vegetable shopping days...and of course the busiest! Capt Paul loves to shop...so we had to go yesterday! We reaped the rewards and had fresh peas for dinner last night, bought some beautiful broccoli, found the pineapple, cantelope and limes to complete our smoothy ingredients!

On the way to and from town (via Hugo) I am always amazed at how beautiful this river is and how we are just visitors to a way of live that has gone on for many years and hopefully will continue.This video is an experiment with my Olympus, which does not take videos...ahhhh, it's so nice to have some time on my hands again! Oh...fiddle sticks...looks like it did not work this time! Oh, wait...maybe it did!! We do hope to take a short trip up to Antigua later this week...so I guess...tomorrow I get more cleaning and stowing completed!

What we forgot....

Final chore at the lake...then a day to scrub and clean! Big hug and thank you to my son for making an extra trip over the pass to move furniture for us AFTER we left!


Flying into San Pedro Sula, Honduras seemed easier (and less expensive) than when we flew into Guat City over a year ago...but time changes perceptions. Our hostel host, Luis, was at the airport to meet us and take us to his home. He was a very nice gentleman...spoke broken English...and with my rusty broken Spanish we had an enjoyable conversation! Warm at last...there was no air-conditioning in the van and with the windows open Capt Paul (CP) mentioned the wonderful smell of diesel...yes; a majority of the trucks and cars on the road here are diesel. Once at the hostel, with Luis's help (of course being "third world" there was not an elevator) I got all of our luggage (four plus) up to the second floor room. Once in the room we found the bathroom door had to remain closed or the septic smell would waft into the room. There was air-conditioning in the room and for CP it was a cold relief! After a moment on the internet (great wi-fi) we took a taxi (only four or five blocks) to the Super Mall for dinner (Church's Chicken) and then caught a taxi back. More of a safety issue to take that taxi rather than CP's walking ability...we are in Honduras after all. Prison type bars and barbed wire serve as a deterrent to keep bad people from coming into their homes and every home has at least one dog (additional security), Luis's home was no exception.

So, it started there...it struck me...after six months in the states...all of the things that we had forgotten...and later when I mentioned it to CP...he agreed.

The bus was a very early morning start for us...4 o'clock something in the am wake up for Luis to get us to the bus terminal for a 6 o'clock departure...but after CP had fallen out of bed (well slid actually) at 2:30 neither of us could get any additional sleep. The bed was the old style...on four legs not on a frame so when he got to the edge of the bed...up it flipped and down he slid! Oh...and an interesting note...the couch in the room was an old back bench seat from a club cab pickup! Luis helped us get our things to the bus waiting area where we said our goodbyes and thanks to him. When the time came to board all our luggage was safely in the compartment under the bus thanks to a sweet older Honduran gentleman who helped me get them to the young men who loaded them. It was dark outside until the bus got to around Puerto Cortes...where CP woke up, looked out the window and stated "it is a beautiful country". Crossing the border (checking out of Honduras and checking into Guatemala) was uneventful...CP stayed on the bus and I took our passports to the waiting agents. When they asked where CP was I stated "no puede caminar" and they were just fine with that! We changed buses outside of Morales...to what we would deem more of a "chicken bus"...no air-conditioning...and by the time I got the luggage safely to the young men to stow it underneath the bus, again, thanks to a very helpful Honduran gentleman, (CP had already boarded) there was only one seat left at the back...and that was only because a Canadian man had left it for me. Many were left standing in the aisle that boarded after me. I did take the seat and he and I began talking...well, he did most of the talking...he had been volunteering in Honduras for three years helping towns and cities with their infrastructure development. Last year he got a "paid" position (I'm sure a grant of some sort - as he said he would be completed in a year) in a Guatemalan town out in the boondocks near Tikal. He went on to tell me of his experiences in Honduras and Guatemala. One of particular noteworthiness (to me anyway) was when he took a Honduran co-worker up to Canada for a couple of weeks vacation. She had never been out of the her country before and when their visit was completed he asked her what she felt were two things that stood out the most for her. She was immediate with her answer...with the first being lack of visible garbage...and the second being the dedication that the workers she saw seem to have for their jobs. When he asked about the second...she stated that in Honduras it seemed a lot of the workers are much more transient and go from one job, to another job, to another job without the motivation to do the absolute best they can. This was of interest to me because I had observed this behavior...(both her first and second answer and both in Honduras and Guatemala) but had never spoken of it. I did not want any labels to be attached to my observations. Anyway, the gentleman went on about the hurtles he was having getting water infrastructure into this small town where he was living now. The infrastructure would allow the local homes access to the well water which meant that they did not have to carry potable water from the well to their homes with water jugs (traditionally ceramic) on their heads (traditionally a woman's or female child's job). By that time I was so tired, I tuned him out with one ear. Once to Fronteras and off the bus CP waited at the bus station with the valuables while I took two of the suitcases the couple or three blocks down to Bruno's (since it is a relative gringo establishment we felt they would be safe unattended there) then hurriedly returned to get the remaining. CP radioed Mario's Marina to pick us up and we sat down for breakfast/lunch...time...11:00am.


