July 2006 - Guatemala

The Dance of the Deer 

It is the time of year for the annual Mayan Festival in the local Mayan village nearby.  The marina was sent a special invitation to join in the festivities, so we cast off our lines and headed down the river to Lake Golfette.  Aboard Valentina was Mike and Karen of S/V Sueños and Jim and Nikki (above) of S/V Seayeti.

After winding through the narrow channel, we arrived at a small dock and headed to shore.   There was a small hotel and restaurant, a church and a school in the village.   There were Mayan families already participating in the festivities.   The children were playing soccer in the middle with a deflated soccer ball and the dancers in brightly colored  costumes were performing the traditional "Dance of the Deer" during the day.  These dancers performed most of the day in the heat, dancing constantly.

Momma, Yolanda, Sonny, Maria, Alberto We handed out bubble gum to the children (and adults) all day.  It was fun.   They loved having their picture taken and looking at it on the camera screen.   It was so rewarding to see their smiles.  At 9 p.m. at night, they conducted a special Mayan religious service.   It appeared to be a purifying and cleansing service for the local Mayans.   It was a very serious time and one-by-one, each of them would come to the middle of the circle and the "Chief" would wave a candle over their entire body and wave smoke on them from the fire, and pray for them, then he would hand them the candle and they would walk around the fire and throw the candle into the fire and depart.    I imagined it was some sort of ritual to take the impurities from their body and burn it in the fire.   Maria with some of her friends.  The group then went to the church and performed some more ceremonies where the locals would dance around the candles burning on the floor.     In the local village of Esmeralda nearby the marina, there are four churches.   Mostly Catholic, but we found one that is Iglesia Del Nazarino and have enjoyed going to the services and meeting the people.   We are the only Gringos and the pastor goes "out of his way" to make sure we understand his sermon in Spanish. My Spanish is not very good, one Sunday morning, I think the pastor said during his sermon, "We will all come to your boat for coffee, bread, and fish".    We said, "OK" not knowing if the whole congregation would show up.  We will try to be prepared,  just in case. Our Spanish dictionary is next to our Bible in church.   We flip through it a lot during the service.   Since we arrived in the River on June 1st, it has rained continuously, almost day and night.   The river is currently 3 1/2 feet higher than normal.  Our marina, along with many of the nearby villages, is somewhat underwater.   Our docks, which carry our electrical wires, are completely submerged.   So, the electricity has been turned off to the boats and we run our generators and engines to charge batteries.  We walk through about 6 inches of water on the docks, getting back and forth to our boats and the marina. Our fenders on the sides of our boats are useless, as the water is higher than the docks.   The fenders just float and the boats would hit on the wooden docks with waves. So, since we were on a side tie on our starboard side, and an underground gas pipeline on the port side, we could not use our anchor to keep us off the dock, so we had to move from the dock. We anchored in front of the marina for a couple of nights. . The small motor to lift our dinghy was not working properly, so we managed to get the dinghy about halfway up, about 4 feet out of the water and secured it with a cable and locks. Sometime, during the evening or wee hours of the night, we had an unexpected visitor come to our boat, while anchored in front of the marina.  They cut the cable to our Yamaha 8 hp, 4 stroke, engine on our dinghy and took our engine.   We were just sick......your dinghy is your mode of transportation on the river, and we just lost our motor to our "station-wagon".    They had visited several boats on the river that same night and took a total of three motors. Theft happens everywhere, everyday, we just happened to be the victim on this day. After making all of the proper reports, we began searching for a new engine.           Our last trip with our Yamaha engine.......... We had decided to go ahead and upgrade to a 15 hp engine, but could not locate a Yamaha 15 hp, 4 stroke in Guatemala, so we opted to the local dealership in Fronteras for a Suzuki.    Roberto was our negotiator and Spanish interpreter.  He was a great help So, here is our new motor.  We also had a local make us a dinghy cover and bag for the seat.  We provided the material and Ronnie charged us $75 labor. The rain is somewhat slowing down to nightly, so the river is starting to recede.   We can walk on the docks now, pretty much, without sloshing in the water.   So, if the rain slows somewhat, the river should continue to recede about one inch a day.  Needless to say, we are a week or two out for power on the docks.   Saturday, we were so excited, our friends from Texoma, S/V Sojourner, Pat and Jim Kunard arrived in Fronteras at the bus station.   It was so good to see them and spend time with them.   In spite of the constant rain, the stolen engine, and a very rough anchorage at Denny's Beach at Lake Izabal, we had a wonderful and memorable time with them..   Pat and Jim are like family, so it was good to have them here, even though the circumstances were not what we had envisioned.    We had sent them a list of supplies, and they shopped and purchased everything we needed.  You just don't realize how handy Wal-Mart and Home Depot are.  Thanks guys! They had intended to stay two weeks, but Jim's step-father passed away in Cushing, OK, so they had to return home unexpectedly.   We were not ready for them to leave.   We had so much to do.   But, we know they will return (soon?)       We made several trips to the local castle, which years ago, protected the supplies in Lake Izabal from pirate attacks.     Roberto and Any are on top of the castle.       Sonny near the cannon at the castle.     We went with Roberto, Any, Mike, and Karen on an excursion to the furthermost part of Lake Izabal in the jungle to see howler monkeys on a local boat.   It was an all day trip.   We saw probably 25-30 monkeys.  The lake is 30 miles long and 15 miles wide and runs into the Rio Dulce River.   Then, we went to El Estoy, a small village on the lake and then to a hot waterfall. The water coming down on the waterfall was hot and the water underneath was cold.   Due to the heavy rains, it was rougher than normal, with a stronger current. We all had fun.............   Sonny swam back and forth across the stream and would get between the waterfalls and the rocks.       It was another beautiful place in Guatemala.       July 17, 2006   We went with a group from the marina to Copan, Honduras for a few days while the water was high. The Mayan ruins in Copan were very interesting to us.   The park was very well maintained and the guide made the ruins interesting and informative. The history of the Mayan culture is written and carved in the stone they created in the ruins. Archeologist have been, and will for many years to come, uncover the ruins and decipher the artifacts into history. Each new King would bury or destroy the previous King's statues and build his on top. Even in their carvings, they would color the mortar with pink or blue paint.   It was a very interesting trip. In the background, is where the rich Mayan kings lived.   The poor Mayan's lived across the river in shacks. Here is the bottom meeting arena and stadium.   Very beautiful today. We also visited a Butterfly and Orchid House.   It was very beautiful.  Karen, Debra, and Kay are on the bridge from the butterfly house to the orchid house. Our Tuk-Tuk (or taxi)  They drive fast and race each other on the three wheelers.  Better hold on!         Beautiful flowers are everywhere. Sonny is trying to recruit crew for Valentina.  The scarlet macaws live at the ruins and fly overhead. They are brightly colored and look like a postcard. The scarlet macaw is the Honduran bird.     The Guatemala area has to be one of the most beautiful on earth. With the jungle, rain-forest, lakes, mountains, plants and flora, there is so much to see and do.   Sonny's sister, Linda, who owns City Florist in Waxahachie,  would love the plants and flowers here.    Simply.... Beautiful.   July 25, 2006  We have been attending the Nazarene church in the nearby village and have enjoyed the services, although they are totally in Spanish.  We take the dictionary with us, and use it a lot.   The children are a vital part of the service.   They come forward to give their offering, then, they kneel at the altar, and leave for their children's church.   When they return, they sing and quote their Bible verses. We enjoy the children, but are amused watching the little fellow in the orange shirt on the stage.   He slips away and climbs on stage to turn the knobs on the sound system, guitars, etc. while everyone is praying, until someone retrieves him.   He is also very interested in the offering baskets.  Last Sunday, we invited the pastor and his family to our boat for dinner.  They graciously accepted our invitation and said he would bring their children.   Sonny asked how many ninos they had, the reply was seis (6), so we would have ten for dinner on Valentina.  A tight squeeze.   So, we prepared for 10, but, when the pastor and his wife showed up, only one child was with them. We had a very good visit with him, he and Sonny played the guitars and sang and we used the Spanish dictionary a lot, as they speak "no" English.  This morning, while we were on the boat, 3 Guatemalan policeman from Fronteras and Mack, our marina manager and Marco, the dock master (and translator) from the marina came to our boat and asked for Charles F. Sides.   Whew. .......we knew this must be serious.  They handed Sonny some papers and said we needed to be in Puerto Barrios on Thursday morning at 10:45 a.m. to see the judge.     It is some information on our dinghy motor that was stolen.    We will go and see.   It is about a 1 1/2 ride from here.  Hopefully, they have retrieved it and the thief. Friday, July 28th:       We went to Puerto Barrios yesterday.   And, after being crammed in two different "micro-busses" getting there, after we finally located the correct location, after asking 5 different locals, who kept pointing the same direction, we finally asked a taxi driver to take us to the location.   He went in the same direction as everyone else said and we had walked.   We told him the name of the judge and he made a U-turn after looking at our paper again.   It was in the opposite direction.   After we arrived and handed the lady our paperwork, she went and got some papers and then started rambling in Spanish.   We explained, we are studying Spanish, but, she would need to speak slower.   She left and returned with a local lady who spoke English.   She said they summoned us there to see if "we had any suspects who stole our motor".   She said they would go to their house to get it, if we knew who stole it.  Of course, we did not have any suspects, Sonny would probably be in jail, if we did.