Back to the boat we began the assessment and the cleaning! Little things...like finding the key had been stuck in the lock with the door, hand locked slightly up and so tightly that the door would not lower all the way (which did keep the key from breaking off in the lock). Fixing it was one of CP's first chores as going up and down the companionway would be much more difficult for CP having to raise his feet higher...and basically it was a trip hazard for us both. Getting Hugo in the water and Herbie running (HH) was another priority. Little things, like CP forgetting that the positive battery post is slightly larger than the negative battery post and that sometimes a hammer just will not work! I on the other hand, began cleaning...wiping down the not completely green - but in another month - it would be green glaze that covered the entire inside of the boat. The forward cabin (where we are having to sleep because there is no air-conditioning in the aft cabin)...the aft cabin...the galley...getting laundry done and the unpacking. And, all in-between there was the "where did we put that" dilemma. As of yet we have still not found the pepper grinder...it's GOT to be somewhere on the boat! Those of you that know CP know that THAT IS SERIOUS!! Our Monday morning revolved around finishing getting HH in the water and running so that we could go into town for shopping and to buy a Tigo internet for a month. We had been eating at Mario's restaurant since our arrival and Mario's satellite went down a couple of months ago and is still not up and running...so no internet without Tigo! CP also has some projects that need to be completed (aft freezer, fridge and aft air-conditioning just to name a few) that we need to get the local professional out to fix before we head out to Roatan. By early afternoon we were on our way to town with the need for a new battery and battery cable posts added to the list! To make a much longer story shorter...we got everything we could...EXCEPT the Tigo (the woman at the Tigo store said our year old Guatemalan Tigo internet stick would no longer work and there were no new ones at any of the three Tigo stores in Fronteras)...even though we returned over an hour later to the store because the worker said he would have one (I should have known better)! With some fresh fuel in Herbie we were a third of the way back to Marios when he stopped running...very unhappy with the fuel ! I asked a passing launcha (espanol of course) if they could help us get back to Marios and just like that we were hooked up for a tow. CP was not happy (pride can be such a difficult thing)...but it was getting late and the wind had picked up and had already pushed us closer to town. For the entire tow (probably close to 40 minutes) he tried to get it started (thank heaven it is an electric start) but to no avail!Continuing one project at a time...Tuesday...CP jockeyed the fuel around into different tanks and went to another gas station for fuel. I missed the morning launcha into town (the clock on the boat was five minutes slow) as I was going to go into town to get the Tigo internet up and running for us and the Tigo worker told me that for sure they would have some sticks then! When I went up to Mario's restaurant to see if anyone was going into town...a gentleman offered to have his friend who was going into town pick one up for us...this was awesome...I could continue cleaning! Late afternoon he came by the boat with the money I had given him and no Tigo! He mentioned that there was word on the street about a black market for Tigo internet sticks...the choice...wait until the Tigo store have them and pay $205 Q for one month of service...or pay $200 U.S.D. for the stick and two weeks of service (current exchange rate - 1 Q = .13 cents U.S....we remained Tigo-less. Thankfully he had me over to his boat to get on his computer to get an email out to my mom and kids whom I figured had started to worry about us! Time for our first smoothie! Papaya, orange, melon, one small line, ice and Casa Guatemala yogurt! Yum!


So with all that said we are back on the Rio Dulce...a most beautiful sweet river...the last three nights it has rained...well, not sure that it should be called JUST rain down here...Seattle has rain...but we are after all, in a jungle...without internet (although if you are reading this we must have gotten internet somewhere)...the familiar temperature (finally warm)...the familiar sights (beautiful)...the familiar smells (not always the best)...the familiar sounds (the birds here are fantastic in song...the ones you see and the ones you don't)...the usual third world excitement...talk of a black market...dirty fuel/water in HH's fuel...the familiar work...boat projects and cleaning. Slowly...what we forgot by being gone for six months, somehow, we are re-learning...all of the things...the good and the not-so-good......I just hope we can find that pepper grinder!


Oh, and I almost forgot...mom, thanks so much for the muffins you made us for our journey...we did enjoy them...YOU ARE THE BEST!!! And, I told you I'd put the picture up...love the socks to say nothing of the pants...love you!